I love my Accuquilt (Studio II). I also occasionally cut by hand, but cutting using die cuts is so much faster. I line up the grain most of the time and have no trouble sewing things. I get great accurate cuts with the die cutter and usually get accurate cuts with rotary cutting as well using a variety of brands of rulers. The advantage of die cutting to me is faster cutting so I can piece more. Biggest downside is the fixed size of the die cuts. Usually I adjust blocks to fit the size dies I have, if possible. If not, I hand cut.