I would consider a Fiskars Fuse. The price is right down there now at Joann's. I think I've seen it as low as $79.99.

It's a fabulous, versatile, well-made machine. With shims, it takes just about any die. I don't usually use their shims, I use the big shot shims. The Fuse dies are worthless; don't waste your money on those. I don't use any of the Fuse things except for the machine itself. Love, love, love!

I would check out the Silhouette Cameo.

I own a Cameo. I also paper craft and do a few of my own designs. I would not use the Cameo if I needed 100 4" blocks or HSTs. The Sizzix, Accuquilt and Fiskars are far better for that purpose. You can put at least 6 layers of fabric on the die and cut it. The large models do more, some are powered. I've read that Go is bringing out a smaller powered model.

I started with the Sizzix for paper crafting, got rid of most of the stuff except the original Big Kick and embossing dies. So buying Sizzix dies was a no brainer since I had the machine.

I have the GO and love it. I find it very easy to use. There is also huge selection of dies and while some are expensive, I find most are reasonable priced when compared to like machines by other companies. It's worth the cost to be able to cut out a king size quilt in a few hours rather than taking days. Check out the ACCUQUILT die selection and price on-line. I think you will like what you see.

I have go baby and a sizzix smaller one. I would go for the big shot sizzix as dies from go fit.

Have you thought about the brother electric model I have heard it is very good and comes with about 300shapes too cut. Therefore don't need to keep buying more dies.

The biggest problem with the electric cutters is still how to get the most cuts. For instance, the Cameo only does 12 inches wide, but I can do 10 feet long. Most usually cut one layer at a time, so I might be able to lay out 3 4 inch squares on the width, and I'd need to count 4 4 inch squares in length. That's 16 inches. Now to figure out how to move and how much length of fabric I'd need. One the 12x12 mat, I'd only get 12 4 inch squares. I'd have to set up for enough fabric length to get 100 squares.

I've cut some complicated paper stuff on the Cameo, and it seems that doing a few layers at once on the die cutters is more efficient.

If you are doing a quilt with all different blocks and sizes of pieces, the electronic cutter is better. Easier to size, rather than find a die.

I concur! I just bought one and it's great. I bought mine on Amazon for about $100. I've bought and tested Accuquilt dies, Sizzix dies, and of course the Fuse die it came with. All work great. It's 12-1/2 inches wide so it can handle most of the Accuquilt dies. The Sizzix shims work great; for my Accuquilt die I use the Sizzix shim plus a piece of acrylic I had laying around the house and it's *perfect*. (The acrylic is .0925 thick - buy a scrap at any hardware store)

So much cheaper than either the Go or the Big Shot - leaves me with more to spend on fabric & dies! And it folds up nice and small. It sure is heavy though - made with lots of metal, which is a good thing.