I started out on a Brother PE150 and after a year I wanted a bigger embroidery area. I bought a used Brother 1500D that goes up to 6x10 and added a 2500D (also 6x10)about 4 years ago. I rarely use the 6x10 but do 5x7 designs very often, so I'd go with that size if you can afford it. They also do regular sewing, but I rarely use them for that as I sew on my other machines and leave them set up for embroidery. I just gave my little PE 150 to a girl to get her started, it still worked fine after all these years and all the work I'd done on it...love the Brother machines!!!!