I have to tell you that I bought a Brother 8500 back in 2003 that I loved. Machine Emb. was just starting out. The largest hoop was 6x10 and the designs were crappy. However, the 5x7 designs were great. I loved that machine, then I bought the Duetta...right before the Quattro...if I had my druthers I would have bought the quattro...I know, expensive...but worth it.
I found a Pfaff Creative Vision 5.5 for really cheap so if I want a large size embroidery then this is the machine for me, but I use it mainly for piecing.
If I could, I would buy another Duetta or Quattro and sell the C.V. 5.0 just so I would just have Brother machines. They are nice.
I love being able to do Machine Embroidery and have done many items. I also love the accurate, precise, easy piecing that I get from these top quality machines.
Kirsten