So has anything significant happened since we last talked? I recently glanced at a few "best 3d printers for 2017" articles and the old names like Lulzbot and Ultimaker are still there, and while the other crowd seems to change a bit I didn't spot anything ground shaking. Are publications like Tom's Hardware and the various 3D printing sites just a little behind the curve? I recall people on these boards raving about the Wanhao budget printers but didn't see them featured in the reviews. And the Lulzbot Taz 6 which was still rated a best pick at $2,500 was released 2 years ago! Price doesn't seem to have come during that period.

Here is (I guess) a partial overview of recently expired patents: https://caretdashcaret.com/2013/12/2...nting-patents/

It talks of SLS and I've noticed some printers are trickling down towards the consumer market ($10,000 price tag). But Wikipedia tells us there are technical hurdles, such as the required high power lasers, which will likely keep the technology out of our homes for years, maybe more than a decade? So old patents is just one thing and the continuous innovation on a broad front is often the factor that brings the consumer technology forward.

Would you say it's actually quite hard to estimate where and when the next big breakthrough might come?

I take the materials innovation is a given; not an overnight breakthrough but something which will push 3D printing and make it more practical during several years to come. Printed items will be cheaper, more durable, better looking and so on.

One of the critical pain points is printing speed however. If we suddenly get a 100x speed increase I would think that will obsolete a lot of printers that are currently in use. Quality from the better consumer devices is already at least passable, so I don't think many people would want to acquire a new device just for that reason. The necessity to run your device for several hours to get any sensible results has many practical consequences though. But is there even any credible hope for a rapid increase in printing speed during this decade?