PDW's in Battlefield 4: Carbines are Better

PDW's or Personal Defense Weapons in the game Battlefield 4 are nice to have for the sake of variety, but once you unlock the carbines, their usefulness is greatly diminished.  Everyone will have their preference though, and I am speaking in broad terms.

Benefits of some PDW's as compared to carbines

• lower recoil
• better hipfire
• Groza 4 comes standard with silencer
• immediately available

Drawbacks of some PDW's compared to carbines

• decreased damage (this is quite variable)
• less damage at long range
• less accurate
• available only to engineer class

MP-7 PDW  - Battlefield 4 screenshot

The benefit I can see most with the PDW's is their hipfire capacities.  If you play very aggressively and are constantly rounding corners and finding enemies, then taking advantage of the hip fire of a PDW is a good tactic. 

One major thing that is nice about the carbines is they can be used by all the classes in the game.  If you find a carbine that you really like you can really get to know and use it well and across classes.  That can really improve your game.  If you don't have crazy amount of time to devote to the game, but still want to be very good, then focusing on a handful of weapons is a great strategy.

Another thing that is nice about the carbines is that they can be fitted with the target detector once you unlock this accessory.  The target detector can be very helpful to both you and your team.