Ive had two food saver brand machines. The first one lasted 10 years and the second one is on its 5th year. They are the basic model and seem to work fine for just regular sealing.
The bags are where its good to do your research. Amazon has off brand bags that are great and some off brand bags that are crap.
Just ordered some generic bags hope they work. Any good brands?
We just bite the bullet and go with FoodSaver bags and bulk rolls of "make your own bag" material.