I have the Ellure Plus, and mine does have a USB port as well as the card slot, however, by todays standards, the cards are outdated...I have had my machine for 2 years and it is essentially outdated. If I had it to do all over again, I think I would go with a Bernina, they seem so much more versatile, As inexperienced as I was when i bought my machine, I wish I would have done a little more comparison with different brands. I have to still purchase the software adaptor for the computer, it is almost $400! So, I never did that to be able to hook up my computer to my machine, just not cost effective. My machine is also pretty limited to built in embroidery fonts and patterns. I did get a good deal when I bought my machine, it was 60% off, 2 years ago, I paid $1500 for it. I love it for sewing, haven't had any problems, and it does beautiful embroidery, but just too limited, I would invest a little more now and get something different. Hope this helps! The cards are too hard to find, even on ebay.