Machine selection
 

Please help me decide. I have a 10 year old Babylock Ellure. It has given me problems for a long time. Needles breaking, thread breaking and skipped stitches. I have had it in for repairs with no satisfaction. I am looking into buying a new machine. I sew a lot and like to embroider when the occasion arises. I have narrowed my search to the Babylock Esante and Viking Topaz 40. These are in my price range. I am not sure if I want to stay with the Babylock, since I am not totally happy with the life if my machine. There are good points on both and I am trying to decide what I can live with and without.

Do any of you have these machines and can you give me some insite on them.
Thank you.

I can't help since I don't have either of those machines. What I suggest is test-driving both several times and see which one you like the best. I have heard of both and heard good things about both of them too. I might also suggest finding a backup machine, like a vintage one, for times like this when you either can't or won't use the new machine. Vintage machines can be had fairly inexpensively and some have some pretty amazing stitches that they can do.

Good luck with your decision.

Try going to patternreview.com and look for reviews of each machine. If you register (free), you get to see all of the reviews but even just the most recent reviews can be helpful. The search feature is in the upper righthand corner. Click on "machine" under advanced search; a page will come up that lets you enter the brand and model. I did it for the Babylock Esante and came up with 13 reviews.

I understand you are hesitant to go with another BabyLock after your experience with the Ellure, but I've never heard of these complaints before re BabyLock and that makes me think your machine is the exception. If you go with BL, be thorough w/ your test-drives until you are well-satisfied it won't be plagued with the same problems. I feel sure you will have better luck this time...its a very reliable brand. Viking is great too! Assuming both are going to serve you well, which one do you like best?

I don't have the Topaz but I do have a Viking and love it. It's about 10+ years old now and I've never had an issue with it at all. It will sew just about anything I throw at it. Mine has (somewhat) limited embroidery stitches and I've never taken the time to figure them out. Was not why I bought the machine. But I would not hesitate to buy a Viking.

I agree with Chris quilts. You have to go out there and test drive both machines. I bought a Bernina in the 90s and I am STILL very happy with it. Doesn't have any special options that quilters seem to need such as a larger throat or thread cutter but I still LOVE my baby.