Hi I am new and would like some advice

Hi I am new and would like some advice

Postby LINDA » May 19th, 2011, 5:50 pm

I have both the cricut expression and the imagine I am looking for a new die cutter that as the print and cut feature i cant afford the black cat i would love it but its £550 here to order it and it is out of my budget i have been looking at pazzels and the robo which would you advice as i am disabled and find it hard now to use my hands
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Re: Hi I am new and would like some advice

Postby MeFlick » May 19th, 2011, 6:10 pm

Hi Linda and welcome to the Black Cat forums. I can't really answer your question from my own experiences as I have only had the Cricuts and a Cougar and I am really not a queen of print and cut yet! However, I wanted to make sure you knew someone saw your question! In my years on cutters and software forums - I've heard mixed reviews on the robo, usually it seems pretty good reviews on the pazzeles, but I have heard over and over again that the queen of Print and Cuts is the Silhouette machine. The only knock I have really heard on it is that it doesn't cut very big - I'm not sure the exact sizes it cuts but I'm pretty sure it is smaller than the cricut expression so smaller that 11.5x11.5. Maybe someone who knows more will pipe in. (I've considered getting one just because I hear it is great with print and cut! - sad isn't it!!)

Now, if you wanted to sell off those PC machines you might get enough to get you a good cat! LOL I would recommend that you set up a "cat fund jar" and each time you get the urge to buy a new cartridge for one of them you put the money into that jar instead. At the prices of cartridges, you would probably be surprised how quickly that fund would build up to enough to purchase a small cat for your home!
Go Vols!
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Re: Hi I am new and would like some advice

Postby Phyllis » May 19th, 2011, 6:40 pm

Linda welcome to the BC forum. I do own a Silhouette and MeFlick is right that it is the queen of Print and Cut. Now I just got my Cougar so I haven't even tried that PNC feature yet. The Silhouette mat is for 8.5 x 11" paper but cuts a little smaller than that. When you use the Print and Cut feature your area is reduced even more but, without a doubt, for the price of these machines, it is great. I don't like the fact that you are limited to lighter weight paper (at least that is what I've experienced) but totally a great little machine.

I have never used any of the others you mentioned so I can't vouch for them. Of course, I know I'm going to love my Cougar, I just haven't tried all it's great features yet.
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Re: Hi I am new and would like some advice

Postby Retta » May 19th, 2011, 7:38 pm

Linda - I owned a craftrobo and I can't say I'm the norm, but my machine did not work properly. My friend in Michigan did have one also and it cut like butter. I bought the Cougar 13" because it did more - much more and works well. I don't know which one does the print and cut better as that is something I will do and have seen the lynx and the cougar do - well. But if you are only going to be cutting print and cuts and out of thinner materials, I'm sure someone here can advise you. You might try e-mailing Dawn directly as she probably knows. She may be sleeping at this time, but I'm sure she would answer you.

I hope you are successful in your quest! Good luck!

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Re: Hi I am new and would like some advice

Postby sherri » May 19th, 2011, 9:30 pm

Linda...WELCOME to our new home! We are so happy you decided to join us! I used to sell Pazzle Inspiration and it is a good machine. Everything the girls said above is also correct! Pazzle also has a plan that if you can afford to sign up for their craft room for I think 24.95 a month you can buy their machine for 199.00 and if you sign up for two years at 24.95 a month it will only cost you 99.00 for the machine. It is a great deal on a good machine. I never did a print and cut with it so I cannot attest to that but someone else might. Good luck in your decision and please hang around. We want to help all of the cutting community here no matter what machine you buy or which software you use. :-)
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Re: Hi I am new and would like some advice

Postby Thyme » May 19th, 2011, 11:07 pm

LINDA wrote:I have both the cricut expression and the imagine I am looking for a new die cutter that as the print and cut feature i cant afford the black cat i would love it but its £550 here to order it and it is out of my budget i have been looking at pazzels and the robo which would you advice as i am disabled and find it hard now to use my hands


Hi Linda, is it mainly print and cut you do?
The robo will do the better print and cut, but the Pazzles will cut more media - the robo is very limited on cutting force.
Alternatively there is also the Gazelle, that cuts well.
Otherwise, and I don't know what your budget is, we will have the Black Cat Lynx for £359.99 (without software) in 5/6 weeks in the UK
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Re: Hi I am new and would like some advice

Postby LINDA » May 20th, 2011, 1:40 am

Wow a big thank you ladies for the welcome and the much needed advice
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Re: Hi I am new and would like some advice

Postby MeFlick » May 20th, 2011, 7:40 am

Here is some information Julie Flanigan recently shared in her MTC Yahoo Group regarding the Silhouette machine and some others:

"For under $250, the only cutter I would recommend would be the Silhouette SD. However, it does not cut wider than 7.8", and its cutting pressure is not as high as the Cricut. It is not rated to cut greater than 80# cardstock. If I were looking to purchase another cutter, I would consider saving my money to purchase a larger format cutter. If you primarily do print and cut projects, and don't need to cut wider or heavier projects, then the Silhouette SD may be fine for you. Many people have UPGRADED to the Cricut Expression from their Silhouette, Wishblade, and Craft Robo cutters.

I don't recommend the eCraft because its cutting is unpredictable. If price is your limiting factor, you might want to consider the BossKut Gazelle or Pazzles Inspiration. The Lynx and Cougar are additional possibilities.

Julie, craftymusician@comcast.net Flanagan Educational Services
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MTC_Tuts/ "

Wanted to add that Julie has a large number of different cutters - she however does not (yet) have a Cougar or Lynx and she typically only provides input on ones she has actually owned or worked with which is why she simply says the Cougar and Lynx are additional possibilities. She will say that everyone in her Yahoo group who has a Cougar or Lynx seems to be happy with theirs. I'm sure Julie won't mind me quoting her here!

So again - anyone needs to determine what their "Needs" are from a cutter and the software they want to use with it. But remember, don't be short sighted in your "needs" - look past what you are or want to do right now and look somewhat into the future and think about what you might want to do later as well and make sure that the cutter you get will allow you that "growth" into other areas when you are ready to get there.

I have two friends I craft with fairly regularly. They both are amazed by my Cougar and what I can do with it. They both have Cricut Expressions, one just recently bought another one within the past 6 months because her other one was acting funny and she was afraid it was going to go, They both also just bought Imagines which means MORE cartridges that will only work with it. But yet then they say, they can't get a Lynx or Cougar because of the cost. I can't get them to see that they have way more invested in Cricut stuff in just the past few months and more $ to go out to PC because of the cartridge limitations then they would have to put out in a Cougar and then not need to keep sending PC money! They even have MTC that WILL work with their Cricuts - have had it for a long time. They just don't sit down and do the math because the cartridges are what they are used to and most comfortable with. I'll keep working on them though! LOL
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Re: Hi I am new and would like some advice

Postby CaseysAngel » May 20th, 2011, 8:59 am

I agree. If you can swing the Lynx at 359 (I don't know how Dawn did that sign for UK LOL) it would be great. Otherwise I would also suggest the silhouette though I will say that you are limited to less than 8 inches with it and it also doesn't cut very thick. May I make a suggestion? If you want one that's for print and cut why not sell the imagine to help pay for a new machine? I understand not doing this though if you want the ability to still PNC from cartridges but just a suggestion.

Good luck with whatever you decide honey.
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Re: Hi I am new and would like some advice

Postby Thyme » May 20th, 2011, 11:32 am

CaseysAngel wrote:I don't know how Dawn did that sign for UK LOL

Its cos I have a UK keyboard and they have £ and $ on them
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Re: Hi I am new and would like some advice

Postby CaseysAngel » May 20th, 2011, 11:38 am

Thyme wrote:
CaseysAngel wrote:I don't know how Dawn did that sign for UK LOL

Its cos I have a UK keyboard and they have £ and $ on them


Well that's just plum cool.LOL
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Re: Hi I am new and would like some advice

Postby Thyme » May 20th, 2011, 11:47 am

lol, isn't it just
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Re: Hi I am new and would like some advice

Postby sherri » May 21st, 2011, 1:15 am

It's because Dane has ALL the cool tools.
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Re: Hi I am new and would like some advice

Postby LINDA » May 22nd, 2011, 2:55 am

Many many thanks ladies for your advice i might hold out then for the black cat do you know how long it will be before it's sod in england i would love to see a live demo before buying
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Re: Hi I am new and would like some advice

Postby Thyme » May 22nd, 2011, 4:51 am

The Lynx will be available in the UK in approx 5 weeks.
I am happy to give demos to anyone who can travel to Derby
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Re: Hi I am new and would like some advice

Postby LINDA » May 22nd, 2011, 7:09 am

Great I will try and make it I would love to see it so will book an overnight stay ,I have my own craft forum so i know my members will be interested many thanks ladies
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Re: Hi I am new and would like some advice

Postby Thyme » May 22nd, 2011, 8:32 am

okie dokie, once you see them in stock on the website drop me an email and we will set a date for you to visit
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Re: Hi I am new and would like some advice

Postby MeFlick » May 25th, 2011, 7:32 pm

Thyme wrote:The Lynx will be available in the UK in approx 5 weeks.
I am happy to give demos to anyone who can travel to Derby


Oooh - I don't necessarily need a demo of the Lynx but I do want to travel to Derby and hangout with Dawn! LOL Think my family will miss me?!!! :lol:
Go Vols!
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Re: Hi I am new and would like some advice

Postby Thyme » May 26th, 2011, 3:12 am

MeFlick wrote:
Thyme wrote:The Lynx will be available in the UK in approx 5 weeks.
I am happy to give demos to anyone who can travel to Derby


Oooh - I don't necessarily need a demo of the Lynx but I do want to travel to Derby and hangout with Dawn! LOL Think my family will miss me?!!! :lol:


Come on over!
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Re: Hi I am new and would like some advice

Postby Suzan » May 26th, 2011, 9:23 am

I think everyone wants to hang out with Dawn, Sherri, Christy, Rachell, and Tyler. What could we call our selves crafting groupies.
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