Printrbot Simple Metal, Prusa i3 Hephestos, Mendel90 or...?

Hey there,

i feel like i'm almost there after having waded through a huge amount of information but i thought perhaps it was worth getting some input.

i'm looking to get an entry level 3d printer for product design and prototyping. after much research as far as i can see there seems to be a few clear winners on the low end of the market that stand out for both quality and value.

i've narrowed my interest down to the Mendel90, Prusa Hephestos and Printrbot Simple Metal. Of those I'm leaning towards the Mendel90.

one thing i am curious about is, not being particularly familiar with the 3d printing landscape as it stands right now, are there any models on the near horizon in the same ballpark as the above mentioned in terms of quality and cost, but potentially better value because of improvements?

the mendel90 looks really great, but it seems to have been around for a while now. i realise due to its open nature the potential for upgradeability means it can be constantly improved, so i guess i'm asking, there's no reason to hold off buying something like the mendel90 in preference of something better that's about to come out?

also, if you have any other recommendations please do let me know. i'm attracted to the mendel90 because of its resolution, print speeds, build volume and reputation of its seller.

I think it all depends on your personal skills and the time you have available to tweak and troubleshoot.

The Mendel and Prusa are pure rep rap and you can find forums that'll help inform you but in the end ... you'll have to do everything yourself.
Printrbot has a very reactive and efficient support, they develop upgrades for their products. To a certain extent the community has also made available online some stuff.

i'm more than happy to tweak and troubleshoot, a big part of it is getting a good grounding in 3d printing so i'm quite happy to construct a printer from the ground up.

the printrbot looks like a great piece of gear, but i get the feeling that if i got the mendel90 that it would come with things that i'd look to upgrade on the printrbot anyhow, like bigger build area, heated bed etc, and from what i've read it can achieve higher resolutions and/or faster speeds, but i'm absolutely open to advice as i am a total novice!

Well one thing - you won't fnd anyone complaining about the printrbots. Or at least I've never seen any.

Whereas diy kits can have a lot of minor issues.

And if I was building my own I'd probably go more for a delta. Just a lot more versatility and scope - software wise and also on print size and speeds.

There are anumber of clever things you can do with a delta that you can't so with a standard cartesian style machine.

yeah i did briefly consider the rostock max as it looks really cool, but i decided a more traditional cartesian printer would be better to start with rather than a delta, and the deltas seem to start around £900+ (well the rostock was), and i'm looking for more ~£500 or so.

i dont know a great deal about delta printers, are the main advantages speed? i'm not necessarily crazy for speed, that's not my primary concern, but of course more speed is never a bad thing!