I guess I'm in the minority here, but I would not recommend this machine unless you plan on sewing only on occasion, and doing lightweight work.  I sew handbags, and even lighter weights of fabrics that my old, $75, bottom-of-the-line Singer could handle get jammed up in this machine.  The problem doesn't seem that the motor can't handle it - it seems to be in the way the feed dogs sit.  Fabric just doesn't seem to feed through this machine well at all, and the pressure foot doesn't seem to provide the pressure needed to feed heavier weight items through.

I also hate that the needle always...