I have a low end Brother from Walmart, and a high end Brother from a dealer. Neither has ever needed servicing, the manuals make learning easy with lots of illustrations, and I would not give up either for a different brand. Not fussy about thread, easy to keep clean, and the high end machine will sew sideways, what else do I need?

I never sewed in my life until I was 50. I bought the cheapest Brother available at Costco. With the easy to use manual, I was up and sewing so quickly and easily. I was thrilled. Twelve years later it is my take to meetings and retreats machine. Plenty of extras for such a cheap machine. I paid $189.00 12 years ago and the same computerized model now goes for $149.00.

A friend bought a Brother at Costco for the decorative stitches and loves it. It has opened up a whole new world of sewing possibilities for her. Her other machine is a vintage Viking with limited stitches. She's never had a problem with the machine. It is a real workhorse. I would have gotten one but I already have too many machines as it is!

Go for it -- when I decided I needed a machine with a plug to make a quilt out of the blocks made on the treadle machine, I wasn't sure if I would become addicted to quilting. So the Costco Brother was my first purchase -- it came with 10 feet! including walking foot and free motion too -- it was a good choice. A couple years pass, the quilting bug has attached itself to me, and the time for the "expensive" machine arrived. I still have my Brother, and now the when the big momma from the local dealer is in the shop, the Brother sees action again! It's like being on the freeway -- the new Lexus might be in front of you, but the old Honda is right behind and they both get to the same place.