The Cube 3 cartridges are more expensive than buying generic filament but no where near 400% more. Also read about all the problems people have using cheap filament. A small discrepancy in $20 filament causes jams and print errors often. The reason reviews are bad for the Cube is hobbyists and tinkerers prefer to do things cheap… cheap printer, cheap filament, cheap extruders, etc. and they don’t mind spending days or weeks doing calibration. For a school that wants to print and not build a printer and continuously mess with it, the Cube is a great solution. Also I will be discounting filament to schools because I want them to use the child friendly Cubes in the classroom.
I agree with staying away from the 3DSystems printers. If you want a plug and play printer that’s absolutely fantastic and only going to get better as the open source software develops over time, go with the Ultimaker 2.
3DS recently attempted to stifle innovation in the 3D printing field by asserting their patents against Form1 labs, and it’s downright despicable behavior. Don’t support lock-in. Don’t support stifling of innovation. Don’t support 3D Systems by buying their products.
3D Printing isn’t a big deal because of Stratasys or 3D Systems. It’s big because their industry stifling patents had expired and people like the ones in this community went forward and started making it available to the masses. Support those innovators. Buy Printrbot, Ultimaker, etc.
@Artie_Moskowitz Are there drivers and software for Mac’s and Chromebooks for the Cubes? Can Cubes or any 3d printer print directly out of AutoCad? The printers will be used in high school graphics and CAD classes. I tend to favor open source/ cross platform solutions for the simple fact they are more flexible. 3d printing is a nascent technology and I know almost nothing about it. It seems similar to the early days of VHS and BetaMax. I’m trying to avoid buying the BetaMax solution. If I was smart enough I’d like to buy the CD solution, if it even exists.
You can export autocad objects to stl and then any printer can print it. Cube is locked down and will surely be the betamax and hddvd of 3d printing. So are many locked down expensive cattridge solutions out there.
Thank you all for posting your thoughts. I’m leaning towards the printrbot simple metal /w heated platen. We have to order the printers by Wed 3/18 (grant). I’ll post what we end up with and try to document the rollout.
Calling @Brook_Drumm to the rescue on speeding up the purchasing process.