Honest to God, I just sold my Sizzix Big Shot Pro Westminster last night. I liked it and used both Go and Studio dies in it. I never bought Sizzix dies because they were never available when I was at stores that carry them - sold out - so I always bought Go dies. I eventually bought a Studio Tumbler die when I accidentally ruined my Go Tumbler die in the BSP. The first pass through the BSP machine and I was in love with Studio dies! Accuquilt was having a 50% off sale in February this year. I bought a 17" block Studio double wedding ring die set. The middle of the rings is 10.5 inches so I thought "Great! The BSP will take up to 12 inch wide dies!" Well, this huge box shows up with the set. I looked at the middle die board and knew I had screwed up. Bad. That sucker is 15 inches wide! I caught a Studio sale in July and bit the bullet. I am happier with everything I have being from the same company. I bought the correct adapters to use Go dies with the Studio cutter (No more crushed dies from over shimming ; RIP Go Tumbler die :( ) which work perfectly. Accuquilt is all about quilts, quilting and educating you about their products. I would go with a Go, or if you can wait for a sale, get the Studio and never look back.

P.S. I sold the Big Shot Pro to a lady very into scrap booking.

I just recently went through all the research (and angst) to pick my fabric cutter system. I eventually settled on the accuquilt go! Big, bought the 12" qube, a couple of the drunkards path dies and some strip dies. What finally tipped the balance was the electric and that I wouldn't need to crank the dies through. I can sit with the cutter on a table at perfect sitting height and run the dies through without needing to stand for leverage while turning the handle. Standing for any length of time is very painful for me and really limits my mobility, and I didn't want to add shoulder problems to the train wreck that is my lower back and legs.
This was not a cheap purchase (no kidding right?) and I will be selling my bernina 430 to pay for it as soon as it comes back from its tune up, but I have already cut out my first quilt top (in 3 hours!) and have the next 3 projects already planned with fabric purchased and ready to go. I really love how easy it is to use 🙂

Personally speaking, I'm not one for expensive cutters, and their equally expensive dies, I'll just stick to my rulers, I'll use the money for fabrics or batting, sorry I can't help with your decision.

sizzix can use the go dies but not the other way round due to the thickness of dies. silhouette is a electronic cutter so there are no dies. The only qualm I have with dies is they cost a lot and only do one size so you spend a fortune and are limited. Mine collects dust to be honest and there can be fabric waste. I would say if you have a lot of money to invest in dies of different sizes go ahead but if you don't you will find it very expensive. luckily I didn't buy my machine so not a lot invested

The fabric waste part of using any system really concerns me. It's the other half of the reason I've held off. Thank you for your candid answers. I'm going to continue thinking & saving up for it. Any more great tips on minimizing fabric waste or cutting price on dies?

If I were to buy one, it would be electric (I tried to turn the handle of the Go and it was just too painful for my hands and arms), but price is a concern as is fabric waste so I am saving and waiting.

I bought the Silhouette Cameo basically to cut non-fabric and to use with creating applique. I have had it for about 18 months and used a number of times, but frankly use it more often for non-fabric purposes (admittedly I don't do a lot of applique!). Last Thanksgiving, when Accuquilt was having a significant sale on their machines, I bought my own Christmas present and got a GoBig--the electric one. My shoulder thanks me everytime I cut out a quilt. While I still use my rulers and rotary cutter for trimming,single cuts, etc. I find the few dies I have do a great job in giving me lots of options--I bought the strip bundle with the machine (plus you get a FG die with your machine purchase), with the strip bundle you can do strips, squares, rectangles, diamonds, bias binding. I also purchased the log cabin "block on board" (complete block), 2 sizes of triangles in squares (like you cut with Tri Recs rulers), and a half square rectangle. I plan to purchase a drunkard's path, just trying to decide size. Also want a Cube (bundle of several dies that all make specific size of block--6" or 9" or 12"--can't decide on which size to buy.
I don't really understand the concern about fabric waste--I don't find that I have any more waste than when I use the rulers and have to keep squaring up the yardage. If you watch the videos on the Accuquilt website they show you how to lay the fabric out so there is minimal waste. I'm going to try OnebyOne's idea on dies. I find the Go Big is well worth the cost for me-due to my shoulder issues, the quickness, the accuracy and ease of use. definitely check their website.

I bought a Go! Accuquilt set up on Craigslist. It was during the time when there were a lot of problems with Craigslist and the couple selling it were scared spitless. But I am a little old lady in a minivan that was fairly new. I looked ok and had cash and they let me in. I got a good deal and have added to my die collection every chance I get.

Thanks for the tip on email notification. Accuquilt also has a page for inventory so that you don't get confused and get two of the same die. The latest one is the butterfly quilt by Edytna (sp?). I cut it out of 10 inch batik squares. Then after about 5 butterflies, I figured out how to judiciously cut them and have enough left over for a half hexie. My cutting was so bad I know I am saving $$ and fabric by having the Go!

There is very little waste using the Go. I have 1/4" waste around the outside cuts. Those that cover the whole die with fabric have lots of fabric waste. That is done for demo purposes when time is more important then fabric waste.
Die cutting machines are not gadgets, they are machines and all I have used are very well made. They are so nice that my guild has several for the members to use. Members have to supply their own mats and dies if they want different ones then what the guild has. All the donation quilts we can finish in a year can be cut in just a few hours.

Have you considered purchasing a used Go? I did that and it came with several dies. Found out it was harder on my hands (arthritis) to crank it than to use a rotary cutter. So I sold it and all my dies (about 15) for around $200. I know a few other people that sold theirs with all their dies at very reasonable prices. You might want to check with local guilds, and online places like EBay. Just a thought.