I can't really say anything that hasn't already been said in here. A nice, quality machine will make a world of difference. Not necessarily in quality, but definitely in ease of use. When I picked up a Sailrite, the amount of swearing that came from my work room dropped severly.

And as a sidenote, there's a reason the machine chuck_norris is offering you is free. If you're looking to do actual work, dont' take it.

I've love my Sairite to death, so I definitley recommend that. I've also heard that Thompsons are pretty much the same machines. A sewing machine sales person told me I couldn't go wrong with Juki, but I've never seen one.

For home machines for lighter work, I've used the free one above, with many problems, and both a higher end (sort of) Kenmore and a cheaper Brother with no problems. Most new home machines are generally plastic, and seem sort of fragile. If you can get your hands on an old singer or other older home machine that's got a metal body, those things usually have a decent amount of sewing power in them.