My friend and I both bought the cheaper Brother machine to take to classes because it is lighter to carry. Plus I personnally think it is hard on a machine to be carrying them around, being in a hot or cold car. This way you are not out hundreds of dollars if something happens to it. We have had no trouble with ours. As a matter of fact I have been using mine at home because my better one is in the shop. It might be worth checking out. I accually got mine at Wal-mart.