My machines don't seem to be fussy, so I usually use Connecting Threads Essentials thread, it's a little linty, but you can't beat the price and the selection of colors. My concern would be getting a new Singer, because the new ones don't even compare slightly to the old Singers. If you don't have a lot of money to spend or you don't want to spend a lot, I would check out the Brother or Janome brand, they have a fairly decent reputation, even in the low end price.