A while back one of our very sage members told us about an article..."Too Much Information"...all about sewing machines. It is long but contains anything and everything you need to know about what brand sewing machine, serger to buy. Here's the web address:
http://www.evidently.org/2007/02/too-much-information/
For instance, Baby Lock is made in the same factory in Japan as Brother and both are excellent. If I remember correctly Brother and Janome are made by the same company. Anyway, scan through this article. I printed it out and take it with whenever I think I might want to look and any sewing-related machine. Good luck and Happy Quilting.