Die cut machines?

[southernbelle5672]

I love to scrapbook and am interested in buying a die cut machine. I would like one that plugs into the computer so I don't have to buy any extra cartidges. I have no idea which machines fit this criteria. I saw the Quickutz Silhouette and the Wishblade but I have no idea how they are different. Is anyone willing to do comparisons for me or does anyone know of a website in which they are compared?

Thanks.

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

bumping. I know someone has the Wishblade.

I just sent an email to a friend that sold her Cricut for something else but I'm not sure what. Hopefully I will hear back from her soon.

 

[disney-akj]

I love SCAL software (Sure cuts a lot) which I use with my cricut expression.

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

Got an email from my friend:

I got the Silhouette, but the two machines are pretty much the same. I based my decision to switch on knowing that I didn't want to do the cartridge thing anymore either, I love the digi world and was always tweaking with Design Studio (Cricut) anyway (which I don't feel is a very powerful program yet), and I also felt that the cutting precision is much better with the Sil. I hear wonderful things about the wishblade too, and I don't think she will go wrong with either. I don't really know about the designs available for the WB, but the ones for the Sil are amazing and the customer service can't be beat. I never did a direct comparison between WB & Sil because the LSS in *our area* is a QK dealer so I got my machine there and also have a package where I get 25%off all QK items.

LOVE LOVE LOVE my machine and although I miss some of my cricut stuff, I'm not regretting the switch one bit!

Hope this helps!!

 

[southernbelle5672]

Thank you *so* much for e-mailing your friend and asking for me! That helps me a lot. My birthday is coming up and now I know which one I'm going to ask for!

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

Your welcome. I was really shocked when Denny sold her Cricut, she's the cricut queen, so I knew what ever she got it had to be good and that she really did her homework.

Hopefully your DH gets the hint on what you want for your birthday. Me, I buy my own gifts! LOL

 

[SalandJeff]

I have a Wishblade and really like it, although I have not had near enough time to play with it and learn all it can do.

Right now, you could get the Wishblade for $149 (it is usually $399) on tuesdaymorning.com. I'm sure they won't be there for long.

I believe these machines (Wishblade, Silhouette, Craftrobo) are basically the same machine, but have different software. There is also a cutter called the Gazelle which is supposed to be better and more user friendly than the rest.

There are a couple of Yahoo groups for Wishblade users and the folks on there have a variety of machines. They are all really helpful and knowledgeable, and I am sure you could get advice on which to get.

 

[rlovew]

All 3 machines are made in the same factory by craftorobo but they sell with different software and use different file extensions. I would buy whichever one you can get at the best price as they will all cut the same and most file designers (if you don't want to creat all of them yourself sell all 3).

Rebecca

 

[southernbelle5672]

I have a Wishblade and really like it, although I have not had near enough time to play with it and learn all it can do.

Right now, you could get the Wishblade for $149 (it is usually $399) on tuesdaymorning.com. I'm sure they won't be there for long.

I believe these machines (Wishblade, Silhouette, Craftrobo) are basically the same machine, but have different software. There is also a cutter called the Gazelle which is supposed to be better and more user friendly than the rest.

There are a couple of Yahoo groups for Wishblade users and the folks on there have a variety of machines. They are all really helpful and knowledgeable, and I am sure you could get advice on which to get.

Wow! I can't believe it is only $149 on tuesdaymorning.com. Thanks for the tip! For your wishblade, is there a "shop" that you buy designs for? I saw that the silhouette has a place where you can subscribe for $30/month and download as many designs as you want. Do you know if the Wishblade has anything like that?

 

[rlovew]

I have a craftrobo pro (started with the regular but wanted to cut larger and thicker things. I use www.paperthreads.com and http://www.visualdesignsbychris.com/store/home.php the 2nd 1 is where I get more things from now and they have a forum with contests where you can win more files and it will also give you the basics behind many of the machines. A lot of the ladies also own more than 1 machine (the designers) and they will help you find the machine that is right for you. Chris the owners has a quarterly memership club that does at least 25+ files and she just started a multidesigner monthly pack that ranges between $7-$10 and includes 10 files I think.

Rebecca

 

[SalandJeff]

Wow! I can't believe it is only $149 on tuesdaymorning.com. Thanks for the tip! For your wishblade, is there a "shop" that you buy designs for? I saw that the silhouette has a place where you can subscribe for $30/month and download as many designs as you want. Do you know if the Wishblade has anything like that?

I haven't looked into anything like this, so I am not sure. If you go on the Wishblade Yahoo group, there are a lot of people who share their cutting files for free, as well as people who sell files from their websites. And you will find users for all three machines on there, so cutting files for all three as well.

 

[Sillybowtie]

I did my wedding favors with Sure Cuts A Lot (SCAL) using my Cricut. I found the outline of Mickey's head and other "hats" and SCAL auto traced them for cutting. Just look up Disney wingdings and fonts and those can be cut out with SCAL. They also have different carts of Disney.

 

[Alice clones]

i just got my silhouette, my research said that they are all pretty much the same machine, so i just went and found the best deal that i could. my only frustration right now is that disney gsd files are hard to come by. other wise it is great, i have had it less than a week and have already used it a ton.

 

[MazdaUK]

I'm thinking about investing - but needed two new tyres on the car so happy birthday me!

I have a Xyron personal cutting system but I'm not entirely happy - probably because I don't have space to leve it out, and once I do get it out I have trouble with paper slipping

I thought if something was in the PC I'd be more likely to use it.

 

[Silent1CB]

I have a Wishblade that's been sitting in a closet. We are planning on connecting it up again so I can spend some time learning how to use it.

While searching online at all the free GSD files available now to download & just cut, I keep finding all these really nice 12x12 overlay files to cut, but sadly, a Wishblade only cuts up to 7.75" wide.

I would love a machine that cuts up to 12" wide that can use the free files you see online that are available in many formats.

For now, I think I'll spend more time with my Wishblade & see if I really use it & can learn it. Then, if I really can, I'll upgrade to something larger.

But I'm eyeing a Cricut Expression also just for those days when you want something easy. I need to stay away from shopping until I prove to myself that I might actually use these toys though.