I have a babylock and love it. all those brands rebecca talked about are all good. when I went to get something nice i did a lot of research on line and looked at reviews and decided on the babylock. As far as what is on my machine I must have would be the automatic needle threader since I can hardly see that hole anymore..lol.. I also like the free motion foot, walking foot and 1/4 inch foot. I also like that it will automatically set the tension and the stitch size for whatever stitch I choose. I did get the top of the line at the time which I will not do again but I did want to embroidery as well and I love that. Good luck on your search.