I have the Tru Cut Sharpener and feel it gives my blades a little longer life. Once they're no longer decent for cutting fabric I use them in another rotary cutter I have for cutting anything but fabric so I get a little more use out of them. I have my rotary cutters marked for what they are used for so they don't get mixed up. And yes, new blades are always the best.
I also found that having a seal healing cutting mat prolongs my blades too. I found when I was using my rotating mat which is self healing that I got much better cuts so when I went to replace my table cutting mat I got a seal healing one. This one is green on one side and black on the other side so if the time comes that the green side is too worn out (years from now) I can always turn it over to the black side as it also has the markings. My mat is 4' x 8'. Couldn't find a mat to fit the table I had so built the table to fit the mat I could find.