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Member since 8/26/10
Posts: 100
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2 Replies
Posted on: 11/24/12 12:02 PM ET
I've been looking at both the Magic Box and the Vibrant Box online, and trying to figure out the difference between the two. It would be for a Babylock machine. You can buy a new Vibrant box with card for approx $174.00. Someone had a Magic Box & 2 cards advertised for $85 (not sure if still available). Is one better then the other or easier to use? Are there potential problems in buying a used box?Is one more user-friendly? Can anyone explain, simplistically, how they work? Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
  
Member since 12/15/02
Posts: 8690
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Posted on: 11/24/12 12:10 PM ET
In reply to mollycoomer
If you machine has no way to hook up to the computer or doesn't use a flash card or disk or floppy to send designs to the machine then you would need one of these boxes. If you have any of the above there is no need for a box.I say this cos a lot of people early on were sold these boxes by greedy dealers and didn't need them. How the box works is this. It hooks up to your computer and comes with a writable card specificly for you machine. You put the card in the box and with software on the computer allows you to use third party designs other then what came on your machine. The box writes to the card the design you choose and then you put it in your machine to stitch out. These boxes are becoming obsolete as most embroidery machines out in the last 3 or so years have some way of accessing your computer or hook right up to it.
  
Member since 8/24/02
Posts: 7941
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Posted on: 11/24/12 8:40 PM ET
In reply to mollycoomer
The Vikant (Ultimate) box holds more than the Magic (it's a bigger card). I did the research between the two and I chose the Vikant. I wouldn't buy a used one, mostly because there might be problems you aren't aware of. I also heard that the Magic box could be difficult to work with. I can't say one was more user friendly over the other, because I bought just the one. But the Vikant won't allow you to preview the designs, nor will it print out thread colors, and it was because of this I upgraded to a PED-Basic box (by Brother).
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"Play the cards you are dealt, but choose who is sitting at the table"..AARP magazine

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Member since 2/18/04
Posts: 511
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Posted on: 11/25/12 7:18 AM ET
I have had both. The Magic Box died after a couple of years and I replaced it with the Vikant. The Magic Box software limits the number of designs on the card to only six whereas the Vikant is limited only by space. I was able to use my old Magic Box cards in the Vikant and was delighted to find I could load as many designs as I could fit on the same card.

The nice thing about the Vikant is that it can be read and written from within the Embird software and you can view the designs on the card from withinEmbird as well. So if you use Embird, I would definitely get the Vikant.

Good luck!
-- Edited on 11/25/12 7:20 AM --
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“I don’t know what the future holds, but I do know that God holds the future.”
Marie Killilea, _With Love from Karen_

Sewing with my lovelies: Pfaff Performance 5.0, Pfaff Passport 3.0, Babylock Imagine and BLCS, Brother PE770 and a chorus of vintage Singers
  
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