armybandvet

You all are giving me so much to look at and think about! Thank you so much for being so generous with your thoughts!

FWLover

Intelliquilter all the way. The creator Zoltan is a genius. We were working on orders from a quilt store for display when my tablet started acting up and needed replaced. (Had it a long time). We contacted them them online and shipped it overnight to them with wiring harness. They quickly transferred all my designs to a new tablet and set up the wiring harness with it then shipped it back overnight. We started putting everything back on our APQS Millennium over the weekend. Had trouble understanding the new tablet startup so I put up another request for help. Zoltan, himself, called us on Sunday afternoon to walk us thru it. Worth every penny. When downloading designs it optimizes them for stitch out. Some designs you stitch out are still better than others but you learn to know what to look for. There is a great forum and teaching site online. Also many large quilt shows offer classes.

QuiltingVagabond

If you decide to stay with Handiquilter go to their website and check under the Education tab. I found their instructors to be excellent and some teach everything you want to know about Prostitcher.
hcarpanini on this board is one of the HQ instructors - send her a PM and she can give you info on PS

Snooze2978

When I went to look for a new robotic system as my old one was going south on me and no customer service anymore, I checked out all the videos I could find online, Youtube, robotics websites to see how they operated. I made a list of what I wanted to be able to do with the robotics too. I chose the IQ for my Innova as it came with thread break sensor and channel locks options. Due to the fact I had a different bottom carriage I did have to order an original Innova/ABM carriage to replace it. I sold the other one so that came out nicely for me. While waiting for the IQ to be installed, I watched, downloaded, etc every video I could find on the IQ so I had an idea how to use it when it did come. I still go back to those videos when its something I need to do that I don't do often. Plus the Facebook sites have lots of helpful folks. So far I haven't regretted my choice.

GEMRM

I have an older Pfaff P3 (Tin Lizzie clone) with the Butler/Quilt EZ robotics. I have found it works well and the programs easy to understand. There is a facebook group for them.

armybandvet

I haven't seen this mentioned yet so I thought I'd add it if someone else in my position finds this thread later.

I've been speaking with a Handi Quilter dealer that specializes in HQ machines and Pro Stitcher. They are saying that the Pro Stitcher cannot be moved from one machine to another. So say I want to put it on my Simply Sixteen now, then down the road I decide to upgrade the machine head, I would be unable to use the Pro Stitcher I already own on my new machine. This sounds crazy! I'm not sure if this is a way to sell folks on a machine upgrade or not, but either way I'm not comfortable with that kind of inflexibility with something that costs so much already. If that's true, that will be the end of my Pro Stitcher research. If that is not true, it will be the end of my communication with this particular dealer.

eparys

I have an HQ Avante with ProStitcher and love it. I do not find the software difficult to use and the few times I have had to call a Tech at HQ they were amazing, patient and a lot of help. There are also many groups online dedicated to the ProStitcher. As far as portability between machines - I do not know about that, but I do know that in the discussion groups it is clear that those members who have other machine heads (non HQ) with a ProStitcher appear to have different software capabilities at times.

There is a "ProStitcher Posse" on Facebook and also a Yahoo group (now moved to Google groups.io) - both groups are extremely active and moderated my HQ Educators willing to help. You might want to join that type of group to get even more information. Also - you might try to call HQ hotline and ask to speak to a Tech. They, i am sure, would be happy to answer the portability question.

Good luck with your decision - Big investment so it is wise to ask all these questions before.