In answer to your question, yes the auto cut cuts both the top and bobbin thread a really great feature especially with the tie off feature as well.

Elle

The needle down. God bless.

I'm surprised no one has mentioned speed control. Maybe I'm the only one who sews at a snail's pace? That and needle up/down are my absolute essentials. I couldn't live without them. Well, actually, I did and it sucked. I didn't complete one single sewing project. Whole different story with my new machine.

IMO, the more fancy things on a machine are only the more things that can go wrong and I have no patience with things like that.
I am happy with my Singer 457 that does straight stitch with only a few simple options. What I would like is to be able to clone myself and put one of me in front of my 457 24/7. Hee Hee Hee

Many nice machines on the market, as long as will go forward/backward and the occasional zig-zag, all's good !!

Mine has an automatic threader. Great for these tired eyes.

You are right! It does come in handy, particularly when doing fancy stitches around a corner. I't nice to have the option to slow things down to a crawl. Even on a normal project, I generally don't go past the mid-point on the speed. Too many moving parts and yelling "stop stop!!!" does NOT work. I have tried, lol.

Knee lift is a must-have for me. It's like having a third hand.

some times I have to tweek the threader with my fingernail work on it its worth it

I have a Brothers Innovis QC1000 I just bought in April. It has needle threader, automatic tie off to start and a button to press to do automatic tie off and thread cutter at the end. Pressure foot can be by hand by push button or knee lift. Has other automatic features I am not familiar with yet. Also has a walking foot attachment.

I loved my Pfaff with the walking foot, however it was going in the shop about once a week, and I discovered Pfaff is now longer owned by Pfaff and is made in indo china or whoever gets the lowest bid. They change every 5 years and as mine was 5 years old, the parts are hard to find. It is really sad that such a great machine is going down hill. My daughter still has my old phaff which is about 15 years old. Just hope it holds up!