We're a Makerbot retailer, but haven't brought any 5th gens into our store yet, even though we have a few customers interested in the Z18. We have Rep 2s in stock on the shelf. We've heard from our distributor that the reliability on the initial production runs has been far below the Rep 2, and that the customer return rate has been astronomical. I spoke with a customer last week, who bought some filament from us, that has had a 5th gen for 6 weeks, and is already on his 3rd extruder. That customer also said that there have been several firmware updates in the short time he's owned his 5th gen. He's the first 5th gen owner I've actually spoken with face to face, everything else I've seen are just internet postings.

We really like our Rep 2s, and are disappointed that Makerbot seemed to have rushed this to market before the bugs are worked out.

I'd like to see an unbiased side-by-side review of the 5th gen versus the Rep 2 by someone who has spent some time with both. We have over 2,000 hours worth of build time on our Rep 2s.