Well, here it is 10 years later and these machines are still being sold at the Dollar General. But for $139 now. My DH saw the ad in the paper today and brought it to my attention, since I had expressed some interest in a serger. I googled and came up with this thread from 2008.
I am definitely not tempted, but I thought I would bring up this subject again to help any newbies out there avoid a $139 mistake.