SD PRESS REVIEW

I dont agree with that article. I am noob on 3d printing, I am not an engineer, but I still manage to obtain 3 resonable printing so far. (not perfect, just resonable). At 400 USD, this is a fair price. (even 600 looks ok)

they mentioned the bed would not heat past 76C or so, so yeah, i can see prints not adhering. They've reviewed other printers and given them much higher scores--I think the idea was to see if SD support could give them advice that got prints to consistently adhere, and they failed to do so. Of course they know how to make prints stick.

Now that I read it more carefully they claim to have measured the temperature themselves. Assuming incompetence they used an IR thermometer, so who knows what the actual deal was. They're the only ones I know of who claims the glass slides easily, too.

I have to say that it's a pretty fair review.  I'm not sure about the sliding bed, but I can see how that would happen since the QC of this product is pretty much non-existent. 
The review, I think, is evaluating it from what appears to be the target market; new to 3D printing that just want a device that just works out of the box, with no modifications, as advertised.  This is certainly not the printer I received, and I wonder what percentage of users received a printer that just works without fixing the manufacture issues.
Basically, it seems that this product has totally missed the user testing phase that most companies have in place before shipping a product.  It's more like they have looked at their previous printers, come up with an idea for this printer and done the design and shipped the design off for manufacture.  It's like everyone who's purchased this are they user testing cycle.
It will be interesting to see if users from the next batch that appear to be moving out now have as many issues as those who got the first batch or if they've fixed some manufacture issues.

I had a little experience with 3D printers (older Cube) before getting the PRESS for Christmas, and was hoping to not have to do much work with this one, just load files, filament and go.  I started by removing the cord tube and rigging up an elastic support to keep the wires from jamming behind the carriage.  Had to remove and tighten the gear that pushes the filament.  Removed the motherboard and adjusted the trimpots with a multimeter.  Added screws under the bed.  Designed and printed a wedge to keep the lid partially open to prevent overheating.  Monkeyed with the temp settings and extrusion multiplier.  And now Im trying to figure out how to stop my prints from catastrophically shifting in the x-axis (in any print that is more than 1cm high).  It looks like the teeth that lock in the belt on the left side have come loose (the grip is broken) and this is going to be  a very tough fix for me. 

I like tinkering and building (I made a full Ironman suit for Halloween, and intend to add some working parts for next year, and make tons of stuff with my kids)  BUT I though this would give me some time to work on those kinds of actual projects, and not have to spend all my time messing around with this machine.  Disappointing and frustrating to say the least. 

I will be eventually getting another 3D printer, and you can be absolutely certain it will not be from Solidoodle.

As an owner of the Solidoodle Press:  This review was bang on.

A lot of thought was put into the packaging of this product...but zero in the actual
performance.  The reality is...if you open the base plate to expose the internal wiring,
it's a jumbled mess. 

My observation:

The primary and still major marketing point of this machine is to "Plug and Print".  It absolutely
cannot do this, and to sell it to people who don't have the skill/knowledge/patience: It's a NO-NO!

Solidoodle's success was selling to hobbyists and early adopters.  The original SD machines made no bones
about it:  It was a low cost, accessible machine that could be fixed/adjusted.

The SD Press was SD's attempt at cashing in on the mainstream.

- This product should not have shipped.  It needed at least another 4-6 months of engineering
to fix some of the most serious/basic issues (Printing it completely closed is a recipe for disaster,
the cables/everything gets tangled/bunched)

- It's obvious the pressure of first time dealing with a Chinese manufacturer really botched
this whole product. I just feel there was a lot of poor communication/mistakes made.  Cervantes
alluded to this in his blogs.

- I think Solidoodle should simply have stayed the course by manufacturing machines in Brooklyn
and sticking with the hobbyist market.  They simply are not 'big' enough to go mainstream.

Summary:  With each growing problem for what was supposed to be a "Plug and Print" machine, I say this:
SAM CERVANTES,  MASS RECALL THIS MACHINE NOW.

This review is spot on, as far as what solidoodle promised, and what they delivered.

I'm "relatively" happy with my press (at $399) because now I have a 3d printer.  That level of happiness is also because of this awesome forum... the help I've received here has made a massive difference.

If I had it to do over, I'd probably buy a $370 reprap kit instead.  It might not work much better, but it would be a whole lot more customizable and fixable.

I also agree with the statement posted above.... I'll definitely buy (or build) another printer at some point, and it won't be a solidoodle.

I would have to agree completely with the review. I am fully aware of the realities of consumer FDM printing and the tinkering required. However i am also aware of buying an a product based on the advertised features and communication from the company.

"Press available for preorder "- very likely a lie seeing as they had not got to the final design iteration or beta user testing ( conculded from knowledge of product development cycles

"Delays due to increased QC " - well that falsehood is self evident

"Suitable for ABS , PLA printing " - no fan mounting for PLA layer cooling and diffrent temperatures is soliprint which would result in large % of users getting confused .

"Plug and play device" - non functioning software, non existent QC resulting in multiple hardware issues. I have had the printer since late jan and have not had a single print due to DOA printer and still waiting for the replacement stepper cable.

I have had it with solidoodle. If the cable still does not work i am going to demand a full refund. At first they said they would send a shipping invoice for me to return the printer.

then 2 days later " after reviewing the issue we have decided it would be too much hassle to send the invoice could you please pay for the shipping on your end you will be credit the shipping on return. ( like i have 200 USD to just drop at any given time on a questionable company)

They sent me a replacement cable but no instructions of any kind. Do I look like a surgeon?I was not on the assembly line.

Have only done 1 +1/2 prints so far.