I'm an Early Learning and Child Care student and I'm about at the point where if I have to go into school on a snowy evening to use the Die Cut machine one more time- somebody's gonna get hurt. Time to bite the bullet and buy one for home use, and seeing as this is something I will be using for the rest of my career, I want to get it right the first time.

So some background: I use the dies I currently have access to mainly for titles for bulletin boards, borders, and occasionally to cut out some shapes for children to use in their art. The die cut machine at school is a manual one, and is massive. I mainly cut construction paper. Vinyl, foam, film, lame, etc are all very cool I admit, but I can't see me using those materials much. I have some experience with Photoshop and Illustrator- once upon a time I was a graphic design student before I decided sitting in front of a computer all day just wasn't for me. I use a Mac.

So I've narrowed it down to 3 options:

1) Craft Robo- I like that it's fairly cheap and smallish, integrates with Illustrator, and that there's no dies or cartridges to buy. I also really like the feature that it can cut out print outs or stickers. I see that being a lot of use. I'd probably have to buy it online.

2) The QuickKutz Silouhette- I've heard it's actually made by the people who make the Craft Robo, and has many of the same features. It also integrates with Illustrator, and I know QuickKutz is a good name. Unlike the Craft Robo I could probably find it in a store here.

3) The Cuttlebug- the only manual on my list. A lot of people have said to me that if I buy one or two alphabets and a few border dies I'll be set for my career, and it's cheaper. I don't know what mind to be of- at the moment this is all I really need, but as I said, I'd like to buy one and keep it till it blows up. I've heard lots of good things about this manual one.

K so opinions? Scrapbookers, teachers- I wanna know! Thanks!