I don't have experience with either - I have the Silhouette and love it. I have used the Janome software and it was fairly weasy to use. Ditto what Dolphyngurl says, best press won't be stiff enough. Sorry that TerialMagic causes allergies, maybe use gloves? It's the only thing I have found that gives great and consistent cuts. Everything else is just plain frustrating. Also, I use 404 sprayed onto the mat to give it it's stick back.
One other thing - what does EQ7 export the applique pieces as? Will you have to scan in the PDF? Or does it export the shapes as SVG?