I have a Brother PE200, a Janome 200e, 350e, and bought the 500e in December. I love, love, love it! I don't find hooping with the large hoops much harder than the small hoops, but I use a frame made of rubber shelf liner for some of my hoops and the two largest hoops that come with the 500e have grip strips you put on the inside of the hoop to help keep the project tight. I also float thicker things like bath towels so hooping isn't an issue. Test drive the 500e at a dealer if you can and take the classes if offered. The built in software has better editing capabilities than older machines. It's a great machine.
Cari