I have 2 Brother CS6000i machines that have been very dependable so far. I ordered both on line from Walmart for about $150 with free shipping to my store. WM has a good return policy, return to any store with receipt within 30 days for any reason for refund. I got the first one because it has so many features and is light weight with a hard cover for taking to sewing groups. I tried all the stitches, including all the button patterns, immediately. It included a walking foot for straight stitch quilting. It sounds a little rough, but makes a good stitch.
Lower end machines all have a smaller work opening, which limits quilting to runners, mats, pot holders, and small quilts. I've done a lot of these with my machine, which is about 8 years old. I decided to order a second machine so I could have one dedicated to quilting and have it set up with a walking foot. This was a very handy arrangement - one machine for sewing and one for quilting.
I continued to use the old one with its walking foot for quilting. It's still going strong, but something in the walking foot broke. So I pulled out the walking foot from the new machine, and it did not work. Both machines work fine, but I think the walking foot items are third party products that have been added to the Brother package. I should have tested the one that came with the second machine immediately.
Fortunately, I have a Janome 6500 with a walking foot, so I am ok for quilting. I paid big bucks for that machine to get a larger work opening, but it is not large enough for me to do bed quilts. Its walking foot is still working, and I hope it will be reliable. I still use a 25 year old Pfaff, which was top of the line when I bought it. It had been serviced a couple of times over the years.
Just thought I would share my success experience with the Brother machines and problems with the walking foot attachments.
Last edited by garnetnm; 09-19-2016 at 03:32 AM.