It is easy to see why scrapbooking die cut machines are so popular at the moment. They make a scrapbookers life so easy and can produce amazing results on your scrapbook pages.

The Provo Craft Cricut range of machines, I would say are the leaders in the computerized die cutting machine market at the moment. However I think it is beneficial to all to consider the other brands currently on the market, like the Xyron Wishblade, which stacks up well in comparison.

Cricut has a range of electronic die cutters including the Cricut Create, Cricut Expression and Cricut Personal. They are super popular because of their effective marketing. Given this, many people rarely look twice at the lessor known brands on the market. It is certainly a shame machines like the Xyron, which are not as well known, amazing features on offer. If you can handle not having the designer brand scrapbooking electronic cutter, then it is worth a look at.

The main problem people come across with Provocraft's Cricut range of electronic die cutters is the constant ongoing expense of the wide range of Cricut cartridges available. Most people would like a range of different fonts and shapes for their various scrapbooking projects. The initial purchase of a Cricut machine is not to expensive, but it is the high cost of the Cricut cartridges, which can easily add up for anyone who likes just a small variety. 

Most likely you will get bored with one or two Cricut cartridges of the same shapes and fonts, so you most likely would want to own around 10 cartridges. This is unfortunately out of the budget of many scrapbooking enthusiasts.

If we consider the wonderful Xyron Wishblade Cutting machine though, you will notice that the initial purchase of Xyrons computerized die cutting machine is just slightly more than a basic Cricut Machine. However the Xyron has one big advantage and that is that it needs no cartridges. You can cut any shape you can find and also cut any true type font you can download online. With this amazing cost saver, a group of Wishblade users have joined online to enable other users to share and swap images.

So if you are serious about building a collection of fonts and shapes and you want lots of variety without the expense, then perhaps this is the better machine for you, as the ongoing costs of the Wishblade for the wonderful variety it offers, is much less than the Cricut Die Cutting Machine.

However when we weigh up other features of the Xyron Wishblade, it would be prudent to also point out its one downside. Unfortunately there never is one perfect machine that does everything for everyone. Although the Xyron Wishblade is fantastic and cuts the same as the Cricut range of machines, without the massive expense, it does however have one tiny disadvantage.

If you are social scrapbooker, who meets at friends houses for scrapping days or you attend scrapathons and like to share your cool scrapbooking tools with your friends... one thing you have to take into consideration is that the Xyron Wishblade compared to the Cricut Die Cutting Machines, isnt as portable. The Wishblade needs to have access to a computer, where all the graphics and fonts are stored, as they arent stored on the machine. So if you own a laptop, then this may not be an issue. If you dont however, it will have to stay put at home.

The Cricut computerized machines though do not need to be connected to a computer to have access to all the fonts and shapes. That is why they work on cartridges which are more portable. If having a portable die cutting machine is a major concern for you, then unfortunately the Xyron Wishblade cutter may not be for you. If portability is not a concern if you own a laptop, then seriously look at buying the Xyron Wishblade if you require a die cut machine that enables variety at a great price.