picking a printer....

[Luke.marsh96]

Getting closer to narrowing down my options for a printer!
I will be using it to prototype small simple products and then produce them in a speed the printer will allow me to, until I am ready to get the product mass produced.
So the qualities the printer needs are to be able to print fast while the quality is also good. I also need a printer with the filament as cheap as possible while also being good quality. I need to be able to print both ABS and PLA.
The printers i am considering are the:
Ultimaker 2 - what is the main advantages from the original UM, will the speed and quality of the print be a huge amount of difference? As i can basically get 2 original ones for the price of the Ultimaker 2.
The flash forge creater pro, its cheaper than the ultimaker 2 which is a big advantage.
The Wanhou duplicator D4S which again is cheaper than the UM 2.
Any other recommendations for what I need it for? which one will be the cheapest to run? and fit all my needs? and is simple to use and reliable? Is it really worth spending the extra money on the UM 2? Also resale value would also be good as well.
Any information I will greatly appreciate.
P.S things like size, noise, looks don't matter to me at all.
Thanks
Luke

[RobinHoney]

hi luke i m not under stand what are u saying please clarify me

[Luke.marsh96]

Thanks for your reply! What is it you don't understand?
Thanks!

[SloppyJostler]

I am thinking of buying a Wanhao d5s large build, you mentioned the d4s I only assume that the d5s is just for bigger prints, I will buy one tomorrow, I have asked and waited for a reply on the forum but have not had much back to help me decide, so all I can say is go for what you fell is right for you, I will try the d5s as it is best one Wanhao do on a consumer level I think, but could be wrong, I have read some good reviews on the Wanhaos and the price is good I guess and also the UM 2 is more expensive and does not do prints as big as the Wanhao so I recall.

[DavidS]

What is it that you need that your current home made 3D printer can not be modified to do?

Form what you are saying you want I do not know what it is. Though it is obvious that you already have a home made one, otherwise you would not yet be looking at purchasing one.

[Luke.marsh96]

I am thinking of buying a Wanhao d5s large build, you mentioned the d4s I only assume that the d5s is just for bigger prints, I will buy one tomorrow, I have asked and waited for a reply on the forum but have not had much back to help me decide, so all I can say is go for what you fell is right for you, I will try the d5s as it is best one Wanhao do on a consumer level I think, but could be wrong, I have read some good reviews on the Wanhaos and the price is good I guess and also the UM 2 is more expensive and does not do prints as big as the Wanhao so I recall.

Thanks for the reply! what made you go for the d5s?

[Luke.marsh96]

I don't have any 3d printer? I'm looking too buy one, and want to know what will be best for my needs.
Thanks
Luke

[Rainman]

I bought my first printer almost two years ago now. I went for the Flashforge Creator Dual as a compromise between price and performance, largely because the device is a copy/derivative of the Makerbot line of products and there is a lot of support for the Makerware software as well as being able to use Replicator G is required. I've absolutely hammered this printer over the last couple of years and it's been very good and produced some great prints. The downsides have been that it is very noisy the print bed leaves a lot to be desired which can make the setup between print jobs quite tiresome. Some filaments can make the setup quite tricky to get that important first layer down, but once I bought a borosilicate glass build plate for it then the printer was transformed, although obviously still very noisy and the firmware is getting a bit outdated now.

Having had such a good experience with this early Flashforge unit I decided to buy an additional printer and went for the Creator Pro. Essentially, all of the niggles with the Creator Dual have been addressed and it's a good solid, quiet printer which efficiently outputs amazingly good prints whilst still using all the software that gets frequently updated and that I've also become very accustomed to. I didn't go for the Dreamer because it utilises different software and seems to require dedicated filament whilst the touch screen seems a bit like a gimmick to me.

I can wholly recommend the FF Creator Pro. Lots of upgrade parts and other bits are already on Thingiverse (shim for printing on glass, glass bed clips, spool holders, etc) which is also a testament to the number of customers already using one, which is also an important consideration when buying a printer.

[3D Maniac]

I have been making a spreadsheet if it helps. Google-Spreadsheets-#3D-Printers.
I left it public so if you see something wrong please edit.

[Rainman]

The other thing I forgot to mention about the Flashforge printers is that they are a very good option if you're intending to use specialist filaments at they will allow you to get the hot end up and potentially beyond 250c. In fact I think that for the money the Flashforge kit gives you the widest range of capabilities. I was considering buying a cheap Printrbot Metal Simple as an additional printer, but it is just too limiting to what I'm used to and so it would be frustrating. Very cheap though.