I have been sewing forever and then some. I used to be a Pfaffer, but in the early 2000's, Pfaff, Viking, and Singer all got bought up and became SVP and the machines went downhill in quality. I bought a top of the line Pfaff 2170 in 2007, and in 5 years I went thru 3 mother boards, parts were no longer available and sadily for me, the machine is dead. I switched to Bernina and I'm very happy with the brand & customer service. I have the B770, which is amazing, and Activa 230 which is my travel machine. I also have the 830, but not as happy with that one and would not recommend it. The only other brand that I would recommend is Babylock. They are the same as brother, but more high end. Spend some time with at a dealership, if you can, and do some serious test drives. Dealers are making some amazing deals right now because of COVID. It can be harder to find a basic machine, the better prices are on the higher end machines. Get a machine that you can grow into and have fun with.
BTW, I had a basic Kenmore that I received for a graduation present and I sewed on it for about 10 years, it was a good little machine.