I have a Brother CS 6000i, LS 4000, and XL 5232. All of these were purchased at Walmart and no problems. I have had the LS for almost 5 years, the CS for 2 years and the XL is almost 10 years old. As long as you know the machines limits I think you'll be fine. Also, you can always cover those feed dogs instead of buying a new machine. Just put an index card over them.