Originally Posted by
Holice
Service is as important as price.
Some of these big box machines cost less than the price to clean my machine each year; much less service it if there is a problem. If you are an occasional sewer and not obsessive (who probably needs a more powerful machine), they are a really good deal. If it breaks, get a new one; it honestly costs less than maintaining a "good" machine.
(And yeah, I hate the idea of throw-away culture. But for me, it was almost 20 years before my cheap Walmart machine broke, and then I just got another. I never had any sort of service on it at all. Didn't even oil it, just brushed out the lint.)
I love my Bernina, but it was a huge expense. The big box machines work really well for the kind of sewing most people do. I know tons of people who make quilts, clothes, even skating costumes on Brothers that cost 20x less than what my machine did.