Glad you are diving in tfast500. First of all the MakerFarm is a great printer. I'm able to print some amazing parts and assemblies with mine. I've had it almost two years and it is as stable and sound as ever.

I started out using all of the free slicers I could find. They all have unique capabilities here and there that give each one of them merit. Kisslicer gave me one of the cleanest prints I've ever gotten. Meshmixer has an interesting support system. Pronterface has a nice interface and has lots of good control settings. Skeinforge it the worst god awful interface you'll ever see but is one of the most complete set of controls you'll find. It's very, very confusing and difficult to wrap your head around at first but if you are dedicated, it can do almost anything. Cura became my favorite for a long time but it lacked a number of controls that I liked in other slicers.

I just kept wishing I could get all of those slicers and combine them. Well, someone did. Simplify 3d. Yes, it costs something but usually things that "cost" outperform things that are free. That's common sense. Sure, you can print all day long using free slicers and be happy. But, if you print all day long, that means you are probably trying to make some money with your printer. And if you are trying to make money with your printer, a small investment (about the cost of 4 rolls of filament) S3D will make your like much more pleasant. It's worth every penny. Sure, they don't have a demo, but the developers are really nice people. If you buy it and have issues they will work with you to figure it out. I've talked to them a couple of times and they quickly ironed out my "user error" issues. They also told me that if they worked with me and could not get it to perform the way I needed it to or expected it to, they'd refund my money for the purchase. I never came close to asking for a refund. You can't get any better support than that. Next to Colin at Makerfarm, I've rarely seen as good of a support team.

There are a lot of people here who will agree with me that if you go with S3D you'll be so glad and you'll never look back. But don't just take my word for it. Sometimes the best way to appreciate something is to have experienced something else for a bit so you are able to compare. I might suggest that you play with and use the free programs for a few months, test them, get used to them, be frustrated by them. Then, get S3D and you'll see why it's so good. You'll see how it outshines the free slicers. If you never use the free slicers you'll have no way to make that comparison. But, be assured, if you skip the free slicer experience and go for S3D, you can rest assured you did the right thing and eliminated a whole lot of initial frustration.

Good to see you here as a newbie. Soon you won't be a newbie. There are some really, really talented people here who range from students printing phone cases at home to commercial printing houses, all who weigh in with fantastic advice and expertise. I'd encourage you to search this forum to solve your issues. Many of the newbie questions have been thoroughly answered. The "search" algorithm in this forum is pretty bad and it's sometimes hard to find things, but if you can't find answers, ask. Someone will help you.