Have sewn for years with vintage machines, love my Singer 201 for perfect stitches...but it weighs a ton and not a huge bobbin capacity. Inherited a Brother 1500 and love it! 1st thing to love is the needle down or up, just amazing. Thread cutter- sometimes it unthreads, I dont use it as much as I thought I would, it makes a loud sound too. Auto needle threader--it works fine but I just prefer to thread it myself, maybe because of all the years on vintage machines? I like to keep things simple.