Memory cards and cards from the PED basic can download patterns from the internet or computer and you put the card into the machine.
There also are cards(dedicated) that have seperate patterns on them, these cards you just put the card into the machine, clear as mud :wink:

Thanks for the explanation. It helps. The "mud" is less murky now.

:)

I can hook mine to my lap top, then I can down load free patren from free sites. Penny

If the $$$ will allow, I would go for the USB.

I have a Bernina 180E and the embroidery module has a place for the design cards. Which when this machine came out that was all that was available. Now the designs are available on CD. For Xmas one year my husband bought me a PES2CARD3-SE
I download the designs from the CD to to a blank design card.
This works great for me. I don't think I would like having to have a computer in my sewing room.

Good morning. I have had both and would recommend the USB port just because of the ease of use once you figure out what you are doing. I also find it much easier and in the long run really cheaper. If you ever have a card reader go bad or one of those little cards, then you may be kicking yourself for not going with the USB. Also, USB is more up to date. Good luck in picking out a machine. I am happy with my brother quarttro that are starting to show up on-line as slightly used...I am sure it is the economy, not the machine, but watchout with the brother warranty...original owner clause.

That's what I do too. The newer machines seem to mostly have USB hook-ups. I haven't had or seen the USB hook-up in use but since it is newer I'm assuming it's better. My design converter is a mini magic box and it won't work with my new computer (windows 7) so I use my old laptop with it. The mini magic box manufacturer told me that my new computer is 64 bit and the mini magic box is 32 bit (like windows XP). I'm not sure I understand all this but I'm glad I had an old computer around to use for my embroidery machine.

I have the Brother 270D and 8500 and use the same card on both....the PED reader is about $100 on ebay but the card comes with it. i download from my computer in a file and then transfer to the card. You can get alot on a card and have the option of changing when you want

If you decide to get USB capabilities, that also allows you to use a USB stick. A USB stick offers the same capabilities as a card. In other words, it is portable ... you can copy designs onto it, erase them, transfer them to your machine ... everything a card can do. I have my computer hooked up to my Janome 11000 and my software (installed on my computer) allows me to transfer my designs from the computer directly to my sewing machine and vice versa using a USB cord. I usually only use my USB sticks as backup storage for my designs, but they can be used to download designs from the internet and put them into your sewing machine. My machine has card reading and CD Rom capabilities, but I've never used either.

USB sticks are fine, but remember the sewing embroidery or quilting machine can only read so much information from that stick,so if you have too many designs on the stick the machine won't read anything. In your manuals for your machines it should tell you the limit. If not call your dealers or manufacturers and get it explained to you.

Hope this helps.

suzy