Brother PE800 Embroidery Machine, 138 Built-in Designs, 5" x 7" Hoop Area, Large 3.2" LCD Touchscreen, USB Port, 11 Font Styles

Love my pe800 it’s been a workhorse

EDIT; 05/11/19I HAVE LEARNED!So, reading the manual will help greatly in improving the nit picks I had in my review below. You CAN change bobbins in between colors (you have to detach your hoop, and not restart anything, just hit the arrow button then the 'needle' button to move the needle to a safe position before changing things). This is also the standby phase that I was looking for.Bonuses I have found- if a miss-threading occurs (a knot, or the fabric slips while embroidering- happened more than once) you do NOT need to start over, there is a series of buttons- that you wouldn't know actually do this- that rewind or fast forward the stick numbers (in increments of 1, 10, and 100 at a time). Luckily, you don't need to be exact, the machine's cross hairs backtrack with the buttons, so you'll know when you're back where the incident happened.Would still like to mention two nit picks;1) wish I could get a bigger touch screen, or a means to attach one without loosing the SINGLE usb port, the internal memory of the machine is only 6 to 12 patterns at a time.2) Even changing the design's multi-colors to a single color won't change timings- if you just want one color on all the phases you still have to progress the machine as if you has multiple colors (even changing them in the machine doesn't change this fact).ALSO, don't use metal bobbins, the machine will tell you when your bobbin needs changing during a pattern, but only on a plastic bobbin. A metal bobbin (I assume) cannot be properly scanned by the machine, so it will continue to embroider without thread in the bobbin, and will eventually stop in a knot.I'm leaving my older review bellow, unaltered.Pe800 owner; bought to assist in embroidery for a baby quilt I'm doing for a best friend. Did my research, with my lifestyle, and the amount of embroidery I plan on doing, this machine was best for my needs. I did buy the extra stabilizers and hoops, which have come in handy (also embroidery scissors have been a GodSend!; would also recommend buying extra bobbins).As someone who has only done this by hand before, some of the manual how-to settings are confusing at first (my first Brother machine), and playing around with the settings takes some getting used to. Nit-pic 1) Didn't know the bobbin couldn't be changed while the pattern was being preformed (try to replace it = starting over), nit pic 2) can't figure out how to move the hoop-bar without telling the machine I'm trying to disconnect the arm, this has lead to me almost bending my needle twice while attempting to tighten the hoop/ re-thread the needle (needs a 'resting/standby space' not directly under the needle).Five Star bonus- it threads the needle itself! Not sure how it does it, but you loop the thread through other parts of the machine and pull a leaver- instant threading! You can still do it yourself, but why would you? (nit Pic 3- the needle must be in a specific spot to work, the leaver will not fully depress if the needle is not where it needs to be).Still a five star machine- it just have to figure it all out I'm sure. PEBKC probably (or PEBEMC).

Very pleased with my machine. It arrived earlier than expected. I've completed a couple of projects and am looking forward to many more.

This machine is easy to use right out of the box and does an excellent job on virtually every fabric. Others have mentioned tension and thread breakage issues but I have had no issues with tension or thread breaking once I did two very simple things - first and MOST IMPORTANT is adding a simple felt pad to the back end of the thread spindle. This simple thing will save you from the frustration of broken thread. The reason is the thread spool spins faster than the machine can stitch the thread so the thread tangles and wraps itself around the spindle, the tension is off, the thread breaks. The felt pad reduces the spin of the thread spool so the thread pulls off at a controlled rate thereby maintaining the machine tension. So simple, but effective. The other trick is the spool net. This simple 'sock' keeps the thread from jumping off the spool. The felt pad and spool net eliminates virtually EVERY thread tension breakage issue, both these items are inexpensive and can be purchased here on Amazon. Who would have thought it could be that simple! I have used this machine to embroider cotton, wool felt, cotton cording, and vilene (used for lace making) and have had ZERO tension/thread breaking issues. So, back to the machine...easy and intuitive, but it does come with an excellent, easy to read, logical owners manual that will get you embroidering in no time. Lots of preloaded designs, the on board computer screen is large and easy to see, design edits are possible and easy to accomplish. Stitch size is a good 7x5" which is a very reasonable design area recognized by virtually every digitized designer. Accepts a standard USB flash drive, insert the drive into the machine and your designs are viewable on the machine's screen. Can't get much easier! If you are toying with the idea of purchasing an embroidery machine, do it! This machine will not disappoint you.