depending on what you want, a Walmart Brother might be the way to go, my friend has one with an extension table and several stitch options, she's not a heavy sewer but she's getting light to moderate use out of it and it works great for her! several people love the Walmart machines. my lightest "take all over" machine is a Janome 2222, it has zigzag, stretch stitch and a one step buttonhole and i have even FMQed on it although I used my Juki 2010 for that at home.
whatever you choose, be sure to use it at home now and then, I've seen people struggle with a machine they haven't touched in years and that can be very frustrating.