I had really bad experience with their gen 1. I cannot speak on their behalf today

Was it more of a customer support issue or a technical issue? or both?

@Aliusa... also be prepared to use only their (Cube) filament as it comes as a cartridge design (so you can only use theirs and it's not cheap)... I would not buy a 3d printer that used proprietary filament... Because filament cost will add up quickly ($$$)... Spend the money on something like a Makergear M2 or a Flashforge Creator Pro... Both good machines...

Someone on here has a DaVinci and says it works great and is cheap... however, I am not sure if it uses only Davinci filament or not...

Thanks @Richard_R, but I cant justify the cost for just printing Animatronic Eyes parts I found on thingiverse :-) I found a cheap deal on these Second Gens and figured I'd ask. But without the ability to customize, I'm thinking this isn't that great of a deal.

aliusa,

You might want to check if you have a local makerspace or if your local library system has a 3D printer.

One of the libraries in my town is getting a Makerbot 2 this spring, and the Washington DC library system has one just two metro stops from my office. You supply the STL file, and they print it for $1 setup and $0.03/gram of material.

Or, you can use the 3D printing community page here to find a user to print something for you. One user here printed a couple of small parts for me for free ( I offered to trade some stuff, but he didn't need it).

Alan

I have tried Solidoodle and we couldn't get the firmware to print the g code correctly. Since then I have used a Makerbot Replicator 2 with 90 percent success. Biggest gripe is when it gets low on filament there is no way to know and the printer will not pause if it runs out. It will just print air. So when printing something big I must be around to watch it. Small prints 3 to 5 hours I am confident to leave alone. I usually have a Web cam set up to watch the print when I am away.

Thanks all. I will pass on it. There must be a reason why some guy is selling them at $200 (lowered it) a pop. I'll wait until prices come down a bit or my budge goes up

For now I will take @thetechguru's advice. I don't have much to print.

Thanks all.

Eh, @aliusa I just got back from CES 2015 next month Xyz Printing is releasing a Di Vinci 1.1 Jr for @$349.00 PLA/ABS with a nice bed size.. I have the 1st gen, its a great starter 3d printer.. should be able to pre-order on Amazon soon.. all of their printers are under the $1000 range.. and worth the price..

You can buy a used Makerbot Replicator 2 for 1000 to 1200 dollars. If you insist on new , you can buy a Dremel dream / flash forge from home depot and take advantage of their return policy if you don't like it.

I scheduled an appointment with my library to use the printer (50c / hour). I believe they have the latest Makerbot Replicator. So I will see how that goes before I drop a k on it.

The return policy on the the Dremel sounds very appealing. Too bad Costco doesn't sell 3D printers yet. :-)

Thanks, Aliusa

Quote:

Too bad Costco doesn't sell 3D printers yet. :-)

At the pace the technology is improving and getting easier to use, I would expect that within a year or two at most, you will be able to get them at Costco, Target, Walmart, and they will be simple and reliable.

Having Dremel brand one and sell it through Home Depot was a huge step towards them becoming common household appliances.

Alan

Hi there!

Actually, I'd definitely recommend taking a closer look at the Makergear M2 as well! It has received a huge number of positive reviews, not to mention it's considered a budget buy (plus, you have to spend money to make money, right) and it has been on 3dhubz's list of the best printers in their 3d printers guide for 2 years in a row now (in the "Enthusiast" category).

If you want to check out a summarized guide of the best printers for 2016 in different types of categories, check out this article.

It's based on 3dhubz's and Makezine's thorough 3d printer guides for this year, based on consumer ratings and comments.

Hope this helps!