there are a gazillion threads on here re: the . Some people have figured out how to work with it. I never did. Mine is a big ole paperweight. Plus I can usually pick out a cake decorated with the , especially if you use the cartridges.
You're right, Leah, I lost my head in the moment. I'm afraid your opinion carries more weight than most. A "paperweight", not good news. I love the patterns they create but with your feelings about it, I may have to spend some time practicing piping and forget the "tool" approach. Maybe I'll look into a couple more moulds. 
I have one and I got super frustrated with it at first. I finally did alot of research and some trial and error, and I can use it to cut lettering and some simple shapes. My method is to mix your gumpaste 75% with the other 25% fondant, and I put a huge amount of crisco on the mat and roll the gumpaste super thin. I put it in the freezer for at least 15 minutes then take it out, cut it, put it back in the freezer for 5-10 minutes, then attempt to get the design off the mat.
I have never been able to do the intricate patterns on my cricut, they never come off the mat without tearing and its super frustrating. If anyone knows a foolproof method for the intricate patterns, I'd love to know, because they never have worked for me.
I too can tell when a cake is a cricut cake, not that there's anything wrong with them, but they do lack a bit of originality and sometimes I dont think they show much artistic talent.
I made friends with mine. I love it for letters and numbers. I have done several cakes with the damask pattern and I love it because unlike stencils you can make it be what ever size you want.
The trick is to roll fondant thin (Wilton's is great for this because it is firmer and cheap) freeze it for about 10-15 minutes. Have you machine set before you take it out. Cut out designs on high speed at medium pressure. This prevents drag and tearing. For intricate patterns carefully pull the excess fondant away from the cut design and place cutting mat in oven with light only on for about 30 minutes or so and you can lift it with a thin blade. For thicker pieces you need to stand up, add tylose to fondant then freeze about 30 minutes. Do the same with the speed and pressure. Remove pieces and place on cooling rack and put under oven light for at least a couple hours or even better overnight.
I have the cake basics cartridge, elegant cakes cartridge that came with the machine and I picked up the Martha Stewart's elegant cake art cartridge at Joann's for $29.95.
I have one that was a gift and I only use it with icing sheets/edible image papers. I have used Lucks and Wilton sugar sheets and they work great. I plan on buying a pack of the IcingImage premium sheets when I run out of the paper I have.
The edible papers are more expensive than using your own gumpaste/fondant but they save me so much frustration and time I think it's worth it.
If I bought my own cutter, I would purchase a Silhouette from Linda Mclure (just google her - she has a kit that is for food use) along with the Make the Cut Software. The software allows you to cut any image and any design from your computer and requires no cartridges. The software does not work with the Cricut. Also if you have an edible image printer the Silhouette with make the cut is even better because there is a print and cut feature which is just amazing.
And to answer your actual question: my two favorite cartridges are Story Book and Ornamental Iron II
If you do end up with a Cricut buy your catridges on eBay. I have only 5 cartidges (all font cartridges) because I'm really only using it for lettering. I can not write on cakes and using tappits etc for intricate letters is a pain. I am happy with my Cricut only because it was a gift and I know I will not pay any more cartridges.
There is actually a way to use MTC with the cricut now. Check out http://diydata.wordpress.com/2011/08/03/cricut-cutter-with-usb-it-can-be-done/
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