I had a brother from Costco. I literally wore it out in about 18 months. Even with regularly cleaning out the bobbin casing area, it eventually just stopped. When I brought it in to have it cleaned and serviced, (which cost about 1/2 what I paid for the machine), the technician explained that all the parts inside the brother were plastic. While I had the brother in the 'shop,' they gave me a very low end mechanical Janome for a loaner. I couldn't believe how much better the feed dogs worked on that little machine (I think it was a $300 price point.)
In the end, I ended up trading it in for a used Janome 6600 and am SO very happy with it. The main selling point for me was the larger harp( 9x5) on the 6600. I knew I wanted to quilt on my DSM and it has been wonderful.