Pazzles Inspiration Creative Cutter (DISCONTINUED MODEL 2014) Replaced by Inspiration Vue

I received the cutter as a Christmas present. I was particularly interested in it's ability to cut fabric. My first attempt to cut fabric was not successful, but I was able to cut stencils very easily. The documentation was horrible! I spent several hours trying to finish the first project in the manual, only to find out that the instructions did not match the software. After waiting well over an hour to speak with a customer service rep, I was told that the manual was not correct! I would have expected some notice on the website which I search for while I was on hold for an hour!The machine itself looks very interesting and I am still excited about using it. It appears to be capable of cutting a great variety of materials. I thnk it is well worth the rather high price in my opinion.Evelyn Townsend

Like most people who are looking for an affordable desktop compact machine that cuts their own artwork I thought that this was the right machine for me, I'm not an avid arts and crafts person I just wanted something to experiment with and mass produce eventually and I thought that the $500 or so machine would be a good idea to start up with, but in the user's manual p. 14 #5. "The Inspiration is not a production machine. Using the Inspiration for business purposes will void your warranty" an indirect warning an added jinx or guilt, depends on how you see it, if ever you choose to use it for business.I return the machine for the second time and for good:The first time the blade holder went through the motion but did not cut, that is the blade holder did not land for cutting, so I called the company and they replaced the machine, which I had to wait 2 weeks for back order.When I got it for the second time it malfunctioned, it cut all right but it went through some of them in a sharp up-down left-right zigzag motion adding pointy spears and slicing through dividing them in halves and sometimes 3rds and that using a file saved in illustrator8 as required, before that it cut a simple circle, using the Inspiration software, half way, I had to run cut again to finish cutting the other half of the circle, mind you I had a full circle on screen.Before I use the machine I ran upgrade downloaded form their website for the machine and the software.The MatThat thing is so sticky I could hardly pull the paper off of it, causing the paper to rip and leave paper bits on the mat, even when using their own spatula in a gentle rocking motion which left glue residue from the mat on the paper and the spatula itself, so you'll spend 75% of your time trying to pick paper bits or wipe glue residues, and it change the paper structure curling and sometimes creasing it.The Cutting QualityI used a stock paper medium weight, input the variables in for the blade and pressure, and yet it did what I consider a low quality cut, sometimes it chewed or snips the edges as I go faster or even slower depends on if you have really intricate sharp angular edges. Regular crafting paper 12"x12" cut a circle perfectly but struggled when tried to get it off the mat, and that's when it rips.After all that I knew where this was going and didn't want to waste my time with it anymore.(cons and/or pros)You have to dedicate at least a 3X2 Sq Ft work space for the machine if not moreUSB cable about 6 feet longUser Manual has adequate information to familiarize you with the software, a piece of cake for advances usersSoftware is goodThe Machine is noisy during cutting, and it hums or winnnnns when idleI don't think that this is an industry standard machine, which might explain the warranty clause on p.14 in their user's manual. Unless you're a crafter who's looking for an alternative to die cutters, stamps, etc... and have the space or money for it, don't buy this machine.

I am very happy with this product. While it's an investment, the flexibility it offers has given me a lot of creative opportunities with my scrapbooking/cardmaking/etc. Some reviewers commented that it eats paper but I have not experienced this (I've also followed the directions very closely). It can't do things that are *super* intricate or have very thin lines, but overall even on this front it exceeded my expectations. I've only had it a few weeks or so but I have used it a lot - so far so good. You will want to purchase the  Pazzles Inspiration 12-Inch By 12-Inch Cutting Mat, 2-Pack  - once the stickiness runs out it won't work as well. You will also want the  Pazzles Inspiration Replacement Blade, 2-Pack .

I bought this for my wife for her business. I did a lot of research on these products and this one was at the top of the list for the price range. Unfortunately when it arrived, my wife said it was too complicated to learn how to use. She's not particularly tech savvy so I don't know if it's too complicated for anyone or just the average woman in her early 60's. I offered to figure out how to use it and teach her, but she declined citing that she probably wouldn't use it much even if she knew how to work it. We returned it and received the full purchase price without any problems.