There are a few people on the yahoo 830 listing that have pushed to buy the 830 without the embroidery module. They were located in other countries though. And they were able to buy it without! Now, I don't think dealers are allowed to do this in the U.S. but you could always ask? That way, you MAY be able to buy an 830 for close to the same price and get the embroidery unit later if need be. Again, I don't know if anyone in the US has been successful with finding a dealer who will do this, but it doesn't hurt to ask. And it begs the question of why some folks outside of the US can purchase the embroidery unit separately and we can't?