lalaland

I have both. I have the PED Basic for my smaller machine, which does not have a USB port. What I liked about the PED is you can set it for the design size you need, like 4x4, and it will not allow you to download any designs that do not meet that criteria.

The USB doesn't have that feature so when you download a design from your computer, you need to know if it will fit your 4x4 size before you download it. I use the USB on my bigger machine because I can accommodate all hoop sizes so it's not an issue.

PED is limited on the number of designs that will fit on the card. The bigger the design, the more space it will take up on the card. The USB can accommodate tons of designs, all sizes.

Juanita

Please research and buy carefully as these machines are expensive but really really great. You need to be able to download designs onto your computer then onto a storage device which fits your machine. I have a Janome 11000. I can download designs to a flash card, a memory stick, a compact disk (CD) or directly to the machine. Also, you can enlarge the designs, make them smaller, reverse them, etc. Good luck, you will love your embroidery machine.

quiltruth

I started with the card reader on my Viking and have now upgraded to a computer disk and the computer disk is so much better and just wish I had gone a little higher to the USB port. You are extremely limited with the card reader, but it was a good learning experience.

Barb130

I have a Brother Innov'is 2500D and it takes a memory card and USB Port. The USB is more versital....in my opinion.

tooMuchFabric

I have this machine also, it was the first one I got and I dearly love it still.

Consider this:
If you buy one that hooks USB to computer, then you must have a laptop to be able to take the whole setup to a class or sewdate.
If you have one that takes the little card(s, you may want more than one to have a selection of designs available) you can just put your desired designs on the card(s) and then take along with your machine and stuff, don't have to lug around the computer too.

I have both (the little 270D and a larger Bernina 440QE), and I use them both - one at home big and cumbersome, and one to take-along.

Both work great for what they do.

jemcnutt

Agreed!!!

gail-r

I would advise you to get the USB if possible because the cards are quickly becoming out-dated. Most of the design companies stopped producing design cards a couple of years ago. Another thing I just learn resently is that the cards for your card readers do have a live span (some live longer than others, or so I'm told) and they are expensive to replace. USB sticks are getting cheaper and larger capacity every year. My Ellgante will only read up to 2 gigs but it is my understanding that the new machines will read bigger sticks. The other thing to remember is that if you have a machine with a USB port, most of those machines can be hooked directly to your computer. We had the question a while back about computer viruses possibly infecting our sewing machines, one of the BL techs said it would not happen but the computer tech said anything that has a motherboard can get infected. Maybe some of our other board buddies can weigh in on this question?

Joeysnana

Thanks for all that information. Very interesting!