Fair enough, their models just appeared to have cleaned up better, which is probably more marketing than anything. =p
So, right now, it seems like two votes for Ultimaker, one vote for Bukobot. Any other thoughts on the models I mentioned, or any other models?
+Aluminatus TrinityOne that thing is a beast, but the squeaking would drive mean nuts. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXHB-vXYwbg&list=UUX3D0b7Y5kIUz_OQnq5nouA
thought about a Protos 400? Bit more expensive but huge
https://grrf.de/en/catalog/3d-drucker-protos-x400/grrf-protos-x400
50x50x50 cm Build Envelope
what about lulzbots version of mendelmax?
Unfortunately, the Protos 400 is about a thousand dollars beyond my price range, if the euro conversion rate is accurate. The print envelope is nice, but at $1k extra, I’m okay with splicing together smaller prints.
@Jay_Couture I’ve wanted to consider the TrinityOne, but I can’t find any decent reviews of it, professional or from users.
@Marcus_Wolschon : “Ultimater”? Really?? Sounds like an adult movie…
Anyway, +10 for all the “don’t fall for the ‘100 microns’ marketing” comments. I have printed (somewhat poorly but did it anyway) 1 micron layers on my Ultimaker. 100 microns is not a big deal.
And, as much as I love my Ultimaker, your price looks low for the assembled version. Don’t worry about assembling one - it’s really not that hard and you’ll learn a lot about how it works.
@Dave_Durant : You’re right, that price is closer to the kit price. And I’m not opposed to assembly, I’m not completely mechanically inept, and I’ve got an engineer roommate for backup.
One big difference between the Ultimaker and the Bukobot is the extrusion system. The Ultimaker uses a Bowden extruder, which means the motor is mounted on the back of the printer and pushes it through a Teflon tube to the actual print head. This means the moving print head weighs a lot less so it can be moved faster without overshooting it’s target because it has less momentum and is easier to stop. The downside is that you’ll tend to get more stringing (caused by small amounts of unintentional extrusion during print head moves). This can be minimized with physical and software tweaks, but is an issue for Bowden extruders.
The bukobot has the motor pushing the filament into the print head mounted to the print carriage, directly above the print head. This means the print carriage weighs more, but that can be compensated for in the design by using stronger motors to push around the print carriage.
Just about any printer can be adapted to use either method of extrusion at a later point, if you want to switch, but it seems to be generally true that going from direct drive to Bowden is simpler than the reverse.
Another big difference is frame material. Maybe it’s just me, but metal frames seem like a better idea than wooden ones. I think of it like musical instruments: how a wooden instrument plays changes based on humidity, but a metal instrument is the same all the time.
@Stephen_Baird , some of the new parts on Ultimakers (new machines will come with them, old machines can upgrade) have done wonders for nearly eliminating stringing - with a bit of care, you can print very complex parts with no strings.
As for wood v metal frames, I think the effects on wood are a bit overstated. Lots of folks have done lots of amazing prints on these things. Big temperature swings probably have a bigger effect but most people won’t be hit by that (and, I think, metal machines would also have issues).
Have you looked at the Rostok Max by SeeMeCNC? It is a kit but has a good print size. What costuming pieces are you looking to do?
@Dave_Durant I know lots of advancements have been made with Bowdens, and I’m actually in the process of fitting one to my printer to experiment with, but they do add some complexity for a first time 3D printer user. I don’t want someone to be scared away from what is a good printer just because it uses a Bowden, though.
I’m not so sure how much difference wood v. metal makes either, the variance in humidity and temperature in most people’s homes is probably lower than we usually think it is. I think that one is really more my preference than a true concern. I do love the look of the Ultimaker’s optional LCD/control panel though. It’s hard to go wrong with that bendy accordion cut wood style.
@Donald_Gaither_Wooki : I think I came across this in my initial searches, but had the same lack of review problem. The costuming pieces will be fairly wide ranging - uniform details, smaller weapons, Pip-Boys, and hopefully, an Iron Man suit.
@Alexandra_Smith No wasn’t recommending an non-released printer, just never heard of/seen that one before. I love my Prusa Mendel, but they seem to have fallen out of favor 
However, were I going to buy a kit, the Ultimaker would be at the top of my list based on the videos and photos I’ve seen. So +1 to Ultimaker
Have you thumbed through the MAKE Ultimate Guide to 3D Printing?
There were limitations to our testing, but some of the prose in those reviews might well help you find the thing that you respond to best. The one sad thing is that the Lulzbot was seriously misbehaving so kinda got unfairly docked (this was a first-time-users type of test rather than an experiences users test).
Bukobot, Type A Series 1, Ultimaker, Afinia/Up!, Felix, Lulzbot, Printrbot etc – all of these are in your price range and awesome.
Spend time checking out the community for each machine - learning about how people use them and tweak them and improve them will go far to answering your question for getting value for your investment.
I have a heavily modified ToM, a modded MakerBot Rep1, a Bukobot Vanilla 8 and use a MakerBot Rep2 at work a little. But I’m going to help put together the Met Museum’s Ultimaker (they are so excited to have one!) and put together a Mendel Max with some folks in town. And I’d love to get my hands on a Type A Series 1.
So really the tl;dr version of what I’m saying is that most of these solutions are awesome – the is NO reason to spend more than $2k on your first model, – and you are probably going to love the one you select if you do your research on the existing users and the results they print.
@Jay_Couture I’ve seen the Aluminatus in person and the linear motion system is pretty fantastic. I believe the squeaking was cause by substituting a non-optimal lead nut while they were waiting for the correct ones to arrive. No reviews yet, but I know they’re working like the dickens to move the first 50 out the door in the next little bit.
@Alexandra_Smith as usual, I’m going to cast my vote for @nop_head 's Mendel90. It’s well-though-out, designed by one of the most experienced RepRap operators and has an excellent manual.
It’s 499£ ($800) plus s&h and imports.
Otherwise, +1 for the Ultimaker.
For “print and forget” you dó need the additional UltiController (with the LCD) on the Ultimaker. That way you can print right from an SDcard. Printing via USB connected to a pc proves too unreliable for me, too many serial connection errors. But maybe my USB cable is a poor one, or too long…
+1 for the @Ultimaker from my side as well. Super reliable in the current state (yeah, the machine had issues early on, but currently: all fixed!).
Gives you the experience you described above: Out of the box. But still: It’s a exciting hobby/passion/job and you will run into problems if you’re going cutting-edge. But there’s always a community here to help you and the steadily improved software/firmware is just making things better and better month after month.
No matter what you go for: Happy to have you with us @Alexandra_Smith !