craftgrrl | sewing machine suggestions

a desperate plea for help:

i'm looking to buy a new sewing machine to replace my shoddy brother one. i've had this one for over three years & it's time i set it aside and buy myself high-end sewing machine. so far i've found the alphasew fa653. it's relatively cheap, but has all metal costruction and gears which is great. if you could look at the site and tell me what you think, it's would be greatly appreciated.

or! if you have any suggestions for a sewing machine with all metal constructions and gears (plactis outside casing is fine) that can handle heavy use, please let me know about them. i'm going to use it mainly to make purses & fancy stitches aren't really needed at all. i use materials such as thick canvas, lined with interfacing and often sewing through two or three layers at a time, so something heavy-duty would be great!

thanks in advance.