Used Viking #1+ - Questions

Hi. I hope there are some Viking #1+ owners in this group that can give me some advice. This machine was a traide-in at a local dealer's & he told me that to embroidery on it, I can use expensive Viking cards or buy Amazing Designs but that would involve a $700 for a card reader/writer and a card. The machine came with Embroidery Card 1 that does have an accompanying casette. Does that mean that every Viking card I buy will also have an accompanying casette for the designs on the card? And what is the "O" casette?

The other casettes I have are B, D, E, F and L.

I bought this machine primarily because I've been told that it's a great sewing machine, and secondarily because it does some embroidery. I'm a little disappointed in the buttonhole sensor foot, but otherwise this does look like a great machine.

The dealer said that a good embroidery option to consider is to buy a dedicated embroidery machine such as Janome makes rather than to buy a reader/writer box. Is that a good plan?

I would greatly appreciater any info, advice, and/or comments.

Thanks, Sharon

Seeker wrote:

I had a used 1+ until about six months ago. It is a nice machine. I really enjoyed mine. I took it in once for repair and my husband traded it in on a used Designer1 for me. I didn't complain. The 1+ had a few glitches that I attribute to having a lot of embroidery time on it. The Designer1 is working out better for me. First, you can get an after market reader/writer box which will save you some dollars. I used the Vikant's Ultimate Box very successfully. ($200 range but make sure you get the right output port for your computer). You get reader/writer software and a blank card to put into the 1+ when you purchase the Ultimate Box. It can be written over with whatever designs you want to use at the time. You need to store the designs permanently elsewhere. The card capacity is limited and you want to be able to reuse it without worrying if you have your design saved. You do _not_ need a new cassette with each card. If you purchase Viking designs, you _do_ get a card (plugs up into the machine and is little) as well as a cassette (covers the keypad and is used to touch select the designs and is a larger rectangle). When you use designs from another source, you write them on your Vikant card and use one of your other embroidery cassettes to touch select the designs. Go by number rather than what is listed on the card. Do not use the lettering cassette with the embroidery card. I made that mistake. It sounds simple now but I didn't have that figured out at first. They both used the embroidery unit on the machine but the cassettes are not interchangeable. You don't have to buy the Viking software unless you want it. It is pricey. You can get along with the Ultimate Box and downloading designs in the correct format. If you need a converter or editor, the basic Embird program gives you lots for a very reasonable price. With the Ultimate Box or one like it and Embird, you can get set up and running for cheaper than buying another embroidery machine. There are alternatives to the Ultimate Box like the Amazing Box but I don't know much about them. Do a little research and I think you will be surprised at how quickly you could get set up and running for far less than $700. If you have other questions, post again and I will try to lend a hand. Enjoy that 1+. It is fun.

Marilyn in MN