I want to get into 3d printing, but know nothing about it. I’ve been looking online for printers for beginners, but they all talk about features that I have no idea what they are. What’s a good printer for someone who knows nothing about it? I don’t want to spend more than $500 on it, and I also don’t have a lot of space to put it, so something small would be nice. Thanks!
For someone that wants to self-educate, I always recommend Make’s yearly review as a good stating point:
https://makezine.com/comparison/3dprinters/
$500 is on the cheap side, but can be done. However, like anything else, you’re going to get what you pay for. For example, a buddy with no printing experience recently picked up a Prusa i3 Mk3 based on my recommendation, and he’s very happy with it. You can get a kit for around $800 (full build is around $1k), and the features you’ll get on that vs some $500 out-of-the-box machine aren’t in the same ballpark.
But if you really want smaller and cheaper, I’d look at the Printrbot Simple Pro and go from there.
For something that works out of the box check out dagoma Neva. It is an established French 3d printer company who recently launched a successful kick starter that funded a new factory in the US. I enjoy mine.
For a cheaper introductory printer I usually recommend the Monoprice Maker Select Plus: https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=15711
Use coupon code “SELPLUS” before the end of the month for $100 off bringing the total cost down to $300.
The other benefit if something like the i3 mk3 is that by building a kit, it’ll be harder at first but you’ll really learn a lot in the construction of the machine.