I bought a Brother Innovis 1250D, it embroiders and sews. It does a 4x4 and 5x7, with an optional hoop you can do a larger design by moving the hoop. I have the PR620 6 needle machine and I think the 1250D embroiders just as well as the big guy. I got the 1250D to take to classes and for traveling in our RV. I figured I want to embroider sometimes and other times I want to work on quilt blocks. Another considerion for me was if my PR620 is in the shop or my regular sewing machine is in the shop I still have an alternate machine to embroider and sew with.

I have the SE400 and a Singer CE250. Both will sew and embroider. The singer will do 5x7 and the Brother does only 4x4. Most of the designs I use, have been good in 4x4. They look nice on quilt blocks up to 12 x12. I have been doing baby bibs and the 4x4 is the perfect size. Look and think what your end products will be and do you really need the larger hoop for an entry level machine. As for me, it looks like I might stay at this level as there are so many cute designs this size.

Totally depends on if you "love" embroidery. I've loved embroidery since I was 12 and started doing some on preprinted pieces of fabric. My first machine was a used a Janome 350E and I soon began drooling over a larger hoop size. Just got a larger one as well (kept the 350 which I love!). If you think you won't want/need a larger size, go ahead and go with the one you talked about but most people find they really do like the larger designs. For me,....I love them. I can now take the large designs and go 120% on the machine and get a nice BIG design. I filled up my 300x230 mm hoop day before yesterday. :)

Thanks, I hadn't looked at the Singer CE250. I'll have to check this one out.

The more I think about it the more I think a 5x7 hoop may be the way to go for me.

Selling my Janome 350E
ebay http://www.ebay.com/itm/Janome-Memor...item4ac1feba23
Craigslist http://detroit.craigslist.org/okl/art/3645105040.html

I don't know which Brother has the 5x7 hoop. I have the SE400, and while I love the machine, I don't like being limited to the 4x4 area.

Don't forget to check out the machine reviews on Patternreview.com.

I just got a HV Topaz 20 and it has 3 hoops. One is pretty big. Comes with 75 free embroidery patterns. I haven't even tried to embroider with it yet. Don't have the time right now. It cost $2000 though. I didn't want to spend the $$ for the Diamond or Ruby even though they are beautiful machines. I also don't even know if I will use the embroidery much. The Topaz also has a larger harp area than some. I want to learn how to do FMQ with it. The 5 D embroidery software is expensive ($400-$1000) and the sales people say I really should have one of them to be able to enlarge stuff and whatever. etc.

I just bought the Viking Topaz 30. I'm totally overwhelmed! I haven't done embroidery before but I really hope I can do more with this machine, for longer. It was expensive but I have unlimited one in one classes with it so I think if I ever have problems or need to learn something new, that alone makes the price worth it!