something besides brother

i am interested in buying my wife an ns 80 brother with embroidery but she has had two different brother machines
'cheap ones" and both ended up in the garbage. so if im willing to spend $600.00 or $700.00 what other machines are simple to use and reliable.

tom

i found out about the ns 80 from calling a local shop from advice on my last post but since she had these bad experiances before from the walmart specials i would like to get something different. she usually just wants a straight stich. i want to get something she wont have to work on for a long time.

tom

From my experience, one of the best machines is a Bernina. If she's not wanting to do fancy embroidery or download stitches, look at the Activa models. This will give her a nice set of basic stitches and some other basic options which are nice to have.
Bernina's are solid, reliable machines with a great reputation and an almost cult-like following.

Other machines you might want to consider are Janomes and Viking. These are usually lower in price, but are still quality machines.

thanks, im going to look this up now.

tom

I have used Baby Loc for years, my grandmother had one that I used all the time, an I finally splurrged and got my own.  Its the Ellure Plus, and it was 1200, but the basic model can go for around 800-900. 
Very dependable, user friendly, and has lots of embriodery goodies

Good luck!  Its hard to choose!

I always recommend Janome machines as the best machines for the money.  The first machine I bought was a Brother, and it gave me so many headaches it was a wonder I learned to sew at all.  When I got a Janome to replace it, I FINALLY found out that sewing is fun.

I'll second the vote for Janome.  I've never had a bad day with either of my Janomes that wasn't user-inflicted. 

I have had a Brother 8500 for about 10 years, and it is a wonderul sewing/embroidery machine, but it cost about $3500. when it was new, so maybe we get what we pay for! My dealer is in Spartanburg, SC, and he is wonderful!! When I take it in (about once a year or maybe every 3-4 years), he
checks it and refreshes it and I bring it home that same day! Of course, I get great service, for I have to drive 3-4 hours to get there!

I have also bought a Bernina 1130 used (dd has it now) and a Bernina 830 Record (plain but great and dealer says it was one of the best Bernina made) and an old Singer Featherweight from the 1940s and it is fine, too.
Good luck!!!

My grandma swears by Bernina.  My mom has a Husqvarna, and it's a good machine.  I had a cheap brother, and it fell apart, but the expensive brothers are nice-  I want one of their combo machines.

Right now for all my sewing I use vintage and antique machines.  There isn't a lot to go wrong on a treadle.