I say, go with your gut instincts on this one. Most of the time, the Brother is an excellent machine. I had a bad experience with one -- it died at 7 months of age. Repair would have cost me more than I paid for it. But here's the good part. That Brother was a cheap machine (relatively speaking - about $200), and on it I refreshed my sewing skills and started quilting. What I learned is that I love, love, love to quilt! By the time it died, I had already learned so much, and one of them was about what kind of sewing machine I really wanted. I found it on Craig's list, and never looked back. It's a Janome MC9700. Just love it.
So my point is, let her learn on a cheap machine. I'll bet the problems I had are pretty rare; it wasn't my first Brother, and I bought it because I'd loved the other one I had. Give her time to learn what kind of sewing she really wants to do, and she could get years and years of sewing out of the machine. On the other hand, if she discovers she doesn't like sewing/quilting that much, her investment in a machine won't be a financial bust.