Can someone tell me which fused deposition modeling 3D printer prints in the best overall quality and is priced under $5,000. I've looked at makerbots, afinia, cubes, and a bunch of others. From what I have seen, the Afinia seems to have the best print quality. Is this accurate, or am I missing one?
Have you looked at our Hyrel printers? We don't have as large a user base as these others, so there hasn't been as much recipe experimentation, but we have made 25 micron prints (tedious but doable).
Hyrel's are good printers. I also think Afinia are pretty good. Makerbots, if set on the best resolution are right up there with these. I wouldn't suggest a DaVinci if you are looking for high resolution.
This is really a tough question. There are a ton of good fdm printers out there, all with great resolution. You might also want to consider the build volume that you are looking for, as well as speed, and other features. If you want a featured rich printer, you probably would want the latest Makerbot replicators. If you want something with high resolution, you probably would want to go for something outside FDM, and grab an SLA printer. The resolution will be much nicer.
$5K for a FDM printer? That is way overkill. Read the forums. The expensive FDM printers all have the same issues as the "cheap" ones. FDM is difficult to maintain and keep going. Look for a good history of commitment from the manufacturer as well as a strong online presence of users helping users. This will be your key to success.
Yeah if you have a good budget like that, go SLA. A good FDM shouldn't cost more than $1.5k.