Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

After hearing about the Silhouette Cameo for a while and seeing what it could do, I was very intrigued but not wanting to spend a couple hundred dollars. I am not a hardcore crafter, but do enjoy the occasional craft every now and then. I wanted to start making my own stationary and realized that it would be handy to have one of these machines. After talking to many friends who own both the Cameo and the popular Cricut, the verdict was clear: Silhouette wins. When I saw that the Silhouette had come out with a smaller, cheaper version that did the same things as the Cameo, I knew I wanted it. It arrived very quickly and the install was easy. I was pleased to see a simple machine that sat perfectly on top of my desktop computer (it's so petite!). I plugged it in and got started with what I had on hand. The software is very user-friendly and reminds me of working in Microsoft Publisher. I found it interesting that the Portrait sounds like an old fax machine as it works. It's not loud, but not necessarily quiet. Either way, it quickly did its job and I was satisfied with my first successful attempt at an intricate design. I can't wait to try the sketching feature and cutting out fabric (for cute hair bows!). I love that you can completely make your own designs, but that Silhouette provides a bunch of great ones as well. They have free designs that are actually useful and a bunch of great videos online. All in all, I think that this machine is perfect for the random crafter who makes things on a smaller scale. The software is much easier to use and navigate than what I had originally heard, so I am very pleased about that. Again, I also love that the actual machine is very compact and unobtrusive. I highly recommend this to anyone wondering if they should take the dive or not.