I know I am at risk of being pelted with empty thread spools for this
, but here goes.....
I have the Brother SQ9000 from Wal Mart. I have had this machine for ages (at least 5 years). It is still going strong.
The price tag was $200.00 and came with a lot of extra feet. It's "big sister" the SQ 9050 is almost identical for about the same price. I bought my Janome 1153, it's a heavy duty home sewer for $60.00 off of Overstock.com about 9 years ago and it's also running like a champ still.
Check Wal Mart, Joann's Hancock's as well as Amazon and Overstock.com for a machine. Just because it comes from the LQS or a quilt show doesn't always mean it's better, just costs more.