I have a recon husqvarna Viking and it really is a machine for life. I use the overlocking stitch on it so much that I never use my overlocker anymore. It has a few embroidery stitches and a wonderful programmable button hole which means you program the button hole on a scrap of fabric and once you are happy you can do as many identical button holes as you like, very useful.
They are loads of accessories for it too.
The model I have is quite old, so only cost me about �100 ish recon.
if you are in the south east, I would recommend the world of sewing shop as they do many reconds and also part exchange and their after sales service is second to none. My machine went in before christmas and all it needed was the factory settings reset for which they did free of charge. I only paid ten quid to have it couried back to me as I now live in Chichester but will never shop anywhere else.
There is no auto thread, but the thread is SO simple and also you don't need to unthread the needle to rewind a bobbin which is very useful. I think auto thread bumps up the price which means you'll get less other features for your money.
hope this is helpful to you and good luck with your purchase.
ps world of sewing also do courses and workshops and also let you try out as many machines as you'd like.