Quote Originally Posted by protechtrader View Post
Thanks for the reply! Based on that I am leaning to think that its more about printed material size and a bit less about quality & strength of object when comparing some of these $500 range units to the $1000 range units. Is that a fair statement?
Most of the FDM printers from the established brands (lulzbot, flashforge, printrbot ...) seem to have reached a certain level of quality. It doesn't mean it will print well whatever you throw at it. It means you get a more than reasonable chance to do nice stuff once you do your homework and learn the ropes. Their machines all work on the same principles and re-use common components.

So YES, the quality is probably comparable for those brands whether you buy small, medium or big printers.

Printrbot publishes a lot of stuff to help you understand the machine (mind you, I think lulzbot does the same) you can find it here for instance : http://help.printrbot.com/Guide/Asse...29/179?lang=en

As you can see, all metal and a lot of standard components that can be sourced from them or anywhere online. Sturdy and maintainable, just how I like it.

Nobody I know complained about big print volume, but as you can see everywhere there are kits to upgrade small build volumes. If you can afford it, don't start too small.