this machine is pretty good for the price. i'd been sewing on a 40+ year-old singer until it finally gave out recently, and this seemed closest to that which i was used to. it's got the standard features, which are all i need, and it's easy to understand. the only drawback i've found so far is that the handwheel doesn't have any grip to it, so using it can be difficult (i've put one of those "livestrong" wristbands around it to add some grip, which is working well for now).