cricut machines are very user friendly, especially for the ocassional scrapbooker or for school projects. you can typically find one used at either scrapbook garage sales (held at scrapbook stores) or on craigslist. i have the original machine and it works great, up to 5" and we also have an accucut grand mark (the one in the scrapbook stores) but that is heavy duty & very expensive. not sure what your budget is. if you find one used just make sure the computer/electronical components of the machine work. everything else is cheap and easy to replace. i.e. blades, cutting mat, tools & accesssories. hope this helps!