I have numerous Janome machines. In your price range, the Skyline 7, is great. I love the auto foot lift feature and all other features it has.....If you need a real workhorse, the 6600 is a wonderful machine. Go to a Janome dealer and check our these machines and trade ins......they will be getting a lot of trade ins, since they just came out with the M7, which has a 13.5" harp space! Of course, being the newest with incredible features, it is expensive.