When my old Sears machine broke down (it was pretty much top-of-the-line back then, the last pattern cam model before machines became computerized) I started using my back up machine which belonged to a friend's grandmother. It's a Remington, a post-war Japanese machine and while it does have zig-zag, what it really has is a wonderful straight stitch and for what I do, that's really all I need. I've been using it for about 25 years now as my main machine and since it's made out of solid metal I can do all my own maintenance on it.
I'm a big fan of vintage machines but they are heavy! I also have a Pfaff from roughly the same era (40s-50s) that belonged to a different friend's mother. While that one can do speciality fabrics (silks and such) like a dream, I could never get the straight stitch of quilting cottons to my satisfaction, and never acceptable quilting through layers. I gave up garment construction years ago and just don't find any need for fancy stitches. I also have a Singer 301 that isn't too bad to take to class. All three of my vintage machines are older than me (1960 era).
I did buy one of the cheap Brothers from Costco and it was my travel machine. Did a lot of work on it but after about 5-7 years it broke down. A friend of a friend used it as a $300 trade-in (the we'll accept anything offer) on getting an expensive machine. I now have a "Walmart" Brother that I found basically unused at the Goodwill with all it's parts and booklet for $30 that I can take to classes and such. Again, for such use I find it works just fine, but I don't think it would hold up to primary use.
I'll admit that there are a lot of nice things about the newer machines. With my vision issues the self threading (or threading assists) are wonderful. I have friends who use the fancy stitches, and I have friends that do wonderful things with their embroidery machines. If I ever get back into garment construction, I would want a serger. But for my quilting, good old "Remy" just keeps working and working, we know each other well and are happy together.