Brother CS-6000 Computerized Sewing Machine

I upgraded from an old grandmother's sewing machine with straight and zig-zag stitch to this computerized machine and it was worth every penny!

It cost just a few pennies under $200 at Walmart. The instructions are easy to read, the DVD that came with it was very helpful and I did sew within 15 minutes!

I wanted to upgrade because I needed to sew some boat upholstry, which would consist of vinyl and heavy denim sewn together, with zippers etc. and foam filled.
I thought, if this machine, as fragile as it looks, can't handle this rather heavy duty job, then I will use my old grandmother's machine. But it easily handled 4 layers of heavy material!

This is NOT a heavy duty machine though, so I will maybe not use it for these jobs again.
But as far as the comparison between mechanical and computerized machines goes -- I am definately with the computerized one!
The manual advises to clean only the accessible parts, and if you take something apart, that you shouldn't, the warranty expires. Which means, I believe, if the LED light goes out, I have to take it to a certified person to have it fixed, and that might cost me a few bucks too much! Old grandmothers machine was serviced by the husband, who wasn't certified, but had common sense and patience.

The automatic needle threader is a life saver, everything is very easy to set up, and you don't even need a food control. You can just push the button in the front and control it from there. That's handy when you don't like all those cables or you have limited space. Also, you can control the speed of the machine, not with the food but again at the machine itself. Very handy!
It makes 59 stitches with the push of a button and automatically tells you which foot to use with the selected stitch.
It doesn't have any embroidery mode; but comes with many accessories for various different stitches and projects.
For only $200 this is a great starter machine, for the average sewer. Nothing really fancy, but for the every day needs surely a good buy.
(My boat upholstry turned out great.)