12 Inch ES Mat (Black)

Wonderful

A small learning curve and I don't know what I'd do without this. It speeds up project time without having to deal with sticky mats and for the most part holds really well. You do have to make sure the connection between the mat and the machine is stable. Also be careful smoothing the paper on or picking it up. I've given my self s few small electric shocks that are surprising at the very least.

First of all, I actually didn't realize that these EP sheets (bought for Curio 2) come 2 to a pack. How nice. They work, although I do wish Silhouette would print a grid on them for easier placement of things on top of them. The product is good -- 5 stars. It will replace the one that came with my machine when I need it. Where things go awry is with packing/shipping. This is just a warning to all ordering these on Amazon: they will likely come creased. My original order was even shipped in a box, and because there was no packing material in the box, they slid, became stuck in the bottom flaps and got a huge, deep crease right through the middle. Because these go underneath whatever material you are cutting, they need to lay totally flat. Amazon did send a replacement, but these were packed EVEN WORSE than the first ones. The new ones I got were literally FOLDED inside of a cardboard sleeve that was too small for them. *sigh* I am now attempting to press the creases out (heavy books hopefully to the rescue?), and just giving up on buying these via Amazon. If you need ES bed protection sheets for your new Cameo or Curio machine, buy them somewhere else until Amazon figures out how to ship them without damaging them.

I almost never leave a review but this one I feel like I have to. I understand people who've used Silhouette cutters or are in the craft community would def be very intrigued by the idea of the ES mat, but hear me out. It's a great thing when it works but this defect really is critical. THE MAT TURNS ITSELF OFF MID-CUT!! At first I thought I clicked the power button by mistake but no, it's happening repeatedly. It not only ruins the project itself but also leaves serious damage to the protection sheet and the mat itself. I now have a protection sheet that's completely cut out because of the defect (I was cutting sticker paper and the material slipped off everywhere due to the mat being off) and the mat has scoring marks here and there. If anyone working at Silhouette is reading this review, STOP RELEASING HALF-BAKED PRODUCTS LIKE THIS. I have multiple Portraits, the new Cameo 5 and other Silhouette products; they all promise great things only to fail to execute greatly (i.e. matless pop-out cuts, 5kg force, etc.) I'm returning this item and will wait on Silhouette to fix the issue before I purchase a new one.

I highly recommend using this electrostatic mat over the regular sticky mat that comes with the Portrait 4. This is very easy to set up and connect to the machine. And silhouette studio has settings where it will automatically detect the new mat. I can easily cut out stickers now without any issues of my stickers getting damaged from the sticky backed mat or staying stuck or having an residue left on the back of my material. The only thing that is difficult is knowing the exact amount of pressure and force to use to not cut through the protective sheet on the electrostatic mat. You can replace that part however.

It's great to not have to use there sticky mats by using this one and for the most part it works really good but you have to keep an eye on it apparently to make sure it doesn't turn off mid-cutting. I turned around to keep working on my computer while machine was cutting, the mat turned off my vinyl got pushed off to the side and machine kept cutting. It cut through the plastic protector mat underneath and cut into the metal as well. It's happened a few times. If you're thinking maybe it for moved and lost connection, the cameo and mat attachment are on their own counter with plenty of space in front and behind, it hasn't moved to lose the connection.

No lo he usado pero se ve muy bien

I wanted to give this a 5 but it's not quite there....yet. I don't typically post reviews but figured I would to share what I've done to mitigate some issues. I commonly see posted related to the ES mat turning off mid cut or not turning on anymore. Initially I thought it was a timed limitation; however, it's actually because of the connection port between the ES mat and the Came 5 being weak. While it cuts, the small vibrations seem to disconnect the mat electrically so it turns off mid cut. To mitigate this issue I just push the mat's base (from the edge by the power button) to make sure the connection doesn't break. Of course this isn't ideal and with being the first model, I hope Silhouette can improve this in their next model or provide a fix because this can (and has) deterred many people. Another thing I noticed was that the ES mat sometimes doesn't turn on when I push the mat's power button, even after power cycling the Cameo 5. To mitigate this, I disconnect the ES mat (using the top two release buttons) and reconnect it to the Cameo 5. I'm not quite sure why this happens but I hope Silhouette can fix this. Overall it's a great concept and convenient, especially for newbies like myself. I hope Silhouette works on permanent fixes to remedy these inconveniences. Hope this helps!