Setup was close to impossible. Instructions are poorly done and clearly not written by an English speaker. Significant aspects of setup simply are not mentioned.
YouTube videos helped immensely to get the thing put together. On-line live support chat was frustrating at best. When finally making progress it cut me off because the "chat was too long." When, after the holiday weekend, I reached a real live human at US Cutter he was EXTREMELY helpful and got the thing working in minutes. Again, there were significant setup components that the instructions just do not cover. Hopefully, they will do a new YouTube video that could be a godsend.
NOTE 1: If you have a Mac, you can't directly use this cutter on a USB port. You need an adapter.
NOTE 2: The software necessary to run the thing only comes with a one year activation. You have to buy a separate annual renewal or (expensive) lifetime license.
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I reviewed several cutters/plotters in this price range for about a month prior to the actual purchase. After weighing the pros and cons of each, I finally settled on the US Cutter MH-721.I received the item a day earlier than the expected delivery date, which was surprise seeing as how so many shipments are usually a day or more late.
I opened the box immediately and began assembling the stand. The assembly instructions are vague as to how to actually assemble the stand, but with a little patience and a quick pre-assembly review of all of the components I managed to get it assembled in under ten minutes. Just remember that the vinyl roller/holder brackets go on the out side of the stand uprights (I wasn't paying attention and just slapped the first one on). Except for that one minuscule hiccup in assembly, it was fairly easy. With that said however, US Cutter needs to rewrite their instruction manual. It is a little confusing to follow, but once you get passed trying to follow the manual and just use common sense, it is a breeze.
After physically setting up the stand and cutter, I began the long and painful process of getting it installed and able to communicate with the computer. There are about 15 billion people on the internet that have the same question regarding set up using the USB cable, and there are exactly three people on the web with answers. I installed and uninstalled the software and drivers about five times with NO luck in getting it installed, and finally gave up the first night. When I came back the next evening, the cutter magically began working (Better lucky than good I always say). I used a simple piece of card stock paper and the pen attachment to test the cutter and make sure it was able to communicate with computer, and it plotted everything I could throw at it.
Received the vinyl last Friday and switched out the Pen Attachment for the blade holder, and fed my first piece of Vinyl through the machine. My first several cuts were used to adjust the machines cut speed and cut pressure. After the first several cuts, I didn't have any issues with the cutting of the vinyl itself. There is a small learning curve with making sure the vinyl is fed correctly and with the start position of the cutting carriage. Simple enough to learn, but a pain when you don't pay attention and it slices through a design you have already cut.
All in all this machine is great. It does everything it is advertised to do and then some. The only limitation is vinyl size and your imagination.
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The truth is this thing carries it's weight. This thing paid for itself 100x before I even replaced the first blade. I use this plotter and a Roland CAMM-1 Pro GX-500 54" in my sign shop, and honestly I tend to use this thing more. For the price, this plotter is well worth it. Some reviews claim this thing is garbage, or hard to setup. It's true the manual was a joke. It reads like a 4th grade Chinese ESL student wrote it but setup only takes two minutes so I'll write down the steps real quick.Download the driver from support.uscutter.com
Double click it, and extract it to your desktop
Right click on computer, click manage
Go to device manager, and look for US Cutter blah blah as a device
Right click it, select properties
Click driver, and when the window pops up point it to the folder on your desktop
You should see the .inf file, and the computer will do the rest for you
Install the signblazer software, and when you "setup" look at the model number, not the name.
How easy was that?
This machine doesn't go without a few complaints though. The "software" that they distribute with this plotter is from a now defunct company. Its garbage. In reality, the only thing the software is good at is charting a course. (typically) Trying to use this plotter for 24" vinyl sucks too. The blade is set like 4" into the cutting area, so trying to line it up for a 23" x 120" banner is gonna screw up your whole world. It cost me an entire roll of reflective vinyl the other day. At the very end it started to slip so the vinyl bunched up and it ruined the sign. $45 down the drain and it delayed my project. It happens, and I knew I should have used the big boy. You just get used to what you normally use. I make about 500 signs/decals a day with this cutter and rarely do I have an issue.
Honest reviews on USCutter 28 in Vinyl Cutter Plotter with Stand and SCAL Pro - New
I did a bunch or research B4 finally falling on the MH-721. like any item you can find bad reviews online but i must say i couldnt be happier! the quality of everything it came with is insane! it cuts in such fine detail that i couldnt even see that fine to remove the waste vinyl! i have never used one of these B4 but joined the US cutter website and using the forum i had answers to anything i could ask within minutes so by the end of the day i knew everything i needed to know.The pen attachment is awesome you can run paper thru and it will draw perfect pictures on the paper! This is very heavy i think it was 46 lbs shipped! if your choosing this one you wont be sorry!!
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i received this machine 3 weeks ago.. went through process of the installation and preparation and flipped the switch to turn it on and DOA... i called the company ( us cutters ) to go through the steps of diagnosing the problem etc.. we came to the conclusion that it needed to be returned. not a problem at first because the job that it was purchased for is still 3 weeks away.waited a week for return label,no email. 2nd call and said they would send ( e-mail ) and that i wasn't in the system,2nd week still no email, 3rd time called again, said it takes a while for the email to arrive.. wha..? called today 4th time and 3 weeks later still no email and has purchased a cutter from a different company and is still waiting on the email.. my advice is to leave us cutters alone and purchase somewhere else, simply because of the service that have..
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