Cricut Maker, Smart Cutting Machine

03/14/2021: As of this writing, Cricut has decided that if you use their Design Space Software (the only software that works with their machines), that you can only upload 20 of your OWN IMAGES per month. Cricut never properly configured their "offline" mode, so everything you import into Design Space is ultimately stored on their cloud (and also your computer). Well, they are now limited uploads to 20 a month unless you cough up $10 a month for their Cricut Access. So, just to be clear, these are YOUR images to use/cut on YOUR MACHINE that you paid for. This would be equivalent to your HP printer only allowing you to print 20 of your own documents before hitting a paywall. Until they reverse this decision, I will NEVER purchase another Cricut product again and recommend everyone check out Silhoutte's product line. 08/23/2020: I had the Cricut Air Explore before this and I didn't use it a whole lot. I had been reading about the Maker and decided to take the plunge. I bought the machine on Amazon for $329. As soon as I brought it home, set it up and did my first test cut, I heard a terrible knocking noise when the carriage was moving back and forth. I emailed Member Support that night and awaited their response. But, being it took so long to get a response, I just opted to return it to Amazon and get another one. The second one did not have the noise, but did have some scuffing on my brand new machine. So far, I was frustrated.  Note that this review will also be about the software, support and whole Cricut user experience and not just the machine. These three things are all intertwined. I think my biggest frustration is that right out of the box, you can't do much with it. I realize it's not going to come with a pallet of supplies and tools, but for the price paid ($329 as of this writing), it only comes with two blades - one fine blade and one rotary blade (for fabric). Oh, and two mats that are bent in the box. Bare minimum, it should come with a sample piece of vinyl, HTV, cardstock or something simple, a scraper and a weeding tool. You're going to have to buy a LOT of extras if you want to even make half of the cool stuff with the Cricut Maker. The sheer # of blades/tips you'll need gets costly. I bought the knife blade (which requires its own housing), the debossing tip, the engraving tip, the scoring wheel, the DOUBLE scoring wheel, deep cut blade (not the same as the knife blade) and extra mats. And I didn't even buy all the blades/tips. The blade system is intense and confusing. Some blades have their own housing, and some blades/tips are swappable. The fine point blade and the deep point blade require different housings, as does the knife blade. The first night I was trying to use the knife blade, I kept noticing the material I wanted to cut was greyed out. After some Googling, I found out you cannot use the knife blade if you're using the mobile app (like on an iPad). WHAT? That doesn't even make sense. I'm still peeved about that. One blade that everyone wants to use and you can't use it with your iPad?! I mean, there's even an iPAD HOLDER on top of the Maker! So, the only device I could take to my craft room was my iPad, and for some insane reason, the knife blade would not work with iOS. I almost sent the machine back then and there. I ended up buying a brand new laptop just so I could use the knife blade. Many people don't have the luxury of dropping $100s on a new laptop just to use one (very important) blade with the Maker. In addition to the laptop, I've spent 100s more to explore and make things on the Cricut Maker: additional mats, scoring blade, replacement knife blades, engraving tip, debossing tip, loads of vinyl and HTV, chipboard, leather, sticker paper, a brayer, masking tape... you get the idea. This is not a cheap hobby. :) I've cut leather, vinyl, chipboard, stickers, HTV, cardstock and balsawood. I've used the engraving tool, the debossing tool, the knife blade and the scoring wheel. I've made tons of vinyl decals, a chipboard cuckoo clock, stickers, mandalas, keychains, leather items, earrings and more. I encountered several bumps along the way; shredded chipboard, ruined vinyl, mat jammed, and an incident where I cut through the entire mat in a nice oval shape. Though I consider myself pretty tech savvy and an experienced crafter, this machine does have a moderate learning curve. While it's amazing that it cuts over 100 materials, oftentimes, the first material setting you choose may not be the right one. There are tons of material settings and picking the right one is often a case of trial and error. It wasn't until I'd ruined several pieces of chipboard that a kind crafter mentioned that you should always do test cuts first. Duh. I ended up creating a spreadsheet (another tip from a kind user) and keep track of all my material settings. My 2nd biggest frustration is Design Space. This is a common pain point for a lot of users. Though Cricut claims you can use the software "offline", you still have to sign in, so if your internet is down, you're out of luck. To date, I haven't found any way to use Design Space offline. Aside from having a Cricut Access subscription, I'm not sure why the software needs an internet connection. I haven't hit too many roadblocks with the software itself, however. Cricut Access is great if you're new, but once you get more experienced, you'll likely buy or design your own SVG files. Also, nowhere when you're about to cut does it tell you what mat to use. Super confusing if you're making a project with multiple media. My latest, and biggest, peeve with the Cricut Maker is the Print then Cut feature. Stickers are very "in" right now. I have a graphic design background, so making stickers was something I very much wanted to do with the Maker. The feature itself is not new and has been around for several years. My first few attempts with Print then Cut were OK, then someone mentioned you needed to calibrate it. Duh. After that, it's been hit and miss in terms of getting it to cut right. I had one night where the cuts were so bad they were nearly 1/2" off from where they should have been. I've calibrated, re-calibrated and even got to the point where Design Space said "Don't panic. Hmm. Your machine cannot be calibrated after three tries. For assistance, contact Member Care". I sent an email to Member Care and it took them TWO WEEKS to respond to me. Imagine if I was using this machine to run a small business! Despite finally getting it to calibrate (with no help from Support), I'd say about 1 out of every 10 sticker sheets cuts what I'd call perfect. The rest, the cuts are shifted slightly right/left or up/down and get worse further down the page. This is a COMMON issue and it seems most people have trouble with it. Even if you watch tutorials on YouTube, you'll often see their stickers don't cut perfectly. So, if you're looking to get any of the Cricut machines to SELL stickers, I'd look elsewhere. If you don't mind calibrating your machine every 10 sheets and enjoy imperfect cuts and borders, this is the machine for you. Overall, I like the machine, but when one of the most fun things you want to make with it doesn't work well, it's just maddening. I very much wanted to sell stickers, but with the quality control issues this machine has, you just can't. You can't rely on it for perfect cuts.