I have a hard time narrowing it all down, too. Which one for travel? I have a beat up old Singer 15-75 that might sew through cast iron... well hem jeans anyway. Then I like an old light weight Elna that only does a few basic stitches but I love sewing light weight fabrics on it. But my Singer 66 does best of any for button holes. For seeing what I am sewing, i have a Singer 403 that I love for nearly anything but the really heavy stuff that the 15-75 gobbles up. Those are my top picks.... but then there is a really nice Japanese machine that does so well for free motion.... and I do have a Singer 221 and a 201... i never seem to use them and I don’t know why. I think you have to go with what machine you go to. Leave them all set up and see what you use. Remember factory machines are set up for a task.