Carl Brands DC-100N 12-Inch Professional Rotary Trimmer

If you’re looking for a paper cutter that’s effective for basic craft projects or school projects, this is the way to go. Because it’s compact, you don’t have to find a permanent location for it. It’s also very lightweight, which is important for portability. And, of course, you can’t beat the price.

I bought this at one of the big box office supply stores for half of what it's being sold for on amazon. That said, this is a solid 3 stars based on the price that I paid ($17). But its value drops to two stars based on the $35 cost on amazon. I like that its small enough to fit into my desk drawer so I don't have to worry about it walking off or getting dulled by all the people using it in the copy room. In terms of cutting power, the rotary cutting wheel is really sharp. I can start just about anywhere on a sheet of paper, press down and start cutting. That said, the two BIG negatives are, 1. the cutting mats get warped quickly and 2. the entire neon green guide has up to 1 mm of movement from side to side as your cutting. So if you line up a sheet of paper to cut off exactly one inch, unless you press really hard to keep the guide in place, your initial cut at the top will be 1" but the bottom will be 1" +/- 1mm.I know 1 mm sounds insignificant but its enough that a photo doesn't look exactly square or if you cut a full sheet of paper in half you can notice the cut line isn't exactly straight.If you're a perfectionist, this is 100% not the right cutting tool for you.

I've bought a few different portable trimmers and this is by far the best I've found. It handles like a full-size trimmer, but takes up much less space. It's clear guide makes for no guessing at all in cut placement, The magnetic paper holder makes keeping the paper where you placed it a breeze.

I bought this rotary trimmer to cut and trim photos. It just isn't made for this job. The blade never cut cleanly, even the first time. I tried cutting one set of photos and they were all rough and jagged. I tried my second set today and now the blade is not cutting straight, either. There is a divet in the cutting mat, and now everything is crooked. Very frustrating. I have never returned on Amazon before but am sending this back. I can thankfully report that the return part was very easy, though!

Very good for vinyl sheeting!

Cuts very well on magazine clippings, which is what I got it for, but you have to push down very, very hard. Unless you need to exactly duplicate the position and squareness of the cut, it is easier to just use a pair of scissors.

It doesn't cut a straight line. What could you possibly want this for other than to cut a straight line? Why would a company make a trimmer that doesn't cut a straight line? Scissors are far less expensive if I'm simply using this to cut whatever rough-edged, crooked lines I happen to be able to cut in a piece of paper by hand. Very frustrating. The trimmer itself looks nice but the product of its results- not so much. The blade is clearly not sharp enough given its rough results, the piece of plastic the blade is attached to is shaky, allowing the blade to move during your cut, and the plastic you line your paper up against in order to find a straight line to begin with isn't even straight! There's no hope for attempting to work around this trimmer's faults.

No matter how many times I try to make a cut, even when using a perfectly marked straight-edge line, the cutter never makes a straight cut. The cuts I've made always have an arch of some sort. Also, the recessed cutting guide bar is off. I had to scribe an indented line from top to bottom of the bar to create a guide line so I would know where the actual cut will be made. Albeit an inexpensive tool, it is useless!