Do you use the needle up/down feature a lot? If so, the Brother .But if not, I'd get the Janome. A mechanical one will be much sturdier for lugging and traveling back and forth to class, parts are interchangeable with your current machine, and
It's just hard to beat the Janome reputation. That said, I take my Janome DC 1050 to class. Love the needle up/down feature, speed control, and quietness as compared to my old Kenmore mechanical (which I also love and was probably made by Janome).