Brother Designio DZ820E is one of the best embroidery machines around. It comes with quite a lot of accessories as well.
Brother Designio DZ820E Embroidery Machine Review
- 130 built-in embroidery designs
- 5″ x 7″ embroidery area
- $200 worth bonus accessories
- USB port
- Automatic needle threader and thread cutter
Brother Designio DZ820E Review
Sewing Machine Reviews Recommendation Level : HIGH
Brother Designio DZ820E is an embroidery only machine. With the large 5″ x 7″ embroidery area, you can embellish any article in a professional manner. It gives you the flexibility to do large designs quite easily.This machine belongs to the Designio series of machines from Brother, primarily made for designers. It comes with 130 built-in embroidery designs including 6 lettering fonts and 120 frame pattern combinations.
The best thing about Brother Designio DZ820E is that, you have option to choose from 5000 embroidery designs from iBroidery.com. You will also get 200 designs on an included CD. You can import all those designs via the USB port. You can store the imported designs in the machine’s memory for later use. So practically, you have no limits on the number of designs you can have.
All the settings and features can be viewed on the reasonably large LCD touch screen. One good thing is that, it has built-in tutorials to familiarize yourself with the machine. Which means, you don’t have to search for the user manual each time for help. The bobbin is easy to load as it is drop-in type. The sewing area is brightly lit by built-in LEDs. Brother always had better lighting than any other sewing machine brand.
Brother Designio DZ820E comes with automatic needle threader and automatic thread cutter. This machine has so many automated features that a newbie will find it very user-friendly. This machine can stitch at a speed of 650 stitches/minute. This machine comes with 2 extra embroidery hoops (4×4 inch and 2.5×1 inch) and a starter kit, which Brother says is worth $200. Not sure about that though. I did the math and found out that the value comes to $101.99 when you buy them separately, excluding the 200 designs CD. I am not really bothered about the CD as you can get any design from iBroidery.com.
What you get in the box
• DZ820E embroidery only machine
• Dust cover
• Embroidery Starter Kit
• Embroidery hoops (5″ x 7″, 4″ x 4″ and 2.5″ x 1″)
• CD with 200 exclusive embroidery designs
• Embroidery bobbin thread
• Scissors
• Spool net
• Spool cap (3)
• Large screwdriver
• Small screwdriver
• Seam ripper
• Cleaning brush
• Needle set (3)
• Bobbins (3 plus 1 on machine)
• Embroidery foot Q
• Power cord
• English/Spanish operation manual
• 25 year limited warranty
Usability
Brother Designio DZ820E is very easy to set up. If you follow the directions correctly, threading is a walk in the park. Customizing the settings and selecting stitches is very easy, thanks to the user-friendly LCD touch screen. The screen will tell you if something is wrong. The included CD doesn’t contain any attractive design, pretty basic stuffs only. I think you will be better of downloading designs from the website. When it comes to the embroidery area, it is large enough for designers do their creative works.The machine is sturdy with a very good motor inside. It sews beautifully.In addition to the USB port, Brother Designio DZ820E also has a slot for the old fashion Brother embroidery cards.
Limitations
Some may find automatic needle threader to be slightly tricky for the first few attempts. It isn’t an issue once you get used to it.
Pros
- Very easy to use
- Quality stitching
- Sturdy machine
- Quite a lot of accessories
Cons
- Slightly tricky automatic needle threader
Verdict
It is an excellent embroidery machine. This machine has all the features that a designer will look for.
Brother Designio DZ820E is the same as Brother PE-770 feature wise, except that you get bonus accessories and starter kit which Brother says is worth $200. As I said earlier, I really don’t think that the bonus accessories are worth $200, to me its real value is around $100. PE-770 is cheaper, but the price difference almost evens out when you consider the value of bonus accessories you get with DZ820E. Virtually there is nothing that separates these two models. The only difference I can spot is that Brother PE-770 is way ahead of Designio DZ820E in sales volume.
If you ask me which model I would buy, I will go with Brother Designio DZ820E. The reason is, I can save the pain of searching and buying the right accessories that suits the machine. And that is the only reason.