I had a good friend stay with me this past weekend, and she insists that I NEED to get a copy of EQ5. I found used one somewhat cheap, and wonder if it's worth getting. I've never used any type of quilting software. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

I have EQ5 and when I actually took the time to play with it, I found it is really cool. I am not a computer savy person so I had to really follow the step by step instructions and do it over and over. You must want to spend time with it to really learn it. I still have to refer
to the book all the time, but I do enjoy it. If you get it cheap enough I would do it. They are expensive.
Good luck.
peace

there is a learning curve to it. but there is lots of help in the tutorial lesson books and at electricquilt.com. i absolutely LOVE mine and couldn't imagine being without it. i can easily try different colorways for the quilts and it can tell you how much fabric is needed [although some pattern types are overestimated].

EQ5 is a good tool, but huge improvements were made with EQ6, and EQ7 is now out too. I started with EQ6 and upgraded. If you can afford the investment, go for the newer version.

Thanks for the advice. The difference would probably be about $50 as compared to over $100 with the upgrade to EQ6. Is the upgrade really worth it?

I can't answer whether it's worth it to you or not. I started with EQ6, but then I bought the Dear Jane EQ software, which is based on EQ5. I found it much clumsier to use. I believe the user interface was one of the major improvements with EQ6, but there were other enhancements as well. If you check the EQ web site they usually list the differences between versions, but I don't know if they go all the way back to EQ5 or not. Personally, I would start out with the latest (EQ7).

You also have to be careful buying older software. It may not be supported, and EQ has had a limitation on how many activations you get on some of the older versions. If the previous owner used up some of those activations, you may have a problem getting it activated on your computer. (If it's new-in-the-box, that won't be a problem.)

One more thing... you say that you have never used quilting software before. How about other types of software? Are you comfortable doing things with a computer? If not, buying EQx is not going to change that. I use EQ for almost every quilt, usually to test out color combinations, borders, block combinations, etc. I would not be without it. But I have been using computers daily since I was 23, and that's a long (won't say *how* long) time before personal computers even came on the scene. If you aren't comfortable using a computer, I wouldn't advise you to buy EQ, because you will just get frustrated (as you would with any other software).

I have had EQ5 for some time now, and when I use it I love it, but still on the learning curve for me. I think it is a good software, and can be do many things with it. I like the fact it tells you how much fabric each quilt will need. A big thing for me.

Why does she think you need it?
If you never felt the desire yourself, I'ld think about it twice before buying it.
On this board is a section about EQ, may be you can reed more about it there and then make a decision.
Dya
PS I have it and never use it, and I am a PC freak LOL

I agree. I have EQ5 and use it for fun now & then, had 3 and 4 as well but really only use it to try out different colourways, and you could easily do that with cheaper/maybe free alternatives. Search on the forum here & read through anything you can see about the computer designing to help with your decision.
I know it sounds "magic" to be able to design etc. on the computer....but....