I’m diving into this world whether my wife likes it or not. 
Unfortunately, I’m at a split in my decision.
ANET A8 or the TEVO Tarantula?
ANET A8 appears to have a huge following and the price is great. Will have to buy a spool of filament though to get started.
TEVO Tarantula has an auto-leveling bed and comes with 2 rolls of filament out of the box. Price is a little more but guess that due to the auto-leveling bed and the 2 rolls of “free” filament.
Any input would be greatly appreciated. Budget is really <$230 (or there abouts).
Dont buy the TEVO Tarantula. Might be a nice printer but the service and support SUCK! Mine was lost by the courier and the company refuses to compensate me.
I wouldn’t be swayed by filament offers - filament quality is one of the biggest factors in successful printing and let’s face it, if they’re giving it away free, it’s unlikely to be top-notch stuff. You’ll get better results buying decent filament from the start.
@Jon_Gritton I think that’s the issue I’m currently running into. I’m brand new to 3D printing and I bought a printer that came with filament with the intention to use it. I’ve been having issues and have figured many of them out but my current issue points to crappy filament. I’ll be buying a new (better quality) roll. If you have any suggestions on what’s good I’d appreciate it.
Thanks you guys. This is much appreciated.
I finally pulled the trigger on the ANET A8 and ordered it a few hours ago.
Seemed that from what I read here and elsewhere where I posted the same question, the ANET A8 was the way to go. Plus I’ve been reading up about that printer for about 3+ weeks now & didn’t want to start my research all over again.
@Kevin_Danger_Powers there are a lot of good filament suppliers out there and unfortunately, there really isn’t one that serves all purposes. Any of the popular brands are going to give you a decent material - ColorFabb, Taulman, ProtoPasta, E3D, to name a few.
I’m currently loving the Spoolworks Edge - it’s great to print with, produces really fine detail and smooth surfaces (especially the Phone Box Red for some reason).
@Jon_Gritton ok, thanks!