The Wishblade and CraftRobo are the same machine -- same manufacturer, same capabilities. They run on slightly different software. I have both softwares loaded on my computer and use them for different things (one imports certain files, the other doesn't). You can get tons of info before you buy by joining the yahoo group called "WishbladeCafe" -- great info, tutorials, file sharing.
There is also the Cricut and the Xyron personal cutting machine, both of which are made to stand alone and be more portable. However, with those, you are again limited to what is on the software cards.
With the WB or CR, you can trace anything and cut it. You can cut any font any size. I am currently working on a tracing of the Animal Kingdom logo (the one with the tree of life in the background and the animal silhouettes) -- you can't do that with any of the other machines. You'd have to xacto knife it by hand... and that gets really old.
If you like doing paper piecings, the WB makes it a cinch. You just scan in an image, have another software program do the tracing for you (or trace it manually), and then cut the pieces out of your cardstock and glue together.
WB also has memory cards preloaded with fonts, images, and shapes in case you don't have time or inclination to do it yourself. But I bought my WB to save money on buying additional font sets so that doesn't appeal to me -- besides, there are plenty of free fonts on the net. There is a list on the yahoo group of the font names that correspond to current Quickutz alphas. I had a QK -- love their alphas, but I love even more that I can make LARGER cutouts because I found their mini's to be too mini.
Anyway, I could go on and on. If you have more questions, just let me know... but I highly suggest joining the yahoo group and you'll get tons of advice there!