You don't say what sort of sewing you are wanting to do but, at the entry level, you will probably get much better value for your money with one of the Kenmore machines that are currently made by Janome.

You might also want to ask your dealers if they have any deals on demo models of the Activa line, since the 200 series has recently been discontinued.

I guess that would have helped. ;) Strictly interested in light sewing ... mending ... maybe the occasional small project.

I have a 40 year old portable Singer. It was repaired once and needs some adjustments again, but I'm at the age where I need something lighter in weight. It's very heavy to lug out of the closet whenever I need to use it.

I took a look at the Jamone site. The Jem Gold 3 looks like something that would work for me. Any idea which Kenmore that would be?

The Hello Kitty model is similar and gets a lot of good reviews from sewers, many of whom use it as their travel and class machine. Sears shows it at $109.99 right now. Sears also has another machine - the Mini Ultra, which is on sale through their outlet stores for only $54.99.

Another possibility, which also gets very good reviews, might be the Brother CS6000I - on sale at Amazon.com for $149.94 with free shipping.

Costco also has good deals on sewing machines from time to time, and their return policy is excellent.

Here is a link that might be useful: Brother CS6000I

I was originally thinking about the Brother CS6000I, but I read a lot of negative comments on the Home Decoration forum about the quality of Brother machines.

I guess I really need to get out there and visit some brick and mortar stores.

Unfortunately, no Costco here ... just Sam's.

Akrogirl, thanks for all the suggestions!

There are some very informative reviews of most of the machines you might be interested in on patternreview.com.

Good luck in making your decision :-)