Side Winder..I have one and love it. I have it to one side of which ever machine I'm using at the moment, and generally find that I'm out of bobbin thread about 5 inches from the end of the project. So I wind several bobbins with one color. I usually buy an extra roll of thread so I can have a lot of colors already wound up. Irritates the heck out of me to have to stop sewing and wind a bobbin. Should it break I would run out and get another one.
Compatible with? Don't understand that. I use the bobbins that fits my machines, different kinds, have to keep them separated in different containers. No contact with the machines at all. Perhaps I have an older kind, but I like it.