I maintain that all we need for quilting is a good solid straight stitch -- that might not be all we want but it is all we need. For most of the last 30 years I've been quilting on a machine older than me, it had belonged originally to a friend's Grandmother. It is one of what they call the post-war metal Japanese badged machines, in my case it's a Remington, very similar to the Morse machines. It does a truly fine straight stitch and can zig zag too, it does reverse and that's about it but it does it very well on everything from a fine lawn to a heavy upholstery. I also have a vintage Pfaff that belonged to a different friend's mother and it is my go-to machine for fancy fabrics and costuming but I haven't used it in at least 15 years.
About a year ago I was given a modern Bernina 820 "Sewing Computer" by a friend who loves Berninas but didn't click well with that model. I'm loving the modern features and trying to use them since I have them. I have the knee lift for the foot up/down, I can tap the foot pedal to leave the needle down or there are buttons (I prefer not to use the buttons). It does all sorts of fancy stitches but all I'm going to be doing is basic quilting. I'm not likely to ever install another zipper or make a buttonhole, I no longer do garment construction or costuming or upholstery, all I do is quilt. I love the automatic threader, and the thread cutter makes partial seams much more fun and I'm much less covered in threads at the end of the day. The brightness of the sewing space is wonderful -- I have vision issues and the threader and lights are both big deals to me. The throat size is huge. Lots of positives, but it is also a bit fussy on threads and the model was not well received by the general public. Bobbin size is proprietary and isn't L, M or 15 and so I can't buy pre-wound bobbins like Glide thread. A lot of mechanical problems as well but mine doesn't seem to have any of those.
I also have my 2nd cheap Brother. My first one I bought at Costco for around $200 and it lasted very well for about 7 years of heavy use and movement, taking it to my friend's house at least a couple times a month. It started having problems with the bobbin casing and wasn't worth repairing so a friend used it as a trade in to get some $$ off on an embroidery machine.
My current cheap brother is a 2230 I bought at the thrift store for $20. It does not wind bobbins well (maybe why it ended up in the thrift store) so I bought a portable bobbin winder for another $20. The first Brother had an integrated carrying case, this one does not and for a portable machine that is a drawback. I have to haul it around in the box. But, it has a threading assist and is light weight and easy to use. Brothers for the most part have interchangeable feet (Bernina on the other hand is designed to work only on whatever model). It is holding up just fine as a class/portable machine for piecing but I would not want to try and machine quilt on it.