Judy thanks so much for your through reply.
I agree with the comment that which ever one you might wish to buy is going to depend on what kind of quilts you are interested in making. I just got mine and haven't had the chance to even try it out but I can already see the potential for me.
1. No, it really isn't just for applique cutting although I am going to use it for just that very soon.
2. It comes with quite a few shapes built into the machine for patchwork that you use in many many blocks. So not only do you get a square you can change the size up to about 11.75 and as small as you want really. I don't know yet how small of increments it changes but I think you have the option of 10ths of an inch from what I have seen so far on Youtube
3. It also has quite a few (depending on which model you get is how many) quilt blocks that allow you to just size each piece and placing different shapes on the same fabric pieces...for example if you need to cut both squares and triangles for a block from a pink print you can place them together and have it cut at the same time...also the whole thing is resizeable so if you want to make a 4.5 inch block everything will be to the correct size when cut
4. if you can find a either a line drawing or even a picture of a block you want you can scan it in then you can cut the block piece by piece.
5. very true that you wouldn't use the Scan N Cut for strip cutting and it does only cut one layer at a time so if that is what you want to do...make tons of the same shape over and over at the exact same size then it might not be the best cutter for you.
6. if you are in to English paper piecing with paper shapes then you can cut a whole sheet of them with no scissors and have them exactly the same
7. you can cut template plastic which will be nice when I use the mylar plastic for my starch method applique
you can also cut cardstock, thin cardboard and poster board easily from what I have seen and read.
8. you can do a initial scan to use scraps that will then have the cutter only cut where the scrap is on the cutting mat and you can manipulate the shapes to get as many as possible on that scrap
My dear friend has the Go...both sizes and she uses it all the time but she tends to do the same type of project over and over also she has pretty poor eyesight and I know the small screen would be a problem for her.
You can join the online design board site and import and save online to a USB drive then import your work to the Scan N Cut which opens up a whole world of images and fonts. Although this is a good thing it kind of defeats the whole idea of everything being built into the machine but if you are comfortable with your online skills, which I am, then hopefully it's going to allow me to really expand what I personally can do.
I know the Go ladies are very passionate about their cutters but I think I am going to really love this machine. I also will say I am used to the Cricut system so it's not entirely new to me as it would be to someone who has never used any electronic cutting system.
Hope I didn't ramble too much as there is so much out there for those who really want to get the most out of their machine online, youtube and just discussions. Kind of like sewing machine preferences!