I have Janome embroidery machines (350E for one)and found them to be not very user friendly. Most of the time I just decieded it was not worth frustration and gave up. I now have Vikings SE and Diamond, and love them! I can sew and embroider with it, is very user friendly, I can plug in anything that uses a usb. It also reads all kinds of formats so if you can't get the design in Hus or VP3 you are not out of luck. Don't know if this is the case with other brands.I have not had any problems with them and have not regretted buying them for one second. Upgrades are free to software. I had to pay for upgrades from Janome. Make sure you research and test drive before you buy! It is a big investment so make sure that it does everything that you want and is user friendly.