I went to three dealers looking for sewing machine with large throat space. I went to 2 brothers and 1 babylock to see how they both worked and the difference of both. I was told by brother dealer there is a difference in brother vs babylock. The brother has plastic components and the babylock has metal. I asked all 3 about brother and babylock being same machine all 3 said no, contrary to what has been said on this thread. I can buy brother accessories online and in stores and babylock dealer only and online babylock dealers. Some of the features are similiar but they said this is true on all machines, needless to say after talking to the 3 dealers about what both can do and the difference in both I went with the babylock