Costco has an offer right now on a Brother, one of the board members bought it and decided it wasn't for her, but not a bad deal at all. Here's that thread:
Brother XR3340 Sewing/Quilting Machine from Costco
Personally, I love vintage machines and do almost all of my sewing on one. They are heavy though. Having said that, a friend of mine is giving me her used but not vintage Bernina and maybe once I dip into the joy of modern equipment I won't look back -- her's is heavy too, so I'll still keep my lightweight Brother around for taking to places. Maybe check out your local Craig's List and/or the one by your kids, lots of good deals on working machines that just aren't used any more. I typically don't pay more than $20-40 including having them in a stand. I used to clean/repair machines for a charity that connected recent refugees with machines.