Review of Brother PE-780D Embroidery Machine

A few months ago I went in search of a reasonably priced, mid-range embroidery machine. My criteria for selecting an embroidery machine were reasonably simple. I wanted an embroidery machine with at least a 5" x 7" embroidery field, easy to use features, and the availability to transfer embroidery designs using a USB flash drive. The Brother PE-780D fit the bill perfectly. Now that I have had a few months to test drive the Brother PE-780D, I have come to a few conclusions.

The main selling features of the Brother PE-780D embroidery machine include its ability to import embroidery designs from your computer to the machine using a flash drive and the machine's built-in USB port. There are a few limitations with this feature, however. The machine can only read small designs. Further, when viewing the designs on the Brother PE-780D's monochrome LCD touch screen, the designs are difficult to distinguish. Unless the designs are very simple, they look like tiny blobs. Another limitation of downloading your own designs is that the colors shown on the screen are not always the same colors suggested in the thread chart accompanying the downloaded design.

Having the built-in USB port is wonderful, but in addition to the USB port you can still use the Brother memory cards. If you already have PED-Basic or PED-Designs, you can always use those to edit and tweak downloaded designs.

The Brother PE-780D also offers the user the ability to monogram or even stitch out words or short phrases using any of its 6 built-in embroidery lettering fonts. This particular feature of the embroidery machine is a bit time-consuming to use because the Brother PE-780D's alphabet is stretched over two screens. However, once the letters are selected, the Brother PE-780D allows the user to view precisely where the letters will stitch out in the embroidery frame and to switch between small, medium, or large font sizes.

Another fun feature of the Brother PE-780D is that it is one of the few embroidery machines that comes with built-in Disney designs. If you are a Disney aficionado or know someone who is, this machine can be a lifesaver if you need a last-minute gift. The Disney designs are adorable and vary in size and in stitch density, so you are sure to find something for the Disney buff in your family.

One shortcoming of the Brother PE-780D is that it only comes with the 5" x 7" embroidery hoop. While this size allows a great deal of flexibility, it is difficult to embroider small areas (like a newborn onesie or a child size t-shirt) using the large hoop. I ultimately decided to purchase a smaller 4" x 4" hoop to use for smaller items.

All in all, the Brother PE-780D is a fun machine to use. It does take some practice to get used to a new embroidery machine, but the learning curve is well worth a nicely finished product.