Yep, you can print without a raft. The default setting is "On". I was a raft-hater while I waited for my printer to show up (since the CubeX at my office doesn't use them - I couldn't see the point)... not really a big deal to peel it off at the end of the day. It does print fine on the BuildTak, though.

My total postage costs were $50 shipping + $32 to enter Canada at Customs, so $82.

For $281 (I was a $199 Super-Early Backer), I'm absolutely thrilled. Agreed that once you get to $400, there are a lot of other options out there (PrintrBot, XYZ Davinci, etc.)

No heated build platform - I wouldn't touch ABS on this.