I have a Brother Emb Only and I love it. It has 4x4 & 5x7 hoops, and just sews so nicely. It is a 750D. I also have a Viking That is a sewing machine as well as Emb, but I do not change it over to sew regular, too much trouble, & I have a Janome thet sews regular, so all I need is Emb. Hope you get what you are happy with. Hugs, Judy

Alma, I have the Janome 300E and I love it! It's embroidery only, and has both 4x4 and 5x7 hoops. It is the least fussy machine I've ever used. I never have to adjust tension or play with it, and it seems to be happy with most any kind of thread I put into it. I've even done FSL with cheap cones of serger thread from JoAnns, and other that a lot of lint, I could actually walk away and let it sew, never broke that cheap thread. I really like the separate machines, because I can embroider something like FSL that will take an hour and at the same time sew strips for my quilt. The Janome 300E was replaced with the 350E shortly after I purchased mine, but the view screen in color wasn't like anything I couldn't live without. Bet you could pick up a used one in really good condition for a song. They're so simple, isn't a lot to go wrong with them, any problems with mine have mostly been, um, operator error. My dealer often has a good laugh at my expense. Of course, you could also probably get a really good deal on a used Janome MB4 (drool, drool) which is a 4 needle, and up to a huge giga hoop, too. Really, seriously, my dealer had a used trade-in in great condition for about $4000. The 350E you could probably get used for way less than $1000, maybe even $500. I could ask my dealer if you want, dying to go down there anyway...Best of luck, and hugs, Marji

I use my Bernina 830 LE mostly for embroidery. I have another machine I use for sewing. I guess I am a bit lazy about having to change the settings just to sew up something.

Alma, I have the Janome 350E and I love it. I can use the 4X4 hoop, 5X7 hoop, and even my Giga hoop with it. I have never had any problems with any tensions or thread. I use mostly Metro thread with it. It has turned out to be a wonderful workhorse for me. Never quits. I looked at the Bernina as well and then I found out that Janome was making the embroidery machine only for Bernina. Before this I had a Husqvarna Designer I that I ended up hating. I love my Janome machines. Hugs, Mary

I have a Melco EP4 which is identical to the Janome MB4. I had a very good deal when it was introduced in the Netherlands - got €1000 worth of all sorts of stabilisers, stabilisers, threads, and lots more. I love the machine, it's a reliable workhorse and with 25 kg my husband can move it and pick it up easily (I can't- just too heavy for me). And I love not having to change threads when the design has up to 4 colours. Largest hoop size is 200x300 mm which is smaller than the Brother's 6 needle one. Still dreaming of a 12 or more needle one, but I'm not worth it - too expensive for what I do with it, and too old to start a serious business.

I had the Janome 300E and loved it so much that when I got the chance at a good deal on the 350E I took it and sold my 300E to a friend who now loves it. I have the Hat hoop, tiny hoop and gigahoop, which I have not used yet. It does 4x4 and 5x7. I do wish it could do bigger designs, but I can get creative.
I have a Husquvarna #1 sewing machine with all the stitches and feet. so I think I have the best of both machine worlds without spending thousands of $$$$$$.

I have a Babylock 10 needle. The biggest hoop I have 14 x 14. Huge... the smallest hoop is 2.4 x 1.6. I love this machine it is very versitile. meets all me needs. Even does hats with hat hoop. My machine has 2 sets of hoops. very handy.
Suzanne

I have a Brother 780D that does up to a 5x7 hoop and is embroidery only. It was my first machine and I found it to worked very well. I have since upgraded to a Quattro but kept the 780D as a backup or to be able to run two machines if I am preparing for a craft show.

I have a Janome 350E and I love it. I especially love the fact that it can use a flash drive. It makes it very easy to transfer my designs to my machine. I have it humming away when I am using my sewing machine(also a Janome). The 350E has a 4X4 hoop(110x126), the 5x7 hoop (140x200), it can use a small 2x2 hoop (50x50), or if you can split your designs, a giga hoop. All in all, this is a big bang for your buck.

I have had two emb. only machines. My newest one is a Brother 780D...with a 4x4 and 5x7 hoop... built in Disney designs and a lot of other designs. I use both hoops and find that usually the 5x7 is plenty big enough for what I want to do.

My machine is a little picky about threads, and I don't know if all Brothers are....but I cannot use rayon thread or Sulky of any kind. (can't use Metro either)

I love the emb. only because many times I'm sewing on my Viking sewing machine while the Brother is doing the emb. I would not like to have to switch back and forth on one machine.

My dealer wanted $1000 for my 780D Brother. I found it on Amazon for much less plus free delivery and he met the price + I get everything else in the store for 20% off as long as I own the machine.

MJDG

Bernina 640 is extremely reliable and a real little workhorse.

I have a Brother 780d and I just love it... only goes up to 5x7 though

I have a Brother PR 650 that is embroidery only. Its great but I dont get to use it enough

A HUGE Thankyou to everyone who had any input into my quest for an embroidery-only machine. Generally I feel that the Janome 350E and the Brother 780D seem to be the machines that might fit the bill nicely and that has narrowed the field to a workable size. I'll be doing some intense research during the next few days.
In the meantime I found this interesting information....

http://www.echidnaclub.com.au/images/pdfs/Brother%20PR650/MultiNeedleExplained.pdf ....

and thought you'd be interested, too.

I'm not into any commercial venture and I even think it might be a downward step going from the HVDII embroidery to a smaller machine but I've been very impressed by the comments from the experienced stitchers about the two machines mentioned above.

Finance is always a big consideration, of course, and another expensive machine is out of the question for me so I appreciate fully the help you have all given me. We do all seem to love the machines we are using but the Janome 350E and the Brother 780D seem to be all-round winners.
I can now go ahead and plan with a clear goal in mind. Thank you, all.
Alma.

I have a Designer 1 machine and I use it for embroidery only. I have a Juki sewing machine I use to sew on plus the Sapphire by Husqvarna which is a sewing and embroidery machine but only has built in stitches which I never use, because I like the wide sewing field that's why I bought it. I don't like to sew on my Designer 1 for some reason. I just like to embroidery on it. Plus a serger so I have enough to keep me busy so I sew while I embroidery to get things done. Roberta

I have a Brother 750 D embroidery only machine, app. $1500 AUD, but compared to the Diamond & the Elna Xquisites, the stitch outs leave much to be desired, (IN MY OPINION) so I keep it purely to be able to (legally) use Disney designs.
I guess it depends on how fussy you are as I suppose I am expecting a bit much comparing it to the most expensive machines available.
The Brother Rep called it an ENTRY LEVEL machine and I was STUNNED, I told her I didn't consider a fifteen hundre dollar, embroidery ONLY, machine to be "entry level"

I think Polly's Janome's both stitch better than the 750 D and I don't think they cost as much, you could write and ask her.
PM her if you don't have her emad.
hugs n rose, Meganne