I have owned an old universal which did good till I burned it up, have my grandmother's old Kenmore which always goes out of tension wack, had a Viking, which was really nice compared to the others and liked that I did not have to mess with the tension, then purchased a Bernina 165 10 years ago because i wanted an embroidery machine and a friend of mine worked at the Bernina dealer. She had also worked at several other fabric shops with other brands of machines. She said that Bernina was one of the best built machines on the market. Now each of us has an opinion, another friend would never let her Pfaff go. Personally, now that I have finally become close friends with my Bernina, I would never let her go. I would buy a Bernina backup machine. It does not necessarily have to be new, can be used. I would check craigslist, ebay, or LQS. You will find one that is quality and price right. Get that Bernina fixed, they are an investment. Bernina holds their resale price pretty good. Now a Brother, to each their own, I have had guild members buy one and they took them back because would not work right. If you buy one in a LQS, you will pay more, but they will hold up on service. I have not heard either way on a Singer, but there are some reasonably priced Elnas that are a decent quality and good workers. Hope that helps some and more food for thought.