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47 of 53 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Seriously... just wait ***updated***, November 10, 2009
This review is from: Provo Craft Gypsy Unit for All Cricut Machines (Kitchen)
I am so disappointed in this provocraft tool. Gypsy Handheld Design Studio for Cricut I have two Cricuts, the recently discontinued Coluzzle System, a Yudu and some other provocraft products that work great. In hindsight, I did not read enough of the reviews on the Gypsy in the Cricut Community boards before I ordered the Gypsy. I got caught-up in the frenzy of trying to get a Gypsy from HSN before they ran out again. BTW, I do not have a problem with HSN -- rather provo craft (yes, that lower-case "p" is intentional).
There are "oodles" of people who are very happy with their Gypsies -- but if you research and read, you will see that there are plenty of purchasers who are not.
So that I avoid sounding like a lone-nut, I won't go into any details about the problems that I experienced with the Gypsy. Rather, I will encourage you to go to the Cricut homepage and visit the community boards. Join (it's worth it), then search/filter on Gypsy and go to the tech forums.
As for me, I am returning this product to HSN for a refund as defective. After fairly extensive -- albeit LATE reading about provocraft customer service, I will not be sending the Gypsy to provocraft for repair. The Gypsy is potentially a great gadget and a fantastic concept but. I can see where it could become addictive because it is sooo freakin' cute and portable. I really want one -- but one that works. Unfortunately, it has been my experience that the quality and stability of the Gypsy are currently hit-or-miss. Even with "4 interest-free monthly payments", $300 is too much to pay for an inconsistent, battery operated paperweight. Congratulations to those who got good ones. Yes, I read and followed the instructions carefully and treated it with kid-gloves. I even sat through an hour + call with provocraft customer service to diagnose the problems. Provocraft admitted the devices were defective. I want one but I'll wait until this sucker has been on the market for at least a year. Oh -- and don't be too enamoured with the "exclusive" totebag offered with the Gypsy. You can find very cute purse-styled camera bags that are much more attractive should you decide to buy a Gypsy.
Happy crafting!
Gypsy by Cricut personal design studio with Accessories
*** Update 9 Dec 2009 Update****
Okay, I whimped out. I ordered a second Gypsy and I kid you not! --it too had problems. (sounds like the lone-nut again, I know, WHY would I do this to myself?!?). Instead of sending it back to HSN, I decided that I would give Provo Craft a chance to fix or refurb it. I have now received the second Gypsy from the Provo Craft repair facility. I have no way of knowing if it's a new one or a refurbished one because it looks new to me. Provo Craft did as they promised. They sent me a Gypsy that works. It has a serial number that matches the cartridges that I'd previously linked. I linked them and more. Provo Craft sent me return postage for the repair. It took them less than 30 days (it was about 18 days) to receive, repair/replace and return the Gypsy and so far she is working beautifully.
I've upgraded the firmware on the Gypsy and both of my Cricuts, and started several projects. My passion in the earlier review was grounded and I stand by my original feelings about receiving faulty products. -- thiat is why I won't delete them. I will however upgrade my rating by 2 stars for the following reasons;
1. Provo Craft stood behind their product
2. The Gypsy is SO enjoyable and addictive and I really WANT to like and use one
3. As I said earlier, there are people who have never had a problem with their Gypsy
If the Gypsy had worked straight of out of the box, I would have given it 5 stars PLUS a fantastic review.
It may be my paranoia but I think that it matters where you buy your Gypsy. Both of my retail shipments of the Gypsy, were in boxes with significantly less packing -(a few of those air-filled-bags and brown wrapping paper).The Gypsy box shifted around ALOT inside the shipping box. I gotta point the finger at HSN when I say this - HSN? Pack it better -- just in case that's part of the problem. Let's save everyone some pain and aggravation.
When the repaired/replaced Gypsy came it me, it was surrounded by bubble wrap with HUGE pink bubbles and there was absolutely no movement of the Gypsy box inside the shipping box. I think that when you are packing a UPS or FEDEX truck with packages, it's efficient and one might be tempted to toss the smaller boxes into place on occasion -- well, even if it is a flash-drive type device (I think) THAT can't be good for it if it's shifting around in the shipping box.
Provo Craft? things happen and I shouldn't have had THIS many problems with a Provo Craft product. None the less, Provo Craft (notice the capitol "P" in this revisit to my rating) you made good on your product and your warranty. Except for discontinuing the Coluzzle system, I forgive you and your corporate -selves for this Gypsy fiasco and I am once again, a happy Provo Craft customer.
Ehh.. okay, I'll make it 4 stars (my first review was 1 star). I love this little thing. I'm even going to give her a name!! Buyers, just try to get it from a store with a good return policy and if it doesn't look or act as promised, exercise the option to return it for refund, exchange or return it to Provo Craft so that they can fix the situation. If you are giving it as a gift, you might want to give it with a caveat (odds are low but there COULD be some problems -- but Provo Craft is responsive and gives good customer support.
L
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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Disappointed Gypsy User, December 16, 2009
This review is from: Provo Craft Gypsy Unit for All Cricut Machines (Kitchen)
I was very excited about this new "toy" and couldn't wait to get my hands on it. After playing with it for SEVERAL days (prior to loading any of my own carts), I was very disappointed. There is no written instruction manual in the box. The "help" menus on the gypsy are not really much help. It seemed to take a lot of effort to move around the screens, although I may not have played with it long enough to really get the hang of it. My biggest complaint is the size of the display. There is no way I could see it, even with glasses on, in its "non-magnified" mode. And, when I blew up the image, I couldn't see the whole thing at one time. Perhaps this complaint comes from the fact that I use the Cricut Design Studio so much and it is incredibly easy to see everything at once. Or that my eyes are just old and don't see well anymore! In any event, it appeared I was stuck with the thing as Michaels, from whence it came, would not take it back because the box was open and Provo Craft, whom I spoke with at length, claimed they could do nothing for me. As an aside, Provo Craft also told me that they were concerned about the small screen size. So, I did took matters into my own hands, repackaged everything exactly as it came and then used the Cricut to cut out two round tape circles that matched the originals so I could tape the box back together. Returned it to Michaels and they refunded my money.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Practice Practice Practice, January 28, 2010
This review is from: Provo Craft Gypsy Unit for All Cricut Machines (Kitchen)
Before you use it - charge it, sync it online to have the most current software, watch the instructional videos off their site, link cartridges, plan to get sucked in for HOURS playing with it.
At first it's annoying b/c there wasn't an instruction manual so i had to go online to find it. The help function on the machine is actually helpful. Very quick blip of info on the buttons. I'm glad i used a screen protector on it - don't get the ones that come with the gypsy sleeve - they either are too big / too small (common forum complaint) and are a pain. I had a set of screen protectors - the generic kind you get and cut it down to size. Silicone sleeve is useless - it's just for aesthetics - serves no function beyond that.
Concerns - if i link my cartridge what happens to the cartridge - the cartridges are still functional. The booklets that come with the cartridges are VERY useful. It would be nice if the machine would zoom in the keypad so you can get a good view of what's what - so the booklets come in handy to get a clearer idea of what i'm doing. Supposedly the machine remembers your serial so you can't link it to another gypsy.
Why get this ---
This isn't a necessity product. I can't do designs like i thought i could, like if i picked a graphic off my cartridges, i can't "wipe" away a line. Example - Child's First Year Cartridge, there's a cut out of a boy inside a balloon - i can't "wipe away" the balloon to keep just he little boy shape. What I can do is combine several graphics into 1 picture...example - balloon graphic, put a picture of a bird inside it from the serenade cartridge.
It's also great way to see other cartridges that may not be available at your local stores so you can decide if you want to buy a cartridge - i like to see ALL the available options within a cartridge and sometimes it's hard to see on cricut's site. It's also very portable - the same of a game gear (remembe Sega's handheld gaming device) - pretty light. I've been able to sit on the couch and design stuff - and then plug it into my cricut and cut away - saves time and doesn't tie me to my cricut machine. It also leaves a lot of guess work out. When i set a shape to a 3" size, i actually know what the width will be (not just the height) - so i'm saving paper by less trial and error by cutting - which is what i've been doing trying to gauge size.
I'm still getting the hang of the machine (I've only had it for a couple of weeks) but I don't regret dropping the $ for it. I think it's a great resource to design when i have a few minutes here and there. I don't think it's a necessity but if you're a serious scrapbooker - then probably (I'm not). It's very convienent to have all the cartridges in 1 place so I don't have to pull out the entire bin of them.
The system does take a lot longer than i thought to load - i expected this to be MAC fast but it's really PC style on loading. Once it's loaded, it runs pretty smoothly.
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