I am new to sewing and chose this machine because it is what I'm familiar with in my sewing class. I had a little trouble getting it started right out of the box- the needle that came in the machine was not properly lined up, so when I started sewing, the needle broke. The tip flew up, nearly hit me in the eye, and the other part of the needle was stuck in the machine. I replaced the needle, ensured it was lined up, and started sewing almost immediately. I did wear safety goggles at first just to make sure if the needle broke again, it couldn't fly into my eye. I was pretty upset that the needle that came with the machine and was seemingly in place- really wasn't. Other than that initial incident, I'm very happy with my machine. It is the only machine I've ever (which is why I gave this 4 stars) used, so I don't have anything to compare it to, but it gets the job done!