I am SOOOOO glad I finally upgraded to the cameo 3! I'm just mad that I didn't do it sooner! I had my cameo 2 for three years and never once was I able to get the silhouette blade to cut vinyl. I bought a CB09 graphtec blade soon after I purchased the cameo 2 and used it the entire three years. I ordered the Better Blade Holder when I ordered this cameo 3 and I am having SUCH a better experience cutting this time around. With my cameo 2, I spent forever trying to determine the perfect blade setting on my graphtec blade that would result in actual cutting! With this cameo 3, I spent about five minutes setting up the blade. The only reason it took THAT long is because on my very first test cut, my autoblade was set at a level 1 blade and managed to not only cut through my oracal 651 but also the paper backing COMPLETELY! I adjusted my BBH blade to make it shorter, but AGAIN it cut completely through the vinyl and paper backing like it was cutting through warm butter! I adjusted the blade once again and still had similar results. Therefore, I checked the silhouette software settings and reduced the default force level from a 10 to a 5. I have had 100% perfect cutting results since! I waited this long to get the cameo 3 because I read tons and tons of reviews of people saying the cameo 3 wasn't worth the money, didn't cut much better than the cameo 2, and they felt they had wasted their money purchasing the cameo 3. ALL of those people must have absolutely NO idea how to work the cameo because the cameo 3 is INFINITELY better than the 2! First, let me describe myself. I have a Mac and I am extremely proficient with computers. I never went to school to learn about computers but I have never had to get technical support for anything because I am able to solve any issues I might encounter myself. I am just naturally good at computers and self-taught. For example, I self-taught myself how to perform basic coding by googling on the internet. Prior to purchasing the cameo 2, I had read reviews saying that silhouette studio was difficult to use and I figured the people experiencing difficulty were most likely individuals who needed help when entering functions in Excel and/or trying to create a slide show in powerpoint. So, when I got the cameo 2, I was VERY surprised that someone with my capabilities also experienced the same frustrations of many reviewers. However, I would argue that the main problem with Silhouette is when I bought the cameo 2, there were literally no instructions on anything. So often, I would waste time trying to determine how to get silhouette studio to perform a task that it was not even yet capable of performing! The other main problem is that with the cameo 2 you can follow the vague instructions precisely and majority of the time the cameo 2 will still fail to cut as advertised. Therefore, I believe the cameo 3 is far superior because you can follow the instructions and wind up in the ideal situation where you are able to achieve the desired cuts. The only two things that surprised me about the cameo 3 was:
1. The shoulder bag that fits the cameo 2 will NOT fit your cameo 3 because the cameo 3 is significantly larger than the cameo 2.
2. The cameo 3 does come with TWO blade holders but only ONE of the two blade holders is an autoblade. The second blade holder is a plain blade holder just like the one in the cameo 2.
I ended up giving away all my blades to the person who bought my cameo 2 because I thought I would only need autoblades for the cameo 3. Then, after opening my cameo 3 I realized I still needed those old blades and had to buy more. On another note, it really doesn't make any kind of sense to me that one blade holder is plain and the other is autoblade. I mean, why wouldn't you make them both autoblades???!! However, this has been less annoying than I assumed it would be because I pretty much only cut vinyl and for vinyl the blade setting is 1. So, I literally haven't had to adjust my basic blade even once.
| Manufacturer | Silhouette |
|---|---|
| Brand | Silhouette America |
| Item Weight | 12.96 pounds |
| Product Dimensions | 24 x 11 x 9 inches |
| Item model number | 43235-35411 |
| Is Discontinued By Manufacturer | No |
| Color | White |
| Number of Items | 1 |
| Size | 12 |
| Sheet Size | 12 |
| Manufacturer Part Number | 43235-35411 |
