When comparing GCC Jaguar 4 24” vs Silhouette Portrait, the Slant community recommends Silhouette Portrait for most people. In the question“What are the best vinyl cutters?” Silhouette Portrait is ranked 5th while GCC Jaguar 4 24” is ranked 6th. The most important reason people chose Silhouette Portrait is:
For a price tag below $140, you're getting a fully functional vinyl cutter. Even though this machine does not have the ‘fancy’ features more premium cutters have, such as tangential emulation or overcut, it still can cut any standard vinyl sheet.
Specs
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Pros
Pro Excellent for large productions runs
This machine features the highest maximum cutting speed among professional vinyl cutters. It can cut at the speed of 60 inches per second. This is almost twice the speed competitors (Graphtec, Roland, or USCutter) can offer. Due to its very fast cutting speed, this machine is perfectly suitable for large volume production runs.
Pro Can handle any vinyl
Due to the high precision blade control mechanism and 5.9 N of maximum downforce, this machine can cut any 24" sheet vinyl available on the market.
Pro Simple workflow
The software this cutter comes with can import design files from Adobe Illustrator and CorelDraw. After you have the design file, simply import it to GreatCut 3 and set the simple cut parameters. The machine will take care of the rest of the work.
Pro No need to purchase software separately
This machine comes with a free copy of GreatCut 3 software.
Pro Great value for money
For a price tag below $140, you're getting a fully functional vinyl cutter. Even though this machine does not have the ‘fancy’ features more premium cutters have, such as tangential emulation or overcut, it still can cut any standard vinyl sheet.
Pro Ideal for sign cutting
The maximum cutting length of this machine is quite impressive: 120” in total. Therefore, the effective cutting area of this vinyl cutter is 8” x 120”. You can easily cut medium-sized signs with this amount of workspace available.
Pro Clear and simple software
Silhouette Studio is the software this machine works with. No special skills are required to work with it. Even a new user will easily produce his/her first cut within 10-30 minutes. All the buttons and tabs are easy to find and use.
Pro Capable of contour cutting
This machine has got a registration mark system, being able to detect printed registration marks with the aid of a camera, mounted near the toolhead. This feature allows you to cut multi-colored stickers and heat transfers.
Pro Affordable blades
Silhouette offers very affordable blade replacement options. For under $8, you can buy a new replacement blade with a cartridge. The blade (and its cartridge) is a consumable part that needs to be frequently replaced.
Pro Multiple designs are available online
You do not have to be an artist to work with this machine. You can easily buy artwork from the Silhouette design store. The prices are more than affordable: the majority of the shapes are priced between 50 cents and 3 dollars and several free shapes are also available. All the purchased forms are imported to your shape library automatically.
Pro Very portable
Due to its compact size (16.25” x 5.6” x 4.5”) and light weight (3.5 lbs), this machine is a perfect solution for those who need a portable vinyl cutter.
Cons
Con Expensive
This is one of the most expensive 24” vinyl cutters available, being priced at $2090. On top of that, your expenses will not stop there as the machine, by default, comes without a stand. The problem is that this 60 inches/s machine is useless without it (as you will not be able to cut long vinyl rolls). Getting the stand will add another $400 to your expenses.
Con Requires CorelDraw or Adobe Illustrator software
The GreatCut 3 is only capable of receiving design files from either Adobe Illustrator or CorelDraw. There are two main reasons why this may be problematic. First, both of the programs are quite expensive. Second, the transition to either of those programs can be time-consuming if you already have a massive design library in any other design software.
Con Can only handle standard vinyl
Attempt to cut extra thick or extra thin vinyl will jam this cutter. It has neither the precision nor the power required to handle these thicknesses.
Con Works only with bitmap files
The Silhouette Studio can only import bitmap files (.gif, .tif, .jpg, .png and a few others). Unfortunately, there is no way of importing proprietary files from Adobe Illustrator or CorelDraw.
Con Spare mechanical parts are hard to find
Silhouette does not provide spare mechanical parts (like rollers, belts, motors, or gears) via their online store. Therefore, it is very complicated to find any functional spare parts for this machine.
Con Not the most reliable option
If you need a cutter for a business, maybe it's not the best idea to rely completely on this machine, since it is not a professional grade unit. Cheap vinyl cutters are well known for sudden breakages.
Con Poorly built
This vinyl cutter feels very cheap, it is very noticeable that the manufacturer sacrificed build quality to lower the machine's price. The body of the machine is very fragile, users need to be very careful not to drop it.