well I have a Singer Futura CE 100, upgraded to a 200. It's a combo which to me is a waste because like everybody else, I'm sewing while it's embroidering, however when my other one went to the shop I did use this one for piecing and it was great. It works from your pc, takes almost any format and costs less than $500, the only thing I don't like is that 4X4 is the largest design I can do.