Help narrow down 3d printer?

[aeviaanah]

Which of these have the most upgrades or user based modifications out there? Curious if any have a much larger community based around them?

[Vanguard]

You are going about this in a very good way, researching everything. It would be very nice of you if you let us all know what your final decision is, please post the outcome. No printer can be everything to everybody, but it would be very handy to know what you picked, and the criteria you used. What made you decide on a certain printer, or method. A new thread would probably be best for that, it would greatly help a lot of people. If a lot of people researched their printers this well, the unreliable printers would quickly fade away.

[aeviaanah]

You are going about this in a very good way, researching everything. It would be very nice of you if you let us all know what your final decision is, please post the outcome. No printer can be everything to everybody, but it would be very handy to know what you picked, and the criteria you used. What made you decide on a certain printer, or method. A new thread would probably be best for that, it would greatly help a lot of people. If a lot of people researched their printers this well, the unreliable printers would quickly fade away.

Thankyou for the words of encouragement. Ill be sure to let everyone know what I settle on and for which reasons.

I still need help with this tho!

[jimc]

I personally have a makergear m2. I can tell you it's probably one of the best printer out there. It rock solid. The build quality absolutely fantastic. Everything is precision and repeatability is great. The company is fantastic as well. customer service is super. They always respond to emails in a couple hours. You can look at the printer and see the quality of it but you never know about the company. The big selling point for me was I searched all over the internet and I couldn't find anything where a customer had a bad thing to say about the support or company itself. They are simply fantastic to deal with.

[Geoff]

Looking to buy a 3d printer. So far the lulzbot ao-101, ultimaker 3d and makergear m2 are on my list of potentials. Im finding this difficult-so much to compare and without the knowledge of 3d printing.

Any help here? Can someone point me in the right direction for honest comparisons?

I am willing to spend up to 2,000 dollars.

I bought a flashforge 3D dual extruder, cost around $1300. Lasercut wood box as per usual, stock components but a real workhorse. I was stuck, was ABOUT to buy an UP plus, but the only redeeming feature it has is the metal casing, which at th end of the day wasnt worth an extra thousand bucks to me. No assembly required, has SD card slot so you can be printing out of the box in 15 mins.
Does ABS/PLA and doesn to 0.1mm prints , and it really does do 0.1mm prints.

I also looked at a makerbot 2 - the flashforge IS a makerbot 2, it works with makerware also.. it just wont cost you $2500!

The flashforge is really easy to use and for the price hard to beat, examples below
http://3dprintboard.com/showthread.p...ff-s-3D-Prints

[aeviaanah]

I personally have a makergear m2. I can tell you it's probably one of the best printer out there. It rock solid. The build quality absolutely fantastic. Everything is precision and repeatability is great. The company is fantastic as well. customer service is super. They always respond to emails in a couple hours. You can look at the printer and see the quality of it but you never know about the company. The big selling point for me was I searched all over the internet and I couldn't find anything where a customer had a bad thing to say about the support or company itself. They are simply fantastic to deal with.

Awesome. Thanks for the input. What was it about the makergear m2 that made you lean towards, when you were deciding to buy a printer?

I bought a flashforge 3D dual extruder, cost around $1300. Lasercut wood box as per usual, stock components but a real workhorse. I was stuck, was ABOUT to buy an UP plus, but the only redeeming feature it has is the metal casing, which at th end of the day wasnt worth an extra thousand bucks to me. No assembly required, has SD card slot so you can be printing out of the box in 15 mins.
Does ABS/PLA and doesn to 0.1mm prints , and it really does do 0.1mm prints.

I also looked at a makerbot 2 - the flashforge IS a makerbot 2, it works with makerware also.. it just wont cost you $2500!

The flashforge is really easy to use and for the price hard to beat, examples below
http://3dprintboard.com/showthread.p...ff-s-3D-Prints

Curious as to why the flashforge wasn't on the Makers Ultimate Guide to 3d printers list. It seems like a compareable option. Thankyou for letting me know about this printer. The print size is on the smaller size but it seems to compare well.

Anyone have anything to add as far as software is concerned?

[JohnA136]

I believe they were invited to send a machine for testing but declined.

[jimc]

aev.... as far as the printer goes it was just everything about the construction quality of it. no plywood at all. all steel and cnc alum parts with linear slide bearings. overall its a precision made piece. then i looked at the price of it. for the price i dont think you ll find a printer made the way the m2 is. everything is so rigid on it being steel frame. on new printers the bed heater and power supply has been upgraded from mine as well as the extruder and a new all metal one to be released shortly so they are constantly doing r&d. as for the company, i wanted one that has been around awhile. not one that just popped up yesterday and not one so big that you mean nothing to them as a customer. at anytime during the day and even at night i can email the owner, i'm guessing his wife or the guy in charge of the tech dept. they will bend over backward for you if you need something. overall thats what did it for me. there are companies like qu-bd who seems to build a fantastic super engineered machine but my god from the feedback those guys have i would be scared to death to give them my money. i didnt want that so the customer service is really important. also i wanted a company here in the US. i dont want to have to ship repair parts from europe or somewhere overseas. btw the software from simplify3d is fantastic especially if your new to printing.

[aeviaanah]

aev.... as far as the printer goes it was just everything about the construction quality of it. no plywood at all. all steel and cnc alum parts with linear slide bearings. overall its a precision made piece. then i looked at the price of it. for the price i dont think you ll find a printer made the way the m2 is. everything is so rigid on it being steel frame. on new printers the bed heater and power supply has been upgraded from mine as well as the extruder and a new all metal one to be released shortly so they are constantly doing r&d. as for the company, i wanted one that has been around awhile. not one that just popped up yesterday and not one so big that you mean nothing to them as a customer. at anytime during the day and even at night i can email the owner, i'm guessing his wife or the guy in charge of the tech dept. they will bend over backward for you if you need something. overall thats what did it for me. there are companies like qu-bd who seems to build a fantastic super engineered machine but my god from the feedback those guys have i would be scared to death to give them my money. i didnt want that so the customer service is really important. also i wanted a company here in the US. i dont want to have to ship repair parts from europe or somewhere overseas. btw the software from simplify3d is fantastic especially if your new to printing.

Thanks man for the great review. MakerGear has been catching my eye.

[Vanguard]

To jimc, these are the kind of reviews I like to see, genuine user reviews, not here say, or hype, but what actually has happened to YOU ! First person knowledge is always best, thank you for the information, and it is great to know that some people take service and support so seriously !