I just bought a brother SQ9185 yesterday at Walmart. It seems very nice and was 179.99 through walmart.com. My walmart had it for about 20.00 more. They wouldn't match the .com price, so I went home. Ordered it for store pickup and was able to pick it up at the internet price later in the day. Stupid! But got what I wanted. Anyways, all that to say, it seems like a very nice machine. I have a bernina that I love but it is very heavy and I wanted a light machine to be able to take to group settings etc....

Try Kens Sewing....they have a Janome 8077 computerized machine with a Bonus package of extra feet marked down from $500 to $299! http://www.kenssewingcenter.com/jano...e-p-30444.html
Janomes are great machines. Also, ordering from Ken, no sales tax....unless you live in his state.

The janome jem is a great machine. I purchased one for my quilt guild sewing. It sews well and is lightweight for easy travel. You can get them on ebay for a good price if you watch. Good luck. The baby lock machines are good as well and usually user friendly.

How about a sew and vac shop? Ours sells refurbished machines and provide a warranty

Have you gone to a local dealer ? Ours right now is running a sale if you bring in a machine they will give you so much off another machine.. I have seen quite a few machines cheap under 200.00 there. Also check your local 2nd hand store as they have machines come in .. A friend bought a newer Janome at the pawn shop for under 100.00. So check around there are all sorts of bargains out there....

Our church bought several Brother Runway machines for our quilting group and they are working out very well. $200 range.

Brother CS 6000i
 

This is a super little starter. I use mine to cart around to classes and guild. You can buy it off Amazon for about $150.00. It is computerized and sells for$350.00 from a brother dealer. Friends have had theirs for over 5 years now without problems. I bought one for a daughter-in-law and she loves it. Her 10 year old daughter uses it all the time as well I have recommended it to lots of other very satisfied people. This is mt choice for a starter or carry about as I use mine.

I bought the Janome DC 1050 online for $299 new last year when I was learning to quilt and wondering if this hobby would "stick" (It has! I'm addicted!). The DC 1050 is computerized and I love it. Intuitive, easy to read, good manual, reasonably priced accessories and the feet are compatible with my old mechanical Kenmore. Used ones don't come up often on Craigslist because they are just so darn reliable.

I got a Brother SQ9000 at Wal*Mart a few years ago for $200. I really liked it; and although I bought a Bernina next because of the harge harp and other things, my Brother is my travel machine.

I got my Brother SQ9000 for under $140 off Amazon from dealer in AL. several years ago, It has been a great machine and has 80 stitches and not the big harp space needed for quilting I am making quilt blocks now and love the on-off button so no foot control needed, too tempting for the dogs to nibble on. Have 6 older machines for quilting, but this is so handy. If it (I) mess up I just shut it off and it comes back on and runs fine. Have an older Kenmore 19000 which is a Janome 9000 embroidery machine, and someday I may go for a brother so I can download things from computer, but for now, will use what I have.
It was Ken's sewing through Overstock.