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

Gilligan

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.

pats12

I'm no expert by no means on equipment. But i will say I have had a 650 for about 6 months and absolutley love it. I two struggled with the same problem when I purchased mine and the only regret or should I say problem is the cost of additions (ex. hat frame, software, etc.). But you should be able to use it enough to make the extra cash to buy some of those. In 6 months I now have the fast frames for the machine, software, cap frame, and additional hoops. But to sum this up I would recommend the Brother.