I hope this helps in your research into a new embroidery machine. At the bottom is photos of my machine unpacked and all the accessories that either came with the machine or I bought separately.
What embroidery machine do you have and why did you buy it?
I own the Brother PE770, after to talking to the retailer I bought it from and lots of research I had made my decision. The gentleman at Mr. Vac & Mrs. Sew answered all my questions in detail. We were on the phone for quite a while.
He said it was one of the easiest machines to learn on, which is true. He offered lessons, but I live on the west coast, the store is on the east coast. So that wasn't feasible. I wanted to buy local but was turned off by both stores that offered Brother products. They were trying to get me to purchase a machine that was out of my price budget. So I turned to Amazon and found the above mentioned seller.
did any software come with this machine and accessories?
Software included added embroidery design discs added by the seller and it came with a few accessories (See photo below)
was the " learning curve easy or hard"
I found it easy enough, I would like to add I am still learning though.
What size hoops can you get for this machine
It came with a 5x7 hoop. I ordered a hoop package, so now I have an extra 5 x 7 hoop as well as a 4 x 4 and a 12 x 5. And a 1 x 2½ pocket hoop.
(See photo below)
what format can you download the embroidery design in
It uses the PES format
Would you buy this machine again or recommend this machine?
Yes, I would, it is a good machine for the price.
The machine I bought with all the goodies:
https://www.amazon.com/Brother-Embro...=brother+pe770
The extra hoop set:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1