I second this! I have one of these too and it's a decent machine. Very lightweight and so far totally reliable (I've had mine about 2 years) and easy to use. I had a 5 year old sewing on it just last weekend! I made and quilted a twin-size quilt on it. Handy and capable little machine. :)

Another vote here from cheap brother for walmart, mine was 180 and it goes to classes and is also my travel machine. The SQ-9050 if they still sell it. Love mine.

I have a janome Jem 720 and I love it. It only weights 12 lbs

I purchased a Brother machine a few months ago, light weight and sews really great! Got it from Costco.

If you can think of it as an investment and something you will really use a lot, then you have more options. Most every good brand has a lightweight machine. They differ a lot. So, check you budget, your needs vs. your wants, and plan on some way to make going the rounds fun. If you are open to gently used or reconditioned name brands then you might have a few more options. Remember to negotiate.

Some of our LQS's have bulletin boards where used machines are posted for sale. Obviously these aren't the LQS's that sell machines.

Right now I have 3 Brothers. One is the 4" sewing and embroidery, one is the quilting and sewing - which has a larger throat (not huge, around 6 or 7 ") was $189 about 6 months ago when I bought it, and one not quite bottom of the line mechanical that I got for about$75.

The mechanical is kept in NJ for when I visit. It's noisy, but works very well.

I love them all. The user manuals are GREAT, detailed, lots of illustrations and easy to understand. The machines do the job and are relatively lightweight for when I want to take them to guild.

The fact that they're easy on the wallet is a big plus to me.

I also acquired a Singer from Wall Mart about 5 yrs. ago. Great machine does all I need for under $80 . But my LOVE is my 221.

I have one, too, and can recommend it. (Brother CS6000i)

I had a Singer machine about 20 years ago that I bought about 25 years ago at a Sewing Mahince Store that sold Singe machines. It was $600 which was alot of money for a sewing machine back then. I used it a couple years and then had tension issues with it. I did not get it fixed. I bought a different brand machine and have never considered a Singer again. I have two friends who bought Singer machines from JoAnns and both of them have tension issues with their machines. I would not spend the money on taking your machine to a repairman. Put that money towards a different machine instead. If you are on a strict budget, you could contact your local sewing machine dealers and let them know you are looking for a used machine, or look on ebay or Craig's list. I sold a Bernina machine on Craig's list once, very economical once, as I was having financial hardship at the time. So that may be a way to find a good machine that is not out of our price range.

Several years ago my husband bought a refurbished Brother SE270D for me from Overstock. That little machine was quite a workhorse, I used it daily until I found a used Brother 1500, which is also a workhorse. Only reason I switched was because I needed more harp space. The little Brother still works great, it's now my backup machine.