Singer Quantum Futura CE-200 Review

Singer CE-200 has some nice built-in designs and stitches. But you will start hating the digitizing software for a variety of reasons.

Singer CE-200 Sewing And Embroidery Machine Features

  • 100 sewing stitches
  • 120 embroidery designs
  • Automatic needle threader
  • Programmable needle up/down
  • Twin needle control
  • Computer connectivity
  • Two hoops 4.5” x 6.75” and 3.125” x 4.75”

Singer CE-200 Review

Sewing Machine Reviews Recommendation Level : LOW

CE-200 is a sewing and embroidery combo machine. This particular model is not readily available in all stores though. It is very hard to find new ones on sale. The machine has 100 built-in sewing stitches which include utility, decorative, quilting, heirloom and 6 one-step buttonholes stitches. At the price, you must expect features like automatic needle threader and programmable needle up/down on this machine and Singer CE-200 has both of them on-board. The thing that makes this machine different from other embroidery machines is the ability to do regular sewing along with embroidery. So that you don’t need a regular sewing machine to do the basic sewing works. The stitch length and width can be easily adjusted. It has twin needle control. Programmable needle up/down button makes pivoting very easy.

The optimum power control on Singer CE-200 provides extra piercing power while sewing heavy duty fabrics. You can select the stitches using the one touch pattern selection buttons. You can also do mirror images on this machine. It has drop feed capability for free-motion sewing. There are 120 built-in embroidery designs and 2 fonts on CE-200. Two hoops are included with the machine, 4.5” x 6.75” and 3.125” x 4.75”. Something that is unique to Futura range embroidery machines is the lack of large LCD display. Instead of finding space for an LCD display, Singer moved all the advanced controls to the computer with the help of a digitizing software. If you need to edit or download embroidery designs, you need to connect the machine with the computer via USB cable. This can be an inconvenience at times, as you need to get your computer operating whenever you need to edit or customize something. There is no independent existence for Singer CE-200 as far as embroidery editing is concerned.

The machine has 3 stay-bright LEDs for working in low light conditions. The machine comes with 25 year limited warranty cover.

Usability

The sewing stitches are of decent quality. The built-in embroidery designs look nice and beautiful. But if you need more versatility, you will have to buy an autopunch software which is very costly. It costs much more than a regular beginners sewing machine. Since Singer CE-200 operates in tandem with a computer, sufficient knowledge in computer operation is required, which I guess is a thing to worry for older people who are not tech savvy.

Limitations

The hoop size is not good enough for large embroidery works.

The included software doesn’t offer a lot in value. Other softwares need to be bought separately and they are costly, most of them are in the $200 range.

Compatibility of the digitizing software with recent versions of Windows operating system is another huge bummer. The software will not run on Windows 8. Even disappointing thing is the fact that you need to buy FUTURA 2.5 upgrade software at $100 to make it work on Windows 7 (64 bit). Singer needs to do something about it, quickly.

Pros

  • Built-in designs and stitches are good
  • Decent stitches

Cons

  • Digitizing software has a lot of compatibility issues
  • Not very easy to use

Is It Worth Buying ?

Considering the compatibility issues with the digitizing software and the amount of money you need to spend on autopunch, I really don’t think that Singer CE-200 would be a good choice. An alternative machine I can suggest is the Brother PE770, which is an embroidery only machine with 136 built-in embroidery designs and 6 fonts. It has an embroidery area of 5″x7″ and has an LCD touch screen for all editing and stuffs. As far as ease of use is concerned, Brother PE770 is miles ahead of Singer CE-200.


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