I have the Brother CS 6000 and it is a great little machine. I've been using mine for seven years. It has a nice variety of stitches and is easy to use. I like it for piecing my blocks (makes a very nice stitch), applique, and the buttonholer is easy peasy. It's lightweight and portable, this is the one I take with me on trips. Do a search here on the Quilting Board and read the Amazon reveiws.
That said, the throat is very small and it's not great for quilting larger items. I also use a 1982 Kenmore and a vintage Singer 301 -- great machines and very sturdy. But I have just ordered a Brother 1500 in hopes the larger 9-inch harp will make the quilting part of a project more enjoyable rather than a chore I dread. My experience with the entry-level Brother CS6000 has been so good that I'm willing to invest in another Brother (and the 1500 also gets rave reveiws).