I was hoping for some advice. I am going to get a 3D printer at the beginning of next year. I have a £1000 budget. I have been looking at the Velleman K8200 from Maplins.
http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/velleman-k8200-3d-printer-kit-n82qg
And the Ultimaker
I am leaning towards the Ultimaker because of the ability to be upgraded easily.
Has anyone got any opinions on either of these or even another suggestion I haven’t thought of yet?
Definitely don’t get the K8200. I’ve seen too many odd problems with them lately and frankly, the mechanical design of the whole printer doesn’t seem trustworthy in the first place.
The Ultimaker (and especially the newer 2 model) is one that is agreed to be a great printer and is made by folks who care about the community and their customers.
Another alternative you might want to look into is nophead’s Mendel90, which he sells as kit for 499GBP (+s&h, http://forums.reprap.org/read.php?94,196585,196585#msg-196585 ). It’s a very well designed, reliable machine and known for its great customer support done by the man nophead himself.
I am always so amazed why this printer is so popular. IN MY OPINION this is one of the worst designs to have. The build plate slinging all around like that.
I assume your talking about the Velleman @Wayne_Friedt . I did think it looked a little tatty but for the price thought it was worth considering. From looking more at the Ultimaker I think that’s what I’d go for I can’t justify the Ultimaker2 but I could get a couple of the upgrades the 1 I think that will get me started nicely. @Thomas_Sanladerer thanks for the suggestion of the Mendel90 it looks good but i think the Ulimaker will look better on my desk 
Opps, yes the Velleman
I’m in a similar position of looking to buy in the new year. I’m mostly looking at the Mendel tricolour. Looks like a fun build, and probably the best base to tinker from for me.
As much as I hate to suggest this, but for $1k you’re better off looking at something like a Solidoodle 2/3 – They’re a little chintzy but anything is better than that piece of crap K8200. Even better would be something like a MakerFarm 8" kit. And though, maybe slightly difficult to get the information for, a Mendel90 from Nophead would be the best out of all of those…
The Solidoodle looks very similar to the Ultimaker and from my searches I can’t find a Solidoodle dealer in the uk. I don’t really wanna go down the build your own from scratch route I’m sure i could do it but I want something that will work well without hours and hours of tweaking. I have decided I am gonna go for the Ultimaker. Ive looked at reviews and they seem very positive about the printer and the support.
Thanks for everyone’s advice I’m sure ill be posting some more bits once it arrives.
Solid choice. Only reason I didn’t recommend them was your price envelope. I recommend them over practically any other machine at this point in time.
The UM1 is 998GBP (converted), so it just about fits. I know there were some flaws on the bowden drive and I’m not sure to what extent those were fixed in the later revision, but either way it’s a very solid choice.
Yeah it just about fits into my budget I’ll be going a bit over because I’m gonna get the UniControler for it but its only 80 euros so I think I can justify it.
I have a Velleman k8200, it works well, and I have no problem. I’ll buy a dremel and I’ll use it ad CNC too. It’s cheap, and the prints have Good quality…This is my opinion!
The Mendel90 is a good all-round machine if you are looking for a kit-built machine.
The Melzi electronics might limit the expandability a little but as a basic single extruder machine it is very good.
I am impressed by how my Mendel90 continually outputs higher quality results as my understanding of it, and source materials, improves.
Nophead’s support of his customers is superb and the http://reprap.org Mendel90 forum is a vibrant community.
Delivered price of the kit is more like GBP 615.00 after VAT and shipping.
@marco_grasselli I wouldn’t recommend the k8200 to my worst of enemies. A moving X/Y build plate is the stupidest idea ever and I have no clue why people keep buying that damn machine.