Hi, I had to put my trusty embroidery machine in the shop again. The poor thing is probably just worn out. I am looking to possibly purchase a newer one to replace it. The problem is I have a medium size fortune tied up in designs and software that many of the newer machines don't use. I am looking at a Brother PE-780D. It uses the same format PES as my current machine and I think I can download designs onto a USB stick and use it with that model machine. I just wondered if any of you owned one and how you liked it. My Bernina dealer tried to talk me into buying a combination machine. I don't need another sewing machine and I didn't want ot spend $6000. Any information would be wonderful.

my singer futura uses any format, you connect it directly to your computer, it is a regular machine too but mine was less than $500

Heads up. Make sure which ever machine you are looking at will embroidery the size you want. I know some of the cheaper ones only do a 4x4 design (I had one). Best wishes. LOL in Christ.

What machine do you have now? I have a Brother ULT2003D that I bought new and just love it! I have never had a bit of trouble with it and it embroiders great (just finished a wall hanging for my 3 year old grandson with Disney characters...you can see it posted on Pictures section). I've seen them for sale for around $1200.

It's always the case! I have a lot of $ tied up in my Janome 9000, too. Each memory card was anywhere from $25-$120 each. And I've got a whole rack of them! And of course, the machine becomes obsolete as soon as you get it home. I kept mine as my back-up when I got my new machine recently. But, I feel your pain. All I can suggest is that you don't think too much about the $ you invested in the past. Because, I can guarantee in another 10 years the machine you buy today will have the same issues. We can't put much energy into feeling badly about the $ as we enjoy it while we use it. Try not to let the older machine limit your choices for a new purchase. You can always sell some of your older CD's etc.

I have 2 brothers, make sure you get one with a bigger hoop, you'd be surprised how much you wish you had..."how do it know" LOL

The 780 will be a good, solid machine for you. If you have Embird or Wilcom trusizer, you will be able to convert your designs in to the right format for your machine.

The next hoop size up in the Brother line will cost almost 4k more unless you get a really great deal I got an awesome deal on mine - I have the 4500d and it's a great machine. I will probably never use the sewing feature on the machine as I really love the way my Janome sews and I don't have the patience to switch from sewing to embroidery back and forth lol. I wish that the embroidery machine companies would make a machine that has the bigger hoop sizes but doesn't have the sewing on it. It would make the hobby a bit more affordable for those that want those big designs without having to split designs and whatnot...


You will be happy with the Brother. Check out your local dealers and try to nab one - if not, there are lots of online dealers that sell them I'm sure :) I know Ken's does and he ships all over the place.

I, too, purchased a Janome 9000 for a small fortune. And for an even greater fortune I supplied myself with all the available cards. Before long, I realized I had purchased myself a white elephant, so I went out and got the J10000. Ooops. That was worse, and the embroidery was terrible. So then, because I was now into a very deep well, I had to get the Janome 11000.

Now, finally, I have a machine I can do what I want to with. The embroidery is fine. But the machine itself, the sewing part, it fabulous. And it quilts lovely. But I still have a fortune tied up in the 9000 cards ... I took them in to the Janome dealer and he turned them into a cd for me, to put use with the computer (next to my 11000) - I can now use all the designs at will.

No problems. But The sewing part, which of course I mostly do, is unbeatable. The ease of use is also unbeatable.

But I'd still like to know how a Pfaff embroidery machine works. I had a lovely Pfaff before I bought the first Janome.

Janome has me in golden handcuffs.

I had no idea a dealer could do that! Golden handcuffs-I like that term!

Embird is a great program to convert files with.

There is software to convert your designs in your library to the new format you might be using. In my opinion that might be your best bet. I used to use Embird when I did that but my sub ran out. It is a good thing to have.

If you already are using pes format, then you will be fine with the 780D. If I am correct, that machine will use the usb stick or plug into your computer either way you wish.

The 780 will use both 4x4 or 5x7 design formats.

I believe the 780 also uses 90 weight bobbin thread. Most other Brother machines use 60 weight. Some of them can be really finicky regarding the bobbin thread.

If I need to convert designs I use Buzz Tools.

I love my Babylock Ellegante
Bernina is too expensive for embroidery.
Pfaff has jammy bobbins.
Imagine Janome does good--saw some impeccable embrpideries from Janomes.