So after 5 years of owning and using a Cricut Expressions Electronic Cutting machine, it has died. It was a sad day...sad sad day. I used that baby religiously. All my LOs had something from it. It was a great machine.
But now that my options are open, I want to see what is out there to weigh my options because of course, I am getting another one...right, husband?
So i've been researching and doing my homework.
I decided to look at 2 more popular cutters that fell in my price range, The Silhouette & the eCraft by Craftwell.
Here's what I found:
Here's what I found:
My first opponent:
Silhouette Electronic Cutter, retails $299.99:
The Silhouette SD from Silhouette America is a digital cutting tool for personal use that cuts many materials. It connects to your computer just like a printer, but instead of printing designs it cuts them with a small blade. With the machine connected to your computer, you'll get access to all of the fonts on your PC plus the thousands of cuttable designs. The Silhouette is a digital cutting tool can also use pens to draw. These pens are called sketch pens. Similar to the functioning of a home printer, it cuts paper and other materials like cardstock, adhesive vinyl, heat transfer material, rhinestone templates and other specialty media with a blade instead of printing onto it. The creative possibilities are endless with the Silhouette SD
What Can it Cut?
And the competition:
eCraft by Craftwell, retails around $299.99
Craftwell is proud to bring you eCraft...
The first and only electronic cutter that allows you to cut without a mat. Its ease of use combined with advanced technology makes the eCraft the perfect cutting system for all consumers- beginner to expert. It is ideal for scrapbooking, banners, paper crafting, card making, fashion designing, home decor, and so much more. The eCraft's unique design and paper feeder system make it easy to cut materials automatically, without the use of a cutting mat. Use the Paper Tray to stack multiple sheets at a time, or use the Roller to cut 12" by ANY length.
The first and only electronic cutter that allows you to cut without a mat. Its ease of use combined with advanced technology makes the eCraft the perfect cutting system for all consumers- beginner to expert. It is ideal for scrapbooking, banners, paper crafting, card making, fashion designing, home decor, and so much more. The eCraft's unique design and paper feeder system make it easy to cut materials automatically, without the use of a cutting mat. Use the Paper Tray to stack multiple sheets at a time, or use the Roller to cut 12" by ANY length.
The eCraft is ultra slim, and its lightweight design and onboard storage compartment let you take it anywhere. Use it on its own with SD Image Cards, or attached to a computer with the eCraftshop Design Software that comes in the box! With the large selection of fonts, shapes and designs, anyone can be an expert in minutes. Making great looking projects has never been easier!
- 3 ways to feed paper: from the front, the paper tray, and the roller. (no more messy cutting mats)
- Handles materials up to 12" wide by ANY length
- Draws and cuts without changing from a blade to a pen
- 2.8" backlit LCD display for easy navigation and image selection
- Works off of easy-to-store SD Image Cards, with hundreds of shapes to choose from
- No computer required, but eCraftshop Design Software included for greater versatility.
- Adjustable pressure settings for kiss-cutting (vinyl) and multi-cutting (thicker materials)
- Clear Cut Indicator lights up when the blade cuts all the way through your material
- Pause button allows you to adjust the pressure setting mid-cut (less mistakes = less paper wasted
What can it cut?
Paper (standard, flocked, glitter, magnet, adhesive backed), card stock, vellum, vinyl, felt, organza, silk, cotton fabrics, grunge paper, grunge board, wood veneers, chipboard, Fun Foam, and many other materials under 1mm thick. Want to decorate cake or cookies?...no need to buy a separate machine. Use the eCraft to cut Lucks Edible Image Food Decoration Sheets and easily add edible designs to cupcakes, cookies and much more!
Well, quite the comparison!
This was harder than I thought!
So let's break this down to pros & cons:
Silhouette:
Pros:
Cuts all types of materials
Connects to computer for endless cutting options
Use pens to draw as well!
Unlimited Creations!
Cons:
No catridges, dependant to computer
must have a mat to cut.
ECraft:
Pros:
No Mat!
Cuts all types of materials
pen & blade is same so you don't have to switch them out
Endless length to cut.
No computer required, uses SD images cards
Comes in pretty colors :)
Comes in pretty colors :)
Cons:
software needed for personalization
Hmmm, after sorting through those pros & cons, I think I have my choice.
I'm leaning towards the eCraft. And my main influence is the No Mats! Having the Cricut for 5 years, that's what bothered me the most. If I needed to do something, I had to make sure I had a mat that was sticky enough for the job. If not, I had to run to the store and spend $15 for more mats! It got really annoying to keep throwing money out like that. They do SD images cards which is similar to the Cricut's cartridges but they aren't as expensive and they have MANY more options!
But I want to ask you guys, Do you have a Personal Electronic Cutter?
Which one do you use?
Which one would you want?
My research continues....
12 comments:
I saw the ecraft in action at the Craft and Hobby Association Show. I like the ecraft for it cutting option and no mat...cannot wait to hear what you decide. I have the small cricut and am right at this moment having issues...thinking about what might be my next step..I am thinking the ecraft.
Lyssa! I was sold on the eCraft the second you said NO MAT! I HATE having to 1) FIND my mats 2) make sure they are sticky enough 3) UNSTICK EVERYTHING from said mat and 4) as you said, chuck out money to replace. Even though my Cricut isn't broken yet.. I'm leaning towards breaking it myself so I can get an eCraft! Please let us know your decision!!
Hi Lyssa,
I don't have a cutter yet, but after your review, I want the ecraft. Thanks for being so thorough. I'm new to your blog, and i'm about to check it all out. :o) thanks again!
Imani
Lyssa,
So you know I'm probably the last person you would want craft advice from as you know. But I actually have been leaning towards the Sillouette, because I think the cutting fabric part would be super useful in my house.
All in all, I think it depends what you are going to do more in your own house! :)
Hey, Lyssa!
What a great review! I have been looking into cutters too. I hadn't heard of the Ecraft, but was looking into the Silhouette and liked what I read about it. I ended up buying a Cricut Expressions at Wal-Mart during a clearance special for $99. Yes, only $99! I figured for that price I couldn't go wrong. I haven't had a chance to use it yet. We are in the middle moving into a house. (In the new house I'll have my own craft room. : ) No more cluttered kitchen table.) Do you have the computer software that you can buy for the Cricut? Want to know if it's worth buying.
Happy crafting!!
Love your blog btw
Bretta
Hey katie!
I'm glad for your imput! And thank you for commenting because it made me investigate some more and found that you can cut Fabric with the eCraft. So I just wanted to throw that out there.
Here's a site that experimented with it and came out with great results:
http://blog.gatheredthreads.com/2011/03/ecraft-fabric-cutting.html
Good luck in your cutter research! It's a toughy!
hmmm...whatever you get I can't wait to borrow it! Haha! and yay for 200 followers!
I have a silhouette but am intrigued by the eCraft. I had an expression but I sold it to get the silhouette. You will have to let me know how you like the eCraft. No Mat...what a dream!
Someone I read around Bloggy LAnd uses some type of glue stick thing to make it "sticky" enough even after all the stiky-ness is gone. Hmm?
I don't have one so I don't know about it all.
Girls I am using craft robo pro for last 3 years. I never ever used the sticky mats using instead pieces of same size postcard or more thick paper. the rollers are good enough to keep it material flat. The only issue with this type of system is that you have to manually load up each sheet of paper. after 100 or so times you have enough especially when you count the average 3 minutes cutting time and multiply by 100 or so. So e-craft with the feeding system for me is the only thing to go for
Iknow this comment is really late but oh well. LOL. I have the Cricut and I love it to death but I also have the eCraft. I purchased from HSN mainly because of the flex pays and since the Cricut doesn't allow to cut from SCAL any longer, I needed something that would. Umm, I don't like it. It tears up my paper too much. I can't get through one project without wasting paper. I have viewed tons and tons of videos, read the book, tested on scrap paper, everything I can think to do and it still doesn't work for me too good. I really think if it had sticky mats, the paper wouldn't tear up because it wouldn't have the opportunity to move around & it would be more stable under the pressure of the blade
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