Which is the best sewing machine to buy for beginners?

Based on the manuals of top-selling sewing machine brands Singer and Brother. On a standard sewing machine, the hand wheel, pictured here, allows you to manually control the needle's vertical movement.

Using the machine's foot petal does this process faster and hands-free, but occasionally you need to manually move the needle to thread the machine, make small adjustments to the seam, or to detangle a thread knot in the fabric. If you turn the hand wheel the opposite way, away from you, the tension of the sewing needle could be altered.