I currently have 4 Brother sewing machines- one in each price range. Of course the low end does not do all the things my Quattro offers, but then, the price on the Quattro had several more "0's" on the end of the price tag. I have used every brand of machine out there except Bernina- (have a friend who has one who will be bringing hers to a class next week, so I will run it for a while). Every machine (and their owners) have their quirks. Personally, I prefer Brother machines over any other brand-Baby Lock being the exception, since they are so close in comparison as they are almost carbon copies of each other. You might check a local sewing store that might carry a "gently used/previously loved" higher-end Brother. You could get a "bigger-better-faster" model (husband's words-he builds and races drag cars) for the same prices as a "low-end" model. Plus you may be able to wrangle a few lessons, and you should always have the support for questions from the dealer. Since I have used so many different machines over the last 40 years and have taught on all of them, I would have no problem purchasing from Walmart or Costco since I know these are not machines that have all the bells and whistles and I would not expect to have a learning curve, meaning: I don't need help to learn or use the machine. Do your research and shop with confidence. Buy the best machine for the money you have.