The Silhouette SD Review (part 5): My Conclusion

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UPDATE: Please note that there is now a MTC-Silhouette Plug-in available that has made cutting to the Silhouette a lot easier. For more information, please read this post: Silhouette SD Plug-in Now Available!

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So it has been about three weeks since I first started playing with my Silhouette and I think it's about time I tell you what I really think about it. 

Before I proceed, let me say that everyone has different considerations when it comes to shopping for a new electronic cutter. What I use my machine for, may not be what you are looking for in your cutter. Bear in mind that I am primarily a card-maker and my requirement for a cutter is simple: I need it to work with Make-the-Cut and Lettering Delights and I need for it to cut well. By that, I mean I need the cutouts to look like what I see on my computer monitor. If I see a circle on the MTC Virtual Mat, I would like for my cutout to look as round as that circle on the computer monitor. Having said that, these are my personal observations.

(Note: I have included a scale rating from 1 to 10, where 1 is the Poorest score and 10 is the Highest.)

1. Perfect Print-and-Cut (Rating: 8 out of 10)

The print and cut feature of the Silhouette SD cutter has got to be the best excuse to get this cutter. As a complete newbie to the Silhouette SD cutter and the free accompanying Silhouette Studio software, I found it ridiculously easy to work with that feature. The accuracy of the cut blew me away. The reason why I did not give this a 10/10 rating is because I had to use the included software, Silhouette Studio, to make this feature work. The whole point of me buying a new cutter is so that I can use Make-the-Cut with it. I wasn't thrilled that I had to use a different program for the print-and-cut but since the Silhouette Studio was so easy to use, I will only take off two points. :)

2. Cutting Accuracy (Rating: 9 out of 10)

The cuts made by the Silhouette cutter were very precise. I was so thrilled to see the circle cuts looking perfectly round. I took one point off the rating because the machine does not make a clean corner when the cutout is small. It doesn't bother me but I took a point off anyway.

Silhouette cut is on the left, Cricut cut is on the right. Note the slanted eyes and crooked smile.

3. Design (Rating: 8 out of 10)

I love how light and small this cutter is. You can easily bring it to a crop since it's only 4Lbs. It doesn't take up much room and I love that there are only 5 buttons on the machine. I took 2 points off the rating because I don't like the blade caps. It is troublesome to have to switch caps so I just keep the pink cap on the blade and just adjust the Controller Thickness. Besides, having these little caps lying around is inconvenient. Since only one cap is on the blade at any one time, I had to find a safe spot of the other two caps. I've lost and found them twice already in three weeks!

4. Ease of Use with MTC (Rating: 6 out of 10)

I really wish that I can give this a higher rating. I do. I like this little cutter a lot and while I can use it with MTC, I have to mention that it is not recognized as a native plotter in MTC. Although you can cut through MTC with the printer driver, I have to re-configure the print settings every time I open a new MTC session. I also find it challenging to figure out where the cut-zone is. Because there is no Silhouette Virtual Mat in MTC, I find myself guessing where the machine will actually cut the paper. I ended up making most of my cuts on regular printer paper first just to see where the cuts will be. Once I know where the machine makes the actual cuts, I will, without removing the mat, place my color cardstock on it and send the commend to cut again.

5. Cutting Versatility (Rating: 6 out of 10)

This machine cuts vinyl very well and is also able to cut 80lb cover weight cardstock cleanly. Since that is the typical type of paper that I use for my cards, I am happy at what it can cut. However, I had to knock off 2 points in the ratings because it cannot cut chipboard- a material that I do cut occasionally. I deducted another 2 points because it cannot cut wider than 8". While I do not scrapbook nor cut many images larger than 4.25" x 5.5", I like to cut out the different layers in one pass by putting all the required colored cardstock onto a 12"x 12" mat. With the Silhouette's relatively smaller mat, I found myself having to cut the different layers separately instead of all in one pass.

6. Noise Level (Rating: 5 out of 10)

Said it simply, this cutter is pretty loud. ;-)

7.  Availability of Consumables (Rating: 4 out of 10)

This cutter is not available in any of the major craft stores in my area and so are the consumables. I did find many online stores that sells the accessories but I had to pay for shipping and taxes and still have to wait for it to get delivered. No instant gratification. I'm a cheapo and so I also wished I could find the cutter and accessories in Joann's or Michael's just so that I can use a 40% coupon on it. :P

8. Silhouette Online Store (Rating: 5 out of 10)

I like what I see in the Silhouette Online Store, especially the 3D items. Too bad it is too hard to try to use the .studio images outside of Silhouette Studio program. I would definitely have given this a higher rating if I could use those images in MTC.

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This marks the conclusion of my Silhouette SD cutter series of reviews. I am still learning about the cutter and the Silhouette Studio software and I'm sure that I will be posting more about this cutter in the near future. To read about my other posts about the Silhouette SD cutter, just click on any of these links:

Cutter 1 of 3: The Silhouette SD (part 1)
The Silhouette SD Review (part 2): Print-and-Cut
The Silhouette SD Review (part3): Cutting with MTC

The Silhouette SD Review (part 4): Cutting Different Weight Papers

More Silhouette Reviews by other owners.

Spring Break is officially over and the kids go back to school today. Perhaps it is time I break open the box containing the Gazelle...