Originally Posted by Dolphyngyrl
The cheap brothers do just nicely and last just fine, I hate that people bad mouth them on here. I have one from 93 that still runs, my MIL used it the other day to make an apron. My other one is 5 years old, never had any problems, I just bought another one. You are not going to be using it that often and it is great for class as well as a back up machine.
I have to put my two cents in and agree with this. I have given my cheap mechanical Brother a lot of work and it has never failed me. Not saying an expensive machine is not a fun thing to have, but, my Brother has sewn on anything, is not fussy about thread, and will do a nice job of FMQ even if the feed dogs don't drop. I have a hand me down even more basic mechanical Brother at one son's house and it is easy to use and sews a nice seam. A newer mechanical Brother at the other son's which worked right out of the box and I enjoy that one too.