Taking a chance here to respond that I have 3 mechanical Brother machines. They take any kind of thread and sew through anything. One of them is 12 years old and came from Costco. It has never been in the shop. I also have a bunch of vintage machines including a 301. It has taken me literally years to accumulate them. Depending on where you live you might not come across one quickly. It has been said that just some oiling will take care of them. None of mine except the two featherweights were that easy. They required a lot of work and products to clean them up. So if it were up to me (and I played with the machine you linked to yesterday at Costco) I would say it is a good choice. Sometimes it is okay to disagree.