Brother PE700II is a user-friendly embroidery machine. But is it really worth buying ? Especially when a better model is available at more or less the same price.
Brother PE700II Embroidery Machine – Main Features
- USB connectivity
- 136 built-in embroidery designs and 6 built-in lettering fonts
- Embroidery area of 5″ x 7″
- Automatic needle threader and thread cutter
Brother PE700II Review
Sewing Machine Reviews Recommendation Level : MODERATE
Brother PE700II is an embroidery only machine. As the name suggests, it is the upgraded version of PE700, which seems to be discontinued or is not readily available in the market. It has a maximum embroidery area of 5″ x 7″. The most important feature of this embroidery machine is the computer connectivity via USB port. This allows you to import designs from the internet to your machine. Thousands of designs are available at iBroidery.com, Brother’s designs website. You can also get machine software updates via USB. The LCD touch display is where most of the settings and controls lie. The display is very intuitive, even first time users will find it easy to use.
Another useful feature is the on-screen help, which means you can view tutorials on the screen itself rather than reading the user manual. However, on-screen help is limited to some basic stuffs, you still have to read the manual for detailed information. The machine comes with 136 built-in embroidery designs and 6 built-in lettering fonts, which on itself provides a wide variety of design options, in addition to the infinite number of designs you can get online. Also, Brother PE700II is compatible with Brother Embroidery cards, excluding Disney cards. The built-in memory allows you to store away your custom designs. You can also rotate the patterns at 1 degree, 10 degree, or 90 degree increments.
Decent lighting is provided by 2 LEDs. Automatic needle threader and thread cutter saves a lot of time. Top drop-in bobbin makes it easy to load. The maximum embroidery speed comes around 650 stitches/min. The machine weighs around 16.40 lbs. You will get a dust cover with this machine. Brother PE700II comes with 25 year limited warranty.
Included Accessories : Seam ripper,bobbins,needle set,cleaning brush,screw drivers,spool caps,spool net,scissors,accessory bag,operation manual, USB cable and reference guide
Usability
It has to be one of the easiest machine to thread, the automatic needle threader makes it even more easier. Regarding design imports, you don’t need any specific software to import designs, just connect the machine to your computer and download images in .pes or .dst format. Brother PE700II comes with the standard 5×7 hoop, but you can use hoops of different sizes. Loading the hoop is very easy. One thing I really love about this machine is the ability to pause the pattern, just in case you want to adjust something. You can even set the machine to stop automatically when it runs low on thread. The quality of the stitches are as good as those high end $1000 machines.
Limitations
It doesn’t come with a stabilizer. You have to buy it separately.
Some way the factory preset bobbin tension doesn’t seem right on this machine. This issue has been pointed out by several users. You will have to tweak it a little bit for the perfect results.
Pros
- Easy to learn and use
- Easy to thread
- Computer connectivity
- In-built memory
Cons
- Requires tension adjustment
- User manual needs improvement
Verdict
Brother PE700II is an easy to use, easy to learn embroidery machine. It is definitely an affordable and long lasting machine. By this time, I am sure that you have already read a lot of embroidery machine reviews and you should have come across a similar model called Brother PE770. It is the best seller among embroidery only machines. Both are similarly priced as well.
What makes Brother PE770 better than Brother PE700II ?
Both machines are the same. The difference is only in the kind of USB port on each machine. On Brother PE700II you have a USB cable port, which means you need to place your computer right next to the machine to import designs. Brother PE770 on the other hand has a USB port that can accept thumb drives or USB stitcks which is more convenient as you don’t need to place you computer next to the machine. You can easily copy the designs from the USB stick to your machine.
It is pretty much evident from the sale reports that most people prefer PE770 over PE700II. The report says 26 PE770’s are sold by the time when 1 PE700II is sold. So my recommendation will always be Brother PE770, as they have almost the same features.