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If you are looking to make vinyl signs or stickers, cards, signs, posters, or anything in between, you are going to need the right tool for the job. However, finding a high-quality machine often means spending a lot. Today we are here to review a cheaper alternative to cricut cutting machines.
Silhouette SILHOUETTE-CAMEO-3-4T Wireless Cutting Machine
The SILHOUETTE-CAMEO-3-4T Wireless Cutting Machine is cheaper than Cricut machines and can deal with paper, cardstock, vinyl, and more. It’s one designed mostly for beginners, but it does have some more advanced features for pros as well.
Who is this product for?
The SILHOUETTE-CAMEO-3-4T Wireless Cutting Machine is designed for people who need a good cutting machine for small business or home needs, and for arts and crafts too.
It’s designed for people who need a very versatile and fairly high-quality cutting machine, but are looking for cheaper alternatives than Cricut machines. It comes with everything you need to get started, and although it’s not the most advanced option on the market, we think that it holds its own, especially for the cheap price.
What’s included?
The Silhouette SILHOUETTE-CAMEO-3-4T Wireless Cutting Machine comes with everything you need to get started right out of the box. Included are various tools and items such as the cutting machine itself, the Silhouette studio software, a power cable, a USB cable, a 12-inch cutting mat, and the auto-blade cutting blade.
Overview of features
What is surprising about the Silhouette SILHOUETTE-CAMEO-3-4T Wireless Cutting Machine is that it comes with some really advanced and professional-quality features, yet it’s a cheap alternative to Cricut cutting machines. The affordable price may not exactly be a feature, but it’s definitely something that we appreciate.
Speaking of features, the Silhouette SILHOUETTE-CAMEO-3-4T Wireless Cutting Machine can handle a wide variety of materials with ease. This Cricut alternative can deal with paper, vinyl, cardstock, and a variety of other materials, even very thin leather.
Another impressive feature of the Silhouette SILHOUETTE-CAMEO-3-4T Wireless Cutting Machine is that it can cut materials up to 12 inches wide and 10 feet long, which is impressive. It’s one of those cutters that can be used for some really big projects, such as making large signs and banners, vinyl stickers, large cards, posters, and more.
This is what we mean when we say that the Silhouette SILHOUETTE-CAMEO-3-4T Wireless Cutting Machine is extremely versatile. Moreover, this particular machine also comes with 2 mm of clearance, which while this is not the tallest clearance out of all options out there, it should be more than enough so you can work with some fairly thick materials.
Next, the Silhouette SILHOUETTE-CAMEO-3-4T Wireless Cutting Machine comes with a dual carriage tool holder, which means that you can cut and print, cut and score, and perform a few other tasks simultaneously. On that same note, the Silhouette SILHOUETTE-CAMEO-3-4T Wireless Cutting Machine is a very fast machine.
The Silhouette SILHOUETTE-CAMEO-3-4T Wireless Cutting Machine is a wireless cutting machine which means you can use the Bluetooth connection capability to easily connect to your PC, Mac, tablet, or smartphone. You might also like the Silhouette SILHOUETTE-CAMEO-3-4T Wireless Cutting Machine because it is compatible with the self-adjusting auto-blade.
What’s really cool is that it can cut and heat transfer vinyl without a cutting mat, something that not too many models can boast. This machine will also come with a barcode scanning feature so you can easily repeat the same jobs over and over again with awesome precision and great repeatability.
Silhouette also comes with design software, plus a database with over 100,000 pre-loaded design patterns you can choose from, and using the software, you can also create your own designs and patterns to cut and transfer.
Tutorial
What can be said about the Silhouette SILHOUETTE-CAMEO-3-4T Wireless Cutting Machine is that it is very user-friendly and really does not take much practice to use. However, if you would like more instructions and info about using it, we have included some videos that might help.
Below we also have a video comparing this particular model to a Cricut machine.
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Another Cricut Alternative
In case the SILHOUETTE-CAMEO-3-4T Wireless Cutting Machine is not exactly what you are looking for, there are some good alternatives. If you would like something that is still fairly advanced but comes with even more tools and accessories, the Silhouette Cameo Vinyl Starter Kit Bundle with PixScan Cutting Mat is something you might want to look into.
The features are not quite as advanced as with our main product, but it does still hold its own, plus it comes with some cool add-ons.
Conclusion
All in all, while the SILHOUETTE-CAMEO-3-4T Wireless Cutting Machine is fairly basic, it does have some great features, especially considering that it is like Cricut cutting machines but cheaper. We think that it is an investment worth making.
I had a Cameo cutting machine since 2012, everything went very and I could do almost anything until I updated to 4.1.479. Now I’m lucky to keep any work I’ve made or bought from the store, Since the cloud has been introduced. I would never recommend a Silhouette to anyone which is sad as it was a great machine.