Roland Stika SV-8 Vinyl Cutter

This cutter is fantastic. It shipped quickly and was great right out of the box. Three things you should know.1) The instructions are in Japanese, but you can find english instructions easily online.2) The software is on a disc and there's no way to download it online, so I had to fire up an old laptop to save the software since my current machine doesn't have a disc drive.3) The cutting width is actually a little less than 7 inches, but there's no limit to the length of the sheet and you can always cut at 90 degrees.Aside from these very minor issues which were easily overcome, the cutter is fantastic. Great value for the money and a perfect entry level machine.

SV8 is a great little machine and cutter works well when sent straight from Mac Illustrator CC. Kiss cutting is very accurate as well, even on ultra thin materials. Does what it is supposed to. Unfortunately, Roland does not give it much TLC on its website, as it is apparent their tech support is not really meant for a hobbyist. That said, it is a unique product built for a niche market of graphics professionals and Adobe users. For that, it is pretty cool.

awesome machine for the beginner, software is good and easy to use arrived FAST!!

This machine was all I hoped - but it is the customer service from Costal that made me happiest. They called as soon as I ordered it to make sure it was what I wanted and made me aware of other products that cost less. No high pressure, just an ok when I told them I was happy with my choice. It arrived within a couple of days and they followed up immediately with a courtesy call to make sure I was satisfied.Now for the machine. I bought it to help me with graphic design packaging mock ups. The software doesn't work with Illustrator CS5 on the Mac, but it works with CS3 or lower if you run it under Rosetta. No surprises under Windows on my PC. It works well with standard Avery sticker paper for laser or inkjet from any office supply store so you don't need to buy vinyl unless you need its special properties. On the Avery sticker paper. I did a test cut of a lower case letter "g" in Garamond starting at 8 point. The first fairly clean cut was at 12 point but it would be difficult to remove and place. The first size that cut clean and was manageable was 18 point.Finally, the footprint was much smaller than I thought and it looks in the pictures. I'm pleased.