mrsamnc wrote:Okay, it's been some time since the "heated discussions" earlier in this thread, and lately it seems the talk has gone cold on reviews. I'd like to try and revive this and/or hear from recent customers on the current review of SoliDoodles and the company.
***Have any of the parts that have been known to break and/or problematic been upgraded or addressed by SoliDoodle?
Only the Z-platform, which was due to them getting tired of breakages-in-transit... they've now replaced in with an Aluminium platform. Everything else at present remains... the same.
mrsamnc wrote:***I see a lot of people stating their jigsaw extruder developing cracks. Is this still the case with the current models being sold/sent out?
Yup, and it will continue to do so. They have drill holes far to close to the edges of the acrylic, and pockets that again are too close. When working with acrylic, there is minimum distances and thicknesses that need to be observed - otherwise tensions will split bolt holes etc.. Only way to fix this is to redesign with more meat around the holes, or move away from it alltogether. They are 'investigating' a new printed extruder - but you'll never see the STL's for it so if it isn't here 'right now', you'll be expected to pay to 'upgrade' (read fix) the issue.
mrsamnc wrote:***Assuming the website is correct (the SD 2 is listed as "in stock" so it should only be a 2-3 week lead time), are there any unexpected delays being experienced in shipping of SoliDoodle 2's?
Both 2's and 3's are seemingly shipping in 2-4 weeks... but as always when dealing with the vendor - YMMV.
mrsamnc wrote:***How would you rate SD Support now? Sounds like it was terrible back in October '12, but what about now?
Not much different at all frankly. The delays have reduced - you no longer wait 8 weeks and spend 20 emails chasing a part before it ships... it only takes 3 weeks now.... As for their commentary - you only have too look at the selective responses and otherwise silence in their own threads, like the 'new' motherbord announcement - where they failed to announce it was just a rebadged Printrboard, and have still failed to announce the Firmware or the Schematic files (both required to be released publicly under their respective licences - SD was real quick to 'sell' them, still real slow to adhere to the GPL or CC ShareAlike licences on the components they've taken and started referring to as 'theirs'.... And they still try and charge you postage that costs twice as much as the 'replacement' part you are trying to order...
Email still goes silent often.,. but that part IS better than before... but still no ticketing, tracking or otherwise sane logic service orientated workflow tools one would expect to see in even the most basic ma-n-pa-backyard-ISP (remember those? 
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mrsamnc wrote:I ask all of these questions to not only help others, but to help myself decide whether or not to invest in this company/product with a purchase. 
Thanks in advance,
Sam
Its a good product, once you calibrate and tweak it, and as long as you don't really have a reliance on support or OEM Spare Parts (all are available from the actual manufacturers for less cost). If you feel you can resolve issues yourself, either through research of this forum, go for it! If you are requiring or looking for a reasonable or higher level of hand holding from the vendor - forget it, move along, nothing to see here
So do I some times.