If you haven't upgraded your Cricut (or have never dabbled in these cutting machines - then get the Explore Air - sorry for the long review).

I've used the Cricut E1, Circut E2, Sihoulette Cameo, Making Memories Slice. The Explore Air is pretty helpful for last minute projects.

Explore Air vs Explore - Explore Air has bluetooth integrated internally - Explore requires you to purchase the bluetooth adapter. Explore Air is a light blue trim, Explore is the standard Cricut green.

Also - if you can purchase this in a bundle - do it - especially if you've never dabbled in cutting machines - it's nice to have the variety of materials, pens, mats, etc...and also there's a Frozen bundle. I always do bundles.

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BLUETOOTH / WIRELESS:

You're no longer tied to a cable from the machine to your computer. This is super convenient for my household b/c now it sits on top of a bookcase - permanently plugged in and I can quickly slide some mats in and out and finish my project w/o having to move the machine down onto the table to connect to my laptop.

TROUBLESHOOT - If you're having issues with the bluetooth sync - try turning the bluetooth function on your ipad off and then back on. You should be able to find the Cricut and connect wirelessly. And then you're ready to cut.

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IPAD APP:

The iPad app is super convenient. I can create designs easily. I can also create ON THE GO - and then wait to come home or back to my office and do the cuts. (Long car rides, airplanes, waiting in line, hanging out at starbucks, long meetings - all have become productive time for me).

THE BEST FEATURE on ipad is the orange gridlines. I was trying to lay an image on top of a 2nd. The orange gridlines will tell me if i'm centered the the image, or the center of several selected image. I no longer have to play guessing games and hoping i got it close - or at least .05" close. I'm now exact!

At a few swipes of a finger I can add shapes/images/text. And just as easily I can delete an image, make it "invisible", expand/shrink it's size, change it from cut to score to write. The ipad app has saved me some time in design work. I've found that this app is more versatile, convenient and user friendly as it's intuitive. I find that the ipad app version is easier to use than the web-based. Mostly due to the zoom feature.

SIDE NOTE: I was making minecraft vinyl stickers for my kiddo and we were able to use 1" blocks to do the character building. He's 6 - he loves it - and it's teaching him a little about xy coordinates and matching photos and some math/grid blocks.

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WHAT I LIKE ABOUT THIS MACHINE:

This is plug and play (previous versions like the Expressions require lengthy updates and software installs onto my computer. This is plug and play - unpack, plug in power, turn on, sync with ipad, login to cricut app, design.

This machine is also designed for on the go. The bag is great - the handles fit over the shoulder or gripped by hand. The machine is also relatively light. I do take my machine to my kids schools when we have craft time. I get my work done a lot faster than others. (Helps that I have hotspot off my phone, sync my ipad to my phone's wifi - boom, done).

It's super quiet - I have this in my office and people can't really hear the machine when it's going. I do get a lot of questions of what is that? A new printer? (I'm in a challenge right now to decorate my window once a month). (December Xmas Trees, January Snowflakes, Feb Vday and Chinese New Year, March St Patricks, now we're onto Easter Eggs).

It's fast - I was able to cut 18 shamrocks (3" wide on cardstock) in under 3 minutes.

The new blades are more durable. Pay attention to blade costs on amazon, I've seen a $5 price difference in just a few weeks (up/down).

The smart dial takes the guess work out of the depth of the blade and the speed of the cut or pressure. I don't know about you - but I can't remember what setting I use for Martha Stewart Cardstock vs Michaels Brand vs Cricut if I haven't worked on a project in a while. My older machines have plastic labels to tell me xyz paper is on a xyz setting for the blade.

You can manually customize your settings within the program. So if you're using a special material - then you can do test runs.

Print and cut feature is Ah-mazing - read further down for details.

This is also the ONLY machine I'm aware of that has an ipad app.

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WHAT I WISH:
The machine should come with a scraper tool - that's a necessity. If you don't have one, check out the Slice (Making Memories) tool kit. I still swear by mine - it's inexpensive and has almost everything you can possibly need. It's also useful to scrape off the little bits of paper on your mat when it gets all gunked up.

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OTHER TIDBITS:
I was talking to a mom friend of mine who said she spent $200 on supplies to make a banner. She had to buy foam letters as a set - and if it didn't have enough of a certain letter, she had to buy another one. She was essentially stuck with what she could get her hands on at the store which didn't really match the sizes she was looking for or a certain design. When I told her about the Cricut, she about died. I could have made her banner for under $20. And probably in less time. What really killed her though - she could have almost bought a cricut for what she paid in materials.

ACCESSORIES:
Cricut by far have the best blades and mats. I've used Cricut mats on my Silhouette Cameo. The adhesive is JUST RIGHT and doesn't kill my paper when I'm peeling off projects. I use the green mats for all my projects. When the green mats get used for a while and there's only a minimal about of stick left, I'll save that as a "light" mat and use it for thinner paper or delicate paper.

Cricut is the only brand I've come across that carries the larger cardstock (24x12) which I bought on Overstock. I also like the 24x12 mats for vinyl. I was able to make poster size words on it. And you can get vinyl in 24x12"

If you need tools (tweezers, scrapers, etc.) - Making Memories Slice Tool kit is the best.

Amazon has consistently better prices on blades/mats (you can get in bulk) and also tools compared to your box stores.

Also non-branded generic vinyl is great too! Fraction of the price. I bought a bulk roll of window film (12" x 25') - that frosted color kind, and cut it down to size to make snowflakes. They were a HUGE hit for school and my office. I've also been able to reuse the snowflakes by putting it onto plastic projector paper.

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MATERIALS I'VE USED ON THE EXPLORE - apparently this is the mother of all machines and I can cut all sorts of material. Challenge Accepted.

FOAM: (Do use a brand new mat - otherwise your foam will unstick mid cut and you will turn into a sailor). The nice thing about this software is that you can still customize your cut pressure. Use the deep cut blade (I've tried variations of settings and deep cut and regular blade before I figured out that I could adjust the setting. DUR. Do know that on one side, it will leave roller marks. So mirror your cuts as necessary.

VINYL: OH EM GEE!! This thing is a dream to cut vinyl with. I uploaded some designs that I found off the internet, uploaded it to Cricut Design Space and it cut them perfectly! My kiddo is obsessed with Mario right now - so I cut out some Mario vinyl and stuck them onto a mason jar - made my own lid insert and voila - instant piggy bank that cost me about $1 each to make. I'm thinking this would be a great way to make personalized party favors - fill little jars with candy, or trinkets.

WINDOW CLING MATERIAL: Cuts the same as vinyl. I've found that Vinyl stays better if whatever i'm intending isn't to be peeled off and re-positioned much.

PENS: I figured since the pens were pretty fine point - that it wasn't able to make an significant drawings - I was wrong. You can set it to run a few times over so it makes a thicker line. I liked that a lot. And it's awesome to NOT have to switch out a pen for the blade - which you have to do with the Silhouette. The computer controls everything - and it's made doing a project effortless and efficient.

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WHAT I LOOK FOR IN A SOLID MACHINE:
The machine needs to be easy to use. And by easy I really mean efficient. ROI has to be solid (Return on Investment) - which means to me - the time I spend "designing it", cutting it, and if necessary, putting it together. The machine has to be easy to use to minimize mistakes - I hate wasting paper - or having to run the same project 3x b/c the mat slipped or a cut didn't go all the way.

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I got into the cutting machine world b/c I was into making cards. I liked having the ability to cut a specific shape into a specific size, but that was a phase. The machine has stayed though. Cricut has now become a practical item, like a printer or a microwave.
My most recent projects:
my work wanted branded hershey kisses made in less than 2 days, - printed our logo on address labels - i didn't have sticker paper - and then had the machine cut to hershey size, made a 100 in less than an hour from design to finish - and cost me nothing as i had all the material in my office,
I also made branded magnets (about the size of a hershey's kiss)
help a teacher in need (50 8" people shapes - it took me 30 minutes to do),
brought a little festive cheer to the office by making vinyl snowflakes and going around the building sticking them to windows
did the same with v-day cards on window cling
I've made vinyl decals for my car
Breakroom word collage that I saw on pinterest but wanted different vinyl colors.
I don't have the luxury of time to run around or go back and forth to a michaels. I also like having control of what I'm creating, or if I see something I like, I want to be able to do it and do it now. And the ipad app lets me do that. NOW!

What made me realize the cricut is worth it's weight in gold? Cutting letters. Did you know that factory cut letters are expensive and more often than not, the teachers are left with letters from these kits that they don't use? At the end of every year for my kid's preschool we made them a box of letters. The teachers were so appreciative of it b/c they would always run out of lettes A, B, C and E and S. As a preschool graduation present - we got them a Cricut so they can cut their own letters - and have the right size, and whatever font they want it in.

If you've never had a machine - you're probably overwhelmed. I know I was when I first started years ago with the Expression as my first foray into this world. The Explore takes the guesswork out of almost everything.

I like that I can do 1 project with little effort and get the kids excited to want to participate. There are tons of licensed materials too - so if you have kids - this is great. (They have FROZEN items now). And the print and cut feature is great for the licensed items - no more having to use 7 layers to make a spongebob. It's print, feed it into the machine, and boom, done!

If you have other machines - it's time to upgrade. The ipad app and the versatility of essentially being wireless (the machine still needs to be plugged in for power) is amazing. The projects are limitless. Yes - this is an investment - but like my girlfriend who spent $200 in material to make the banner, what you save will help pay for the machine itself.

Also the subscription program where it gives you access to thousands of shapes - $10/month - and you're not tied to a contract for a length of time. Sign up for it when you need it. A while back I had signed up with Silhouette for their 12 month program - and realized i spent months not touching it - the credits expired. Money down the drain.

My next project - tattoo paper using print and cut and also printable vinyl. Oh, and glitter t-shirt iron ons.

Feel free to ask my questions. I'm generally pretty good at responding.

UPDATE 3/20/2015:
I feel SOOOO silly for not writing about this. Scoring tool. It's kinda amazing. It's great to create fold lines especially on harder cardstock. I wanted to make those fortune tellers and by using the scoring function, we were able to make them easily. And I used them to make the 3d stars that's a free project. It helps you make sure that the lines are folding at the right angle so your piece matches up.

UPDATE 6/3/2015:
Check out this link for tips on the cricut:
http://www.thecraftedsparrow.com/2015/06/10-cricut-explore-tips-tricks.html?utm_content=bufferce481&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

I've had the opportunity to use the Cricut Explore Air for a few weeks now, and I can tell you that I am absolutely head over heels for this machine! Here's why -

Great Features:
- WIRELESS. The ability to design and cut wirelessly! I mean, you can literally sit on your iPad on the couch and design something, pop into the craft room when you're ready and start cutting! The Cricut Design Space has been updated and redesigned as well so the format on the iPad is the exact same as the format if you were to use a desktop or laptop.
- EASY TO USE. If you've never used an electronic cutting machine before, the ease of use with the Cricut Explore Air is a great place to start! Setting it up on your computer/iPad is a breeze (and takes less than 5 minutes) and there are built in tutorials within the software to help you along with your very first project (materials included with the machine).
- QUALITY. Excellent cut quality. I've also had experience with a Cricut Expression 2 and a Cricut Explore and have never, ever had to replace a blade, even after 2 years! I've used the Cricut Explore Air to cut a variety of projects - intricate, vinyl, iron on, you name it! All have been successful and CRAZY easy.
- IMAGE OPTIONS. For those who haven't used either the Cricut or Silhouette machines before, you may not be totally aware of how you can access the images to cut on your machine. First, there are free images that are straight up free and you don't need anything to use them! Second, there are images that you can get through the monthly subscription service ($9.99 per month) for over 25,000 images and fonts that you can use as many times as you want! Third, you can purchase individual images or cartridges either through the Design Space software. Fourth, you can buy (or use older) Cricut cartridges (physical cartridges you buy in store or online). And FINALLY, you can upload and cut your own images! Lots of options.

The Cricut Explore Air is practically the same size and weight as the Cricut Explore. It fits easily on my desk next to my computer, but if you wanted to put it away when not in use (or move it to a different location to use the wireless feature!) - it's very portable, lightweight, and comes with a carrying case!

If you are a casual crafter, a hard core DIYer, experienced with electronic cutting machines or want to dip your toes in the papercrafting pool for the very first time, the Cricut Explore Air is the perfect place to get creative!

REVIEW FOR THE CRICUT EXPLORE ONE:
The Cricut Explore One has the same quality of cut as the Cricut Explore and the Cricut Explore Air! This technology is one of the many things that sets Cricut apart and leads the industry in cutting machines.
I've done several test projects on the Cricut Explore One (vinyl, cardstock, paper, etc) and it cuts JUST like my Explore and my Explore Air!
There are two slight variations in features for the Explore One: (1) There is only one cutting head (meaning no second head for a scoring tool or writing utensil and (2) There is no built-in Bluetooth wireless.
There's an option for you to get the second cutting head if you choose to do so down the road, however! But if you want the 2nd cutting head and the wireless, you're best off with the Explore Air.

A FEW MORE THINGS

My mother in law happened to be here when I got my Cricut Explore One from Cricut, so I had the opportunity to have her try installing the machine! She is an avid papercrafter and Stampin' Up Demonstrator and all about the craftiness in general. She is very intimidated by electronic cutting machines, but she LOVES to watch me use mine!

I plugged in the machine for her, gave her the "start here" book and let her go. And she did it! COMPLETELY. Mostly because Cricut has this genius way of making installation the easiest thing on the planet when they combine photos and text in a very easy step-by-step format that anyone (computer savvy or not) can follow.