leonf, Ok, thanks for the encouragement. Let's see what happens! Maybe you're right, it will definitely be better than the new cheap singer. I will give it a shot!
Cari, that's too bad you're not closer, I know some people would like to take full advantage of its sewing capabilities. But I'll give it a try for a year and see if I can report back here with any results.
OurWorkbench, thanks for the link to the cord earlier, I mistakenly thought it was someone else, greatly appreciated.