FYI, Baby Lock/Brother has their own version of the Endless Hoop, it's just called something else. It costs somewhere in the range of $100-200 for the Ellegante, last I checked - though this was a few years ago, so it may be different now. At the time I got mine, no machines lower than the Ellegante could use that hoop. I don't know if that's changed.
Machine quality aside, there is one big advantage to going Brother/Baby Lock over Viking. It's WAY easier to find compatible parts and feet. First, it's easier to find someone who deals in either Brother or Baby Lock, and if you've found one you've found parts for the other. (The only exception is with sergers.) Second, you can even use most Singer or Janome feet on Brother and Baby Lock machines because they all use the same low-shank. The prices on this pool of feet is much lower than Viking tends to be. Hell, ALL parts and accessories for these brands tend to be cheaper than Viking.
Unless this has changed recently, when you buy Viking, you're locked into their unique foot scheme. It's...strange.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2013-07-23 02:15 pm (UTC)Machine quality aside, there is one big advantage to going Brother/Baby Lock over Viking. It's WAY easier to find compatible parts and feet. First, it's easier to find someone who deals in either Brother or Baby Lock, and if you've found one you've found parts for the other. (The only exception is with sergers.) Second, you can even use most Singer or Janome feet on Brother and Baby Lock machines because they all use the same low-shank. The prices on this pool of feet is much lower than Viking tends to be. Hell, ALL parts and accessories for these brands tend to be cheaper than Viking.
Unless this has changed recently, when you buy Viking, you're locked into their unique foot scheme. It's...strange.