Brothers are great, if its for mending sewing i would go strictly mechanical and not spend the money on computerized. It will last them a long time with occasional use. I have a 18 year old XL-3010 that I gave to my MIL that till runs. I would just look at the reviews and go from there. I have the XL-3500i for 5 years and i love it. Got it from overstock.com for 109 i think. Where ever you get it from just make sure to take it out of the box and make sure it works because I did have to send one back to overstock because it didn't sew, they were very fast about it but you don't want to buy it now and come christmas realize it doesn't work and your 30 days or whatever has expired to return and you have to go through the manufacturer for the warranties.