I think that a lot of the hardware upgrades come back to software upgrades. The old software won't run on new computers and aren't supported anymore. I call the "pre-Vista and Windows 7 blues". Many hardware upgrades depend on the software so you might not be getting just a port installed but a whole new operating system for your machine. Probably not worth the money to upgrade it. I would buy a dedicated embroidery machine before I go through that issue again. Of course, I also realized that I have done far more free motion embroidery than preprogrammed designs so I'm slightly biased. I usually never need anything more than dropping feed dogs, a zig-zag or straight stitch.