viking vs baby lock
 

Afternoon, I have a viking Scandinavia embroidery machine which is obsolete now, I cannot get cards for it now, I have been on this site for a couple of months and love reading all the post. I have been reading about the baby lock machines and know nothing about them. I would be interested in knowing what you think of them opposed to the viking machines and also how you feel about refurbished machines. Thanks for your input.
Lori

Don't have a refurbished or a Viking but I do have 2 Babylock machines, an Elissimo and Ellagro Plus and I love both machines.

I have had both a Babylock and currently a Viking and I like my Viking much better. The Babylock was in the shop almost as much time as I was able to use it. The Babylock seemed to be much more temperamental about which thread that I used and I had a harder time adjusting the tension. I can't speak to refurbished except that I would very careful about where I bought it.

Whichever machine you get ... look for one that will take a USB stick - or "flash drive". This way you can download whichever designs you like .. you don't have to worry about the cards becoming obsolete.

Babylock also owns Amazing Designs which has the Amazing Box card reader. The reader is pretty good. I have the reader/writer from Babylock Cardworks, (no longer made). I had a Viking Rose and promptly got the reader/writer software so I didn't have to put up with buying cards for one design. If you like your machine, that might be a cheaper option. Give you time to really investigate all machines, how you use them, and what suits you. You can sell the box with the machine. It's just as easy as a USB stick.

I don't know how embroidery intensive this group is, but I someone I know who worked for a dealer was a Pfaff instructor. She enlarged some complicated designs just to show off the 14x14 Grand Dream hoop. Took around 6+ hours to do the design. I tried a fancy design with only 4 colors on a Babylock 6 needle, and that took 3. If you are not into that type of embroidery, don't go by largest hoop size, go by feature and ease of use.

I have the 12x12 Dream hoop (came with machine) and have used it once.

My machine has a 5x5 hoop that has inserts for heavy and light fabrics. I use it for raggies with 8x8 squares. It will take top, batting, and bottom with no strain.

Babylock and Brother had 8x8 hoops which are easier for quilting - either embroidering quilting designs or in the hoop.
Another thing would be a good hoop that lets you move fabric right on the machine without rehooping. Pfaff and Viking have the Continous Hoop, and other mfg should have something similar by now.

I have a Pfaff 2170 and have no intention of getting anything else. It does what I want and has a vertical bobbin.

I would definitely go with the machine you want and the most important thing for me is that the dealer is close by if I need to take it in.

I don't know a lot about the baby lock. I love my Vikings, but if I was starting over I would seriously consider a bernia just because in my area there is better support and classes and the dealer is closer than my Viking dealer. My answer would be to go with the one that has the best classes and support available. When I shopped for my first machine many years ago my Mom told me to buy the most machine that I could afford and I still think that is good advice.

I have a baby lock that is about 5 years old. Never had a problem with it but I do take it in yearly for service, cleaning, etc. I absolutely love my machine. I don't know anything about Viking but I can tell you I would not buy anything ever again except a Baby Lock. Love it!

Hi

I love my Babylock machines, all three of them! Never had any issues with any of them, and I have had three others through the years which were traded in as I keep upgrading! They are very user friendily, needle threader is a snap, and my Elegante2 cuts my jump threads for me.....which I adore!

It is all a matter of personal preference, but I vote for Babylock! Enjoy whichever you buy and have fun!

I have both and they are both wonderful machines.