Putting my two cents in for the lower end Brothers. I have 3 different ones. One at my house and one at each of my son's. These machines will sew through anything and aren't fussy about thread. And yes there are some great high end Brother machines sold at dealers. I played with a few. Lovely but between my "dinky mechanical Brother" and my vintage machines I took a pass. There's something for everyone out there. Good luck with your search.