I have a Bernina 165e for travel. I chose it because it does pretty much everything.

I also seriously considered the Pfaff Passport 2 and 3. Wow those little machines are affordable and have all most all the features of my Pfaff Performance 5.

But it is a personal choice. You should visit your dealer and test drive to find the best machine for you

If you have not decided on a light weight machine to take to class, I highly recommend the Janome Platinum 760.
The 760 has needle stop up/down, a speed control bar to regulate how fast or slow you wish to sew, many, many decorative stitches including blanket stitch, and hand quilting stitches. You can purchase an optional straight stitch plate, free motion quilting foot and walking foot. The 760 pieces like a dream. It weighs about 12 pounds,yet has similar features of the 3/4 size Berninas. It does not vibrate like the cheaper machines or the older Janome Jem. A video on Utube is what sold me on this little machine. Then I tried it out at my local dealer.
Believe me, I am a loyal Bernina owner, but wanted an inexpensive machine to take to classes. Check out the video, if you haven't purchased a machine, I hope you give this one a try. Good luck.

Thank you all-I'll let you know what I get!

Kathy

I bought a Bernina 350 for carrying around and am so impressed with how well it sews. I use it for some of my specialty quilting. It handles metallic threads extremely well, and does have needle down and feed dog drop.

What kind of classes are they that you would need needle down? Quilting? If it's for patchwork then surely any machine will do. Needle down is a bonus but not essential and personally I would be happy bringing a mechanical machine to and from classes because it is less delicate and it doesn't have a computer to be jangled about in the car and messed up. The main thing is to get a machine that's not going to break your back to take in and out of the car and to carry to the classroom and back into the house. I see a lot of women have Singer Featherweights they use for classes on Bonnie Hunters blog, but it's only a straight stitch machine so if you are looking for all the bells and whistles this won't do. But I can tell you from experience that it's a great straight stitch and a very dependable machine and comes in a small carry case that makes it easily portable. I also have a Pfaff Select 4 which I love and wouldn't part with for the world because it sews like a dream, has an in-built walking foot (IDT) and will sew over just about any lump of fabric you can throw at it. It's not super light or anything but it's not desperately heavy either, and it does have a hard cover which gives it extra protection while travelling in the back of my car. Just my thoughts on this. Let us know what you decide won't you?

Many of the ladies in my quilt guild have Brother sewing machines that they bring to meetings. I have been very impressed with all the features they have for a very reasonable price. If you do a search on Amazon, you can read the reviews and compare prices.

I'm looking for a lightweight machine to take to classes, any suggestions? I found some online reviews that look good for the Janome Magnolia 7318, but I wish it had needle down. My regular machine is an old but dependable Bernina 1090.

Kathy