I have 3 Brothers, started with the little PE 150, then bought a used 1500D and a couple years later the 2500D, I love them all...easy to operate and less pricey than the others. They all still work great and sometimes I have all 3 going at the same time, thought about trading all 3 in on one of the 6 needles but they are still too pricey for me!!!!

I have the Singer Futura 200...an older model but she has been with me for about 5-6 years, no problems; I use her mostly for embroidery but have used her to just sew with, too. I think it's a good machine and wasn't too expensive, around $700 or so when I bought her.

I have a Viking Iris and I have done a lot of embroidery on it. I also have the Designer Diamond. I can sew or embroidery on both of them. Wouldn't have any other brand. Just make sure wherever you purchase, they will service it and give know how classes.

I am on my second Brother and love it for its simplicity. Look at Walmart, QVC, Amazon, Ebay.....need to consider the hoop size, I wouldn't get anything smaller than a 5 x 7", and with a USB port, then you will transfer your designs from your computer to machine with a 'thumb drive'...

I have the same machine and I love it, however it falls outside the price range by a bit. Before that I had the Brother that sold for about 400 (SE350), however it just had the capability to do the 4 inch hoop and then I had to buy the ped basic to use other programs beyond what Brother offered. I definitely would not get one unless it could do a 5 x 7 hoop and had a usb port. The only negative is the size of the embroidery screen when viewing the design. I have eliminated this by keeping my laptop close by and loading only the item I plan to stitch on a blank jump stick and I love the embrilliance thumbnailer to view my designs before opening them. It does not come with the machine, but well worth the $40 I spent:)

I HAVE A DISNEY BROTHER FROM WALMART IT SOLD WITH A PROGRAM CALLED PED BASIC THAT LETS YOU PURCHASE DESIGNS FROM OTHER PLACES AND YOU THEM ON YPUR MACHINE I HAVE AN ENORMOUS AMOUNT OF DESIGNS I LOVE IT . THE MACHINE AT THE TIME 2009 WAS $399
PLUS 1OO FOR PED. I REALLY CAN'T FIND FAULT WITH MACHINE IT THREADS THE NEEDLE IT SELF AND IS ALSO A REGULAR SEWING MACHINE I ALSO HAVE A JANOME I LOVE AT THE SAME TIME WE HAVE
FIGURED OUT HOW TO LOAD DESIGNS TO FLASH CARDS I AM AMAZED
AT EVERY DESIGN I HAVE STICHED HOW BEAUTIFUL IT IS I AM WORKING IT IN A QUILT

I have a Brother Duetta 4500, love, love, love the machine.
But question about local support and local repair. I currently have to travel over a hundred miles for service...
But the one nice thing is you can order authentic brother parts, ie;bobbins, feet direct from Brother, I can't do that with my Bernina....

I have a Viking Iris and love it. My only issue with Viking machines is everything extra is expensive....

Yes it is and I personally believe they are owned by Joann.....that is my opinion only.

I have the singer Futura and love it. I got mine for $699.99 with a 5 year extended warranty included in that price. Got mine off of Ebay. New machine. Like it alot. It has a larger embroidery field up to 6 x 10.
Snownannie