Get the biggest hoop area available in your price range. A friend has the Ruby and it will do 5x7 and a mega hoop. Larger designs are prevalent, even free ones, and it hurts to only have 4x4 area when you want to do a larger design! The Ruby cuts thread, has a computer screen with colors, and I like the fact that you can use a USB stick. That is really really important! Disks and cards can get old!