Having purchased other machines, including the Sizzix "Big Shot" and the Spellbinders "Grand Caliber", this upgrade to the "Big Shot Pro" was the best buying decision I've made recently. This large, heavy-duty machine, essentially, works in the same manner as it's baby brother, the "Big Shot", however, the much larger "Big Shot Pro" will accommodate a 12"x12" paper on the sliding tray. It will cut all of the dies from various manufacturers, including all of the Sizzix dies of various sizes and configurations. Also, Spellbinders, Cuttlebug, Cottage Cutz, Marianne, Cheery Lynn, Memory Box and other similar thin dies too numerous to mention them all, however, you will need to make an additional purchase of the "Solo Platform, shim & wafer thin die adapter" to use these "wafer thin" dies. The purchase of this "Big Shot Pro" was made because, after about a year of being frustrated with our Spellbinders "Grand Caliber", we finally got fed up and replaced it with the "Big Shot Pro". We also have the smaller "Big Shot", but we needed something that would accommodate larger dies and paper and was more heavy duty. We still use the smaller "Big Shot", but only occasionally for small projects. We have permanently retired the "Grand Caliber".
The "Big Shot Pro" machine is built to last. As long as you use the correct sandwich recipe, the crank handle is very easy to turn. However, this machine is very heavy. I didn't weigh it, but I would estimate it's weight to be in the 30-40 lb. range, so it's definitely not portable, unless you're half gorilla. Since we have a dedicated craft room, the "Big Shot Pro" has it's own permanent place on the craft table and does not ever need to be moved. Another advantage to it's being heavy is the fact that it doesn't move as you crank the handle. If you want portability, then buy the smaller "Big Shot". The "Big Shot Pro" machine is definitely made for the professional craft shop or serious hobbyist. Initially, the "Big Shot Pro" seemed a bit expensive, but not so much after I considered the cost and compare it to the build and quality of the much smaller, consumer oriented machines. greatofferstock.com had the best price I could find, so I decided to pull the trigger and make the purchase. As one who has been working with different die cutting machines for several years, I would not hesitate to recommend this machine. I just regret that I didn't buy it first, years ago, instead of making the purchases of various smaller machines (along with some disappointments).