I am going to throw this out there because I have had really good luck with it over the past couple of months. The Solidoodle 4 is a decent printer. You will want to add a glass bed to make sure the build plate (the plate might be deformed or become deformed) is level and print on Slurry to make sure your parts don't lift.

Here is what I like... It is enclosed so you can open it or print with it closed to allow you to control the heat to the print.

It has a heated build plate and print ABS or PLA. I would recommend ABS but that is a personal pref.

It is supported by simplify 3d. In my opinion Simplify 3d with pretty much any printer makes the printer much better. It isnt cheap but can be used with multiple printers so its not like you would need to buy a copy for each printer.

It has a decent size build volume (8x8x8)

A lot of mod parts if you want to get into that.

It is easy to level the build plate and it stays level. I have leveled it one time in 4 kg of ABS printing. I have checked it multiple times, but it just stays level.

What I dont like about it It is an entry level printer and the parts are as such. You will learn a lot about 3D printers as it breaks. It will. My first break was the Y axis 3d printed parts at the front of the printer. They are weak and I would recommend this being the first thing that you print when you get your printer. Mine lasted through about 4kg of plastic before they broke. Both of them broke within a day of each other. The ones on thingiverse are much better.

There is no cooling fan at the extruder. You can add one with the parts on thingiverse.

No SD card or screen. You have to print from your computer. You can add a screen and sd support but you will not be able to add the cooling fan if you do without replacing the controller board.

All 3D printers require maintenance. you will need to get the allen wrenches and grease to maintain your printer. This one takes pretty regular maintenance. I do this Saturday mornings before anyone else in my house is awake. It lets me focus on getting everything greased and checked or tightened.

When you get the printer, before you use it, tighten all of the screws. They have a way of "loosening during shipping" which is the standard line you will get from support when you first get the printer.

I have been impressed with this printer. I know others who cant stand them because of previous experience with earlier versions.

This is what I got: Da Vinci 1.0

I got mine on sale for $399 with free shipping. Newegg seems to have this sale every so often as do other retailers.

On the plus side it is way better then having no printer. I've printed multiple parts with no problems. It's pretty. It's enclosed. It's simple. I didn't have to build it or program it. You print from a PC with a USB cable. I didn't want to start with a 2k - 3k printer as right now I'm not printing a large robot like an inmoov.

Down side is, I would not trust printing an inmoov robot with this printer, at least not without trying some modes and maybe different software for slicing. Another negative is you need to buy cartridges with the print filament in it. There are refills and mods you can do to use any filament, but I have not experiments with those yet. The cartridges do not bother me in the least.

I'd buy it again in a heart beat for my first 3d printer. I love it. I'd love a 3K MakerBot even more if the 3d printer fairies placed one on my door step overnight. But until then, da vinci!

In buying a low cost 3D printer, what minimum bed size would be best? Is the 8"x8"x8" normal? I assume projects like EZ Robots or EZ bits could be printed, but what about parts for something the size of "Alan" or Imoov?

Ron

8x8x8 is large enough to print an inmoov. Alan won't be available to 3d print. It is being cold cast and then possibly injection molded later.

Hi @d.cochran Thanks for the reply. I just wanted to get an idea what would be the work area needed. My budget is minimal, but I would buy once and want to have the printer be able to do the job. The "Alan" was to just get an idea of the size and complexity of what is needed in a printer and if a low cost ($500.00 - $600.00 ) printer could do the job. Has your printer been durable, and reliable enough to print a project as large as Inmoov? Parts available and upgradeable? Ron

The issue that I had was with the 3d printed parts that are used to hold the Y axis idler. These (both of them) broke after about 4 KG of abs being printed. There are much more durable parts available that you can 3d print on thingiverse. I now have about 7 KG of plastic through this printer and it has been reliable. I have printed at resolutions of .1mm without any issue after I made some minor modification to the printer. I printed pretty much non stop for the past month or so and am pleased. Remember that this is an entry level printer so the results will not always be what some of the 2-4K printers are. I am also willing to do some sanding and painting to get the highly visible parts on my inmoov to be what I want them to be.

Get a piece of glass to print on. Attach it to the heated build plate with some paper binders. Look up Acetone Slurry and make some. I like making it pretty thin. I put this on the glass before printing. The printed parts stick to the glass very well when using slurry. When you do this, you will need to adjust your Z axis screw that is in the back of the printer to prevent your print head from crashing into the glass. This is a simple thing to do.

The other upgrade that I did was purchase Simplify3d. It is very good and I am convinced has made a very large difference in the printouts that I am getting. I highly recommend the $150.00 investment. Also, if you upgrade your printer in the future, this software will still be able to be used. There are a lot of preset configs for printers.

The other thing I do is use ABS filament from a company about 10-15 miles from my house. It is nice to be able to go get what I need when I need it, and I can look at the "White" to make sure it is "White" before it gets to my house and isn't exactly "White". This removes some frustration.

The first thing I would print out are replacement parts for what is in the 3d printer. Some of the replacement parts are upgrades but all of them can be found by searching for Solidoodle on Thingiverse.

The actual print area is more like 7 3/4 x 7 3/4 x 7 3/4. The inmoov could probably be printed on a 6x6x6 build plate if necessary. It is nice to have a little extra room though.

What am I giving up by purchasing the DaVinci vs the Solidoddle. There is quite a difference in price and I don't understand the difference. I am sure the Solidoddle is a better printer but exactly how or why. Thanks for the explanation.

The Solidoodle 4 sounds like a reasonable way to go. The fan and extra y axis parts are the only modifications you had to make? I have a cousin who has the ability to machine parts from aluminum. Is this a consideration for the more fragile parts? Thanks again, Ron