My neighbor called me the other day to let me know that Costco had a Brother machine for sale. She has a Vikiing for her go-to machine, but wants one that she can carry to classes or to her daughter's house without having to take her Viking. I looked the machines up on Costco's website. There are two listed: Brother 1300 and Brother 1355. On their website, the regular price is around $199 (if I recall correctly), but the 1355 is on sale for $135 or 139. Both are computerized with quite a few amenities. I checked with my guru BFF in Texas about these machines and she agreed that it would be a good purchase for that purpose, or for someone who does not plan to pay a fortune for a machine. At that price, yes, it could be considered disposable and replaceable.
I purchased a little Brother machine quite a few years ago to carry to classes. It is extremely lightweight - about 10-11 lbs. and it works very well. I can't recall the model number off hand (not home to look right now). I have a Janome 9000, but it has quit on me a couple of times (once was a fuse problem, this time I don't know - hope a fuse problem again). If it's a fuse problem again, I need to figure out what's causing the fuse to blow. I also have 2 FW that I need to service. I ended up using my little Brother machine to complete my DD DWR QAYG quilt since my Janome quit on me before I finished the quilt. It worked perfectly, even on all of those layers.
I talked to my neighbor yesterday and she informed me that she'd picked up the Brother 1355 machine, but she's waiting until I get home to "unveil" it. haha I'm sure it will entice me to pick one up too! Nothing like having a few back-up machines...never can tell when one might quit working.
Hope this info helps!