I went to my local Walmart Friday and bought the $154 Brother. Came home, unpacked it, tried it......liked the needle-threading feature......good stitch quality.....but the work area between needle and neck of machine seemed so small...and the machine was so light......could be picked up with two fingers almost. I now have a Viking #1 Plus which is much heavier...and it sometimes skootches when I am working on piecing together a large quilt....can't imagine this little thing staying in one place.....So, the next morning I carefully packed it all back into its box and took it back to Walmart....no problem.......I convinced myself I really did not need another sewing machine...I have a really basic Singer for backup to Viking...and when V really dies, then I will shop around.......that's my story.....But, let me say, if I were looking for a sewing machine this one would have been on the list, even with its few drawbacks......the differences were workable, in my case, anyway.