# Go time... PR-650 (new) or SWF-901 (used)



## Gilligan (Dec 11, 2009)

Here is the deal.

Looking to get started/setup to do some embroidery work in house.

I have a buddy that would probably sell me his SWF-901 for 5k. I might even be able to work out a "layaway" deal where I leave it in his shop till I pay it off and we both can use it till then. He would also likely show me the ropes on this machine and embroidering in general (he doesn't do any digitizing himself, so just working the machine).

OR

I could buy a Brother PR-650 new for about 8k (adding some accessories). If done NOW, I could take advantage of the pre-summer rebate deal. (anyone know what that $500 gift certificate is about?) For this one I'd have to pretty much max out some credit cards which I just paid down and really don't WANT to do. BUT, I could see myself paying it off pretty easily. We live in our means rather well and are able to pay down good chunks of debt at a time (usually 1k+ a month) and that isn't including any extra income from having this machine. So I'm not terribly worried about going into debt over this.

The main crux is... the 650 would be fine for what we do and you can link up to 4 together. It would be more portable than the SWF and we aren't sure where we will be keeping it as of right now. Another thing is that the SWF is used. He has two SWF's the 901 and a 1501... he says, if something will go wrong on a job it will be on that 901... he basically has developed a hate for sewing because of that machine. He is rather candid with me about his operations.

So... do I take the cheaper "better" machine and just make sure it's serviced and in good order (what will that cost)? Or is it possible that machine is just too far gone? (I'd say it's less than 5 years old). 

Or, do I buy a new 650 for more money but know that I have a machine that almost NO ONE sells after they get it and know that I will always have some job for it even if I upgrade later?

This dilemma ALMOST seems so cut and dry... but then it gets cloudy in my mind all over again.

Need some expert opinions.

FYI, this is a side business for me that I'm building up... I don't even really "officially" exist. I just get word of mouth work. My real gig is my computer repair business. But I don't mind having "too many" business going.


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## zoom_monster (Sep 20, 2006)

Both are good machines. My experience is that the SWFs are not as good at embroidering caps. Another thing to consider.. who can, and will service the machine and how far away are they based? You will end up learning to fix stuff yourself ( and you will break stuff enventually), But if you can take advantage of service sweeps, knowlegable techs and parts that are not too far away you will save money in the long run.


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## Riph (Jan 11, 2011)

I only have experience with the Brother machines. The service issue is key, though. You can throw that Brother in the back of a small wagon and drive to a dealer for service. Where I live, that is a key differentiator.

Good luck!


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## selanac (Jan 8, 2007)

One thing to remember is that as long as you're a business you can write off the equipment cost.

Yes you have to have the money or lease the equipment, but you still write it off. 

If your friends equipment is still in great shape, you could probably find a good company like Direct Capital to pick it up, and lease it to you with a very low end of lease buy out.


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## tfalk (Apr 3, 2008)

I have 2 PR600's and an SWF/E-1501T so I'm familiar with both machines. As mentioned, the nice thing with the PR series is you can throw them in the back of a car and take them to get fixed if need be. Another thing to consider for a newbie - if you stick with the stock Brother frames, it's virtually impossible to damage the machine - it won't let you go outside of the hoop unless you bypass the sensor. It has fewer needles than the SWF and in general will run somewhat slower than the SWF. Other than that, they are pretty much bullet proof.

The SWF has a much larger sewing field and more needles which may or may not be a consideration depending on your expected usage. As a commercial machine, it has more capabilities but it's also much easier to allow it to damage itself than the Brothers are. If you tell it to run a design that is larger than the hoop you have on the machine, it will happily run along until it hits something and breaks - operator beware...

Something else to consider from an operational point of view. The Brother will tell you where to put thread colors on the machine and automatically switch back and forth between them as it needs to. The commercial machines don't understand colors so you need to tell it which needle to use for every section in your design. If you program it wrong, it will stitch the wrong color. The Brother is much more user friendly from that perspective...

In general, we use the PR600's for designs that have less than 6 colors. Anything more than 6 that we have to do multiples of, we run on the SWF rather than constantly rethreading. I also find the SWF is much better for doing jackets since it has a lot more room for the jacket to drape and not get pulled in underneath the needle. We also have a sequin attachment on the SWF which occasionally gets used, it adds a nice touch on some items.


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## Gilligan (Dec 11, 2009)

Great info Ted... Thanks, unfortunately it just makes the decision harder.


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