I was at an event at one of the Makerbot stores last night, and it should come as a surprise to no-one, that the new “5th generation” makerbots will take proprietary filament cartridges.
I understand the need for consistency, and I myself have standardized on my filament supply, but the fact that my slightly more expensive supplier (Ultimachine) has to compete with the junk suppliers keeps my costs down, and I appreciate that!
Get ready for $100 Makerbots.
I’m having a bunch of problems with Makerbot brand filament, I just don’t have enough confidence in my abilities to place blame.
@Russell_Nelson Agreed - if they can control the consumable, then they should practically give away the printer. Of course this means $50 for .5kg filament.
Is it like other commercial printers that use electronics to make sure you use only Makerot cartridges, stops printing while there’s filament left, etc. or is it just a physical form-factor trying to make loading/unloading more convenient?
AFAIK parent company Stratasys puts chips on its cartridges. I guess we should expect the same from Makerbot.
Of course they did. 