My daughter is asking me where she could get an enexpensive but good reliable embroidery machine and what would be a good one for the money. She can't afford anything to pricey, but nothing to cheap where it won't hold up. I told her I have no idea but I bet I could find out who does! So, I come to you! Can anyone give some pointers, any advice is helpful.
Thank you! :-)

I am a babylock fan and own a pfaff as well but the babylock has the Sofia2 or Sofia for a great price. check with a local Babylock dealer www.babylock.com and ask for the price. It does only 4x4 area. Good luck!

I have the Brother SE270D it has a 4x4 hoop but love it . They have sense come out with the 400 but suppose to be just as good for under 400.00

:-D Thank you! I'll check it out. I never would had thought of Baby Lock!

Can't go wrong with a Babylock! The learning curve is so small. I love mine!

Recent Brother machines are really excellent - and the prices are great for the quality and features that you get. I love my little $200 Brother serger (1034D, from walmart.com) I am pretty sure that it is mechanically identical to a Babylock - and cosmetically, they're very similar, too. I think that either Babylock manufactures it for Brother or the same third party manufactures both of them.

The Brother SE400 embroidery machine is only $349 with a $30 rebate at walmart.com:
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Brother-Se...chine/14237607 - this machine has a really good reputation, even though it has only a 4X4" field.

The Brother with a 5X7" embroidery field is only $670:
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Brother-Co...-Size/12542647 This will be the next one that I buy.

I don't usually bad-mouth any machine, but after this Futura embroidery machine lemon, I doubt that I will ever buy a new Singer again.

I just bought a brother. So far, I am liking it. I wish it had a bigger hoop, though. I was thinking I would have to spend $1500 for the 5 x 7 hoop machine, but the Wal-Mart one looks like what I will go with when I "upgrade." I paid $700 for my 990 Innova (?) that sews and embroiders. I am thinking I should have just bought an embroidery machine, but I wanted a light-weight one to go to classes with.

the brother se400 has usb to download from computer. i bought the se350 and love it, but have to have ped basic to download new patterns.

They are very similar. The 400 is a newer model and wil conect to your computer so you can download to the machine.

Ooo wow! Thanks for the great info...I'll have to check out the sites!!

Thank you!! Anything that I can download would be great too! I'm so glad I came here to ask. Sales people will tell you about anything to make a sale, but if you want to know the truth, go straight to someone who knows!

I couldn't afford a pricey machine but always wanted to try my hand at it. One day I was in WalMart and the Brother SE-400 called to me.... (was under $400.) I brought it home and have loved it ever since. It is only the 4" x 4" hoop but it's a great place to start! I have used it for quilting and also did some bookmarks and ornament for Christmas presents.

I think 4x4" would be good enough. I really apppreciate your help on this. I have to write all of these down, so far WalMart is the place to go! Thank you!! :-P

I have purchased several Bernina Deco 600's and 650's over the years, most used on Ebay, with great success. For the basic 600 I don't pay more than $300, for the 650 not more than $350 (unless they come with added accessories). I've purchased several because my friends have wanted them so I've sold mine to them and purchased replacements. No complaints!

Check out the Babylock website and go to the promotion page. I think I remember them running a up to 50% off sale on certain machines at participating dealers. That would give you leverage on getting a deal on price.

Mary

http://www.babylock.com/promotions/

No matter what machine you get - try to get one that takes usb thumb drives or has a direct connect to a laptop ability. You don't want to mess with the memory cards. You'd have to get the gadget to read/transfer the designs and it's just not worth it.

Try looking at the other Brothers - NOT the one at Walmart that was linked before - for a small amount extra you can get one that has a few more bells and whistles - like the usb.
http://www.allbrands.com/products/abp22854.html

There are other places that sell that model and I'd also check to see what you have locally. There is also the 780 that is reasonably priced as well ;)

I have this machine as well. I bought it off Craigslist for 100. Great little machine. I use it constantly. And since the only other machine that I had was a little cheapo singer (which I have since given to MIL) this is the only machine that I use. Great for sewing and embroidery.

I'm confused. The only Brother linked to at Walmart that I can find was the SE400 in my own post - and that machine does have USB connectivity to your computer.

You don't have to save your designs to a thumb drive or memory card to get them to your machine.


Edit - Okay, I got it now. The second machine in that post apparently uses a USB thumb drive or the memory cards - but it doesn't connect to your computer. I've gotten used to connecting to the computer, so I might skip this machine, too.