Help me select a new sewing machine Please!!
 

I have been talking about getting a new machine for several months. I want a Brother. But which model is where I am confused. I presently own a Brother XL2600i. I am concidering one of three. They are the SE400, PC-420PRW or CS6000i.

The 6000 comes with an extention table, walking foot and Quilting foot. Has drop feed dogs so I can do the free motion quilting, plus alot of other features that I like.

The PC 420 is very attractive and cost the most of the three. But would have to get an extention table. Seen on here where someone had gotten the wrong extention table on e-bay. But was suppose to be the one that went with it. This machine also has a deeper throat than 2600 or the 6000. I like this.

My other half wants me to get the SE400 so that he can download Ham Radio embrodery off the internet and make his own decalls. But can I make quilts on it. I seen that they have a quilting foot in the foot accessories.

Please help. I really like various features of all three. I would value any opinions or advise that you can give. Thank you verrry much for any and all help that you can provide.

If I could get any Brother, it would be the Quattro 2....
I have a Duetta and could not ask for a better machine, overall. The Quattro....hhhmmm...love to have one.
Kirsten

According to my dealer, the more different things a machine does, the less well it does each.

Maybe you can test drive each model at the dealers, sewing what is most important to you. If your current machine does fine for straight line quilting, but not fmq, then do fmq on each model, etc. For me, important is auto thread cutting, and the larger throat the better. I agree with one of the posts, that machines are better utilized when specialized.

If your (his) budget allows, As far as your dh wanting to do embroidery for Ham operators, let "him" test drive the embroidery model, maybe he can buy that machine and start a new side line business.

Brother machines are good. I have several, one is embroidery only. All were cheap to buy. The quilting one came with an extension table and it was only $129 but that was over 7 yrs ago.
I now have a Viking Sapphire as my main machine and love it. No repairs so far and its about 5 yrs old.
Would not recomment an embroidery machine for regular sewing as embroidery is hard on a machine. I have a $300 Brother small embroidery machine that I love.

The Brother SE400 has only a 4x4 embroidery area. Before you invest in it check the size of the ham radio embroidery your husband wants downloaded. The machine is great! Very easy to use, doesn't require a foot pedal, and has tons of different types of stitches.

I have three Brother machines and I love them all. Check out the ones at www.allbrands.com That's where I bought all of mine.

I would get the pc-420, the machine is for you not your husband. The reason is the cs6000i is not as nice as the pc-420. it doesnt have the ability to adjust presser foot pressure, doesn't have the advanced needle threader like the pc-420, doesn't have the automatic thread cutter, and has way more plastic. Also with the pc-420 you can get the knee lift. The cs6000i also has a smaller throat. The se-400 does not have an extension table you can purchase for it and also has a small harp. I have had many borthers, I have one now that is similar to the cs6000i and I had the qc-1000 which the pc-420 has a lot of the features of it listed above and while my sq9050 is an awesome achine, I do miss the perks when I sew on it compared to my fancy machine.

Thank you so very much for your input. My 2600 is an awesome machine. I love it and the only problem I have ever had with it, wasn't the machine, operator error. I do not have small hands, and there is a lever that you push back to do button holes. I hit it and the maachine would only go backwards. I got mad until I figured out what I had done. Then I laughed my ___ off. Now I have started teaching my grandaughter how to use it and she has asked me to get a new machine so she can have the old one. So my boyfriend and I have been doing some comparative shopping.

One feature I want is the drop feed dogs. I looked at the Brothers site and read up on the afore mentioned machines
and the SE400 and the project runway doesn't mention the drop feed dogs. I had hoped someone with one of them could kind of fill me in on the finner point of the machines. I got my 2600 at Wal Mart. I do appreciate all you help. Thank you for your help. I will let you know what the final decission will be. But right now we are just browsing but would still like to have more suggestions.

Thank you all in advance