I got the bad news today that my thirty year old Singer needs several hundred dollars worth of repairs, so I’m thinking of biting the bullet and buying a new machine. I took a look at a Viking 955E this afternoon. It’s an embroidery machine that uses a card and it’s being offered at what seems to be a good price —— $1299. I checked Pattern Review but could not find any reviews for this machine. My questions are:
1. Is anyone familiar with this machine?
2. Is this a good price for this machine? The price includes a reader/writer kit, a couple of sample embroidery cards plus a blank embroidery card, two embroidery hoops (one of which is pretty large), and a cover.
3. What, if any, limitations besides having to save designs to a card are there with this machine in terms of the embroidery functions? Is this machine a good choice for a total novice at machine embroidery?
4. How is this machine for regular garment sewing?
5. How well does the automatic tension function work? Does it work well on light weight fabrics? Is there any way to over-ride it?
Besides these questions, I would very much appreciate hearing any other comments on this machine.
Thanks!
Sherry
Replies
You might take a look again at the reviews on PatternReview at the Viking Platinum Plus. I think it is the same machine but the 955E is the newer model possibly with upgrades and a different color.
Thanks. I'll take a look.Sherry
I can't speak to the 955E, but I have a Platium 750, which is the same family. I love it. It does everything I want it to do with no fuss. I think your quoted price is a good one, considering a card reader/writer is part of the bargin. I'm also considering expanding into machine embroidery, and I admit the idea of messing with machine specific cards is not an option. I want to be able to download designs directly from the internet with no inbetweens. So that means either an upgrade to the Designer SE (gasp!) or a completly separate embroidery machine.
The Viking Rose takes specific cards too, but I bought a writeable card for mine that I have used over and over again through a decade. The only problem is that it erases all the designs on it, so you have to load new designs each time. Ask a few dealers if there is a writable card available for your machine.
I have the Designer 1, it's great, though I've found that it's important to get the best floppies that you can find, the colored ones aren't so reliable long term. One day, I'll either trade up to the Designer SELE or have my D1 upgraded to accept the memory stick.
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