The article

I thought  would post the article which I wrote for "Obsessed with Scrapbooking" blog - Calender Girl - HappyHapy Joy Joy's - So this is just cut and paste

"

Hello everyone,
  My name is Pam and some of you may know me from the Gypsy Message Boards by my MB name thebugbytes. I do have a blog by the same name - http://www.thebugbytes.com/.
When Joy invited me to write a little something about the Gypsy and include the link to my articles in my blog I was ….. Thrilled… Well that seems such a mild word to describe what I felt. Those who know me – do know how I regard these calender girls –they are Superstars in my book. Thanks Joy for this “20 mins of fame”.
So here I go…grab a coffee and some munchies – to keep you awake and hmmm – just in case wear a seatbelt so that you do not hurt yourself if you do nod off.
I got my Gypsy during the launch. Well… suffice it to say – I was not thrilled then. I also without knowing better at that time linked my cartridges which made it returning it back not an option. It did not come with a manual at that time and the electronic version in the G was useless too. It did not have all the features it was supposed to have and had tons of bugs (what a pun). You can just imagine the frustration all we initial buyers would have felt. It was then when one of my friends asked me should I buy the Gypsy that I wrote  my first article – pros and cons of gypsy – you can find the original link here -
http://www.thebugbytes.com/2009/10/pros-and-cons-of-cricut-gypsy-for-new.html
Down the line I did update it and you can find that link here
http://www.thebugbytes.com/2009/12/pros-and-cons-of-gypsy-after-build-0158.html
I used to spend a lot of time at the MB. Initially we learnt from each other.  I started keeping my blog as a log of the G J (gypsy Journey). So if you are interested in the progression you can read my early posts. It may in a jiffy help you to while away your time in case you have forgotten to check your books out from your library ;). Or maybe it can answer some of your questions on Gypsy as these are topics touches on some of the questions commonly asked in the MB. A little while later when the topic came up to compare Gypsy vs Cricut Design Studio I wrote another article in my blog and the MB. Here’s that link -  http://www.thebugbytes.com/2010/02/gypsy-vs-design-studio.html
Instead of rewriting all these again here I thought it would be better if I just answered in a nutshell a Question –Why should I buy a Gypsy? Note the word used here is I. So please do make your own informed decision after sufficient research. Never hurry and impulsively buy (Gosh I wish my hubby doesn’t read this as he knows I am impulsive. But in my defense I do some research before buying )
Biggest advantage in having a Gypsy is of course Mac users (providing they have the right compatible OS) have the power too of welding and designing their creations rather than sticking to the basic cartridge images.
Since I am a windows user to me, the main advantage in having a Gypsy is portability. So easy to slide it in your purse and design anywhere. You will not believe the places I have taken this and designed… if you can call what I put on the virtual mat as that LOL.
Whereas in design studio – you have to be tied to your computer and even if you have a laptop you cannot carry it as easily wherever you go. This feature alone has made a huge difference in the way I design (again that word). I have started using my cricut more now. Second thing is no more lugging cartridges (provided they are linked). Just take the Gypsy – for when cutting with the Gypsy you do not need the cartridge in the cricut (Note: The cartridge should be linked and secondly the cricut becomes a slave and it’s controls will not work – so no auto fill feature , fit to page etc)  . You might have to make arrangements for referring the creative features (like which button is the shadow feature etc) as right now it is not in the Gypsy keypad overlay.
To me the biggest plus in Gypsy– hands down this wins in my book – is the group feature. This allows us as the name suggest to group things together – like making a set and then do a single action on it – like I can group everything and in one go ,if I press cut and paste everything will be pasted together. CDS users will definitely see the benefit in this one as even though CDS pastes it in exactly the same spot you have to select each and every single image and then paste it in. Of course one more big thing in favor of the Gypsy are the 2 wonderful cartridges – Gypsy font and Gypsy wanderings which will I don’t think will ever come out in cartridge form.
You can share and use gypsy files (not cut files as they have to be converted with paid version of CDS) and many generous people do share their wonderful files which saves you time of recreating. Thank goodness this feature was added in later updates.
But the downside to the Gypsy is that you have to link the cartridges to be able to cut from it and once linked the cartridge cannot be linked to another Gypsy (no it will not get erased when linking – you still can use it as a standalone) and legally cannot be sold unless you sell it with the Gypsy itself. If you do not want to link there is a workaround for windows users (who also have paid CDS) and many do use it this way, in that you can design with the G and then convert the gypsy file to cut file (cds file) and cut with the Cricut Design Studio (Note: you have to plug the cartridge in and there is some bugs while converting like multipage dump and slanting and skewing reset which needs to be fixed a little before cutting).  Also the Gypsy does not have the hide and contour feature still. Again windows users (having CDS) can follow the same procedure as above for getting use of that too. Unfair advantage for windows users isn’t it?
So if I do not want to lug my computer and cartridges, I don’t mind linking cartridges and want to have ease of design, don’t want to use hide and contour feature much and want the two wonderful cartridges then I would choose Gypsy over CDS. If you are a Mac user then the point is moot and of course ;) best of both worlds – have both. Cost wise if you find a good deal then you can get the Gypsy for lots lesser nowadays and when you add the price of the two cartridges to it then that factor (again in my view only) should not enter in (Not counting the rewards as it keeps varying). So these are the salient points. Many other points I could think of are covered in my original article.
Before I take your leave - I know some of you will have a burning question in your mind to ask me curiosity and all that – So I’ll answer (really, really hope that hubby does not read this) – yes I do have the G, the CDS , SCAL and now Make a Cut. I do need one of the last 2 (not both but could have stuck to one – I know) to cut many of the images I need of my culture.
So that’s it folks. Do take a look in my blog for details and even there I might have forgotten some points and plain don’t know some more – so I try to add/edit when some stuff pops up in my brain and would welcome suggestions from you for the latter – so do drop in to my blog to say Hi. If you are still awake here’s a huge Thanks and  a virtual Hug from me for sticking on.
…… Sincerely Pam


"