Silhouette SD Digital Craft Cutter with $10 Gift Card

I gave a lot of good tips, so read all the way and really sorry that Overstock doesn't format reviews to make it easier for you!! The gaps are an attempt to break up my paragraphs.____ Quick summary: great for average to above average computer users, like creating my own designs, like not having to buy cartridges, cheapest way to go for die cutting machine (in my humble opinion), overall good investment_______________ First, a little about me. I'm a graphic designer with training in Adobe Illustrator. The Silhouette appealed to me because I could create my own shapes and it was cheaper than buying a more expensive machine plus a million cartridges with something like Cricut. I did a lot of research on ****** and Silhouette and found the most positive reviews for the Silhouette so I decided to buy it here._______________ I bought the SD because I liked the idea of an auto-load/eject vs. the original Silhouette manual crank. Now, though, I think it'd be ok with the manual crank. I've never used the "SD" feature of this Silhouette._______________ I was a little nervous about the learning curve with this machine, but it hasn't been a problem for me at all (I consider myself about a 7/10 for computer savvy). I think this cutting machine might be more frustrating for people who are below average computer literate or those who don't want to hassle with setting up shapes to cut in the most economical way (so to not waste paper)._______________ I use the red cap (for "thick" paper) most of the time as the yellow cap just wasn't cutting well enough. I think I use average cardstock from the craft store, like the DCWV stacks. If you have really thick paper like bristol, the plugin I linked to below allows you to set the blade to run over the design multiple times. I haven't tried cutting vellum yet, but supposedly this machine can do that with the blue cap. I tried to cut out some pre-printed designs, but it seems like it never cuts exactly the same way twice, so I gave up trying (even after creating the template I talk about below). This is the biggest reason why I didn't give it 5 stars._______________ PROS: - make my own designs - not much else to buy after the machine except cutting mats (see my tip below) and paper - can cut very long designs (not even sure how long because I've never had paper longer than 12") - small and light, super easy to store_______________ CONS: - with the proprietary cutting software that comes with it, paper is wasted - a little difficult to use with Adobe Illustrator - proprietary software is PC only Mac users need a plugin - for some, may have to buy shapes through the Silhouette store, but they are inexpensive - only cuts up to 8" wide (if you cut the 1/4-1/2" wider they claim it can, you have an indented line from the wheels) - loud - lint and pet hair clings to the cutting mats pretty easily. They are hard to keep clean, but still work fine when dirty like this - when I bought in Dec 09, Vista users had to download a new driver from the Silhouette website (not really a con, just an FYI)_______________ Even though I listed more cons than pros, this is a GREAT buy. I think the pros still outweigh the cons and I would buy it again and recommend it to friends. I guess I'm just paying more attention to the down sides that you probably won't read about anywhere else online._______________ I downloaded a free plugin for use with Illustrator (on PC, may work for Mac too) here: ____ http://www.************************** ____ You'll have to test and set up a template to get everything to cut on the paper with this plugin (I made a 8 x 12 document and added a small box to be cut just outside these borders and make sure all of my shapes are within a 1/4" margin of the document and haven't had a problem. The box doesn't cut on the paper, but it lines up everything else to cut properly. I can set shapes to cut almost right at the edges, so no wasted paper!!). If you know Illy and like the freedom it gives you, it's worth the frustration of figuring this out. This plugin gives you a lot of control over the cutting. You can set the paper type, pressure, how many times the blade runs over the design and even the line type (solid, dashes, dots!!)._______________ My best tip: buy the ****** brand cutting mats. They are thicker and I feel like they last longer. They are a lot cheaper than the Silhouette brand cutting mats. The only down side is that you'll need to trim them to fit in the Silhouette, but it's very worth it.