Solidoodle 2 Review

I've owned a SD2 since May of 2013 and now that I've finally repaired the hotend I figured I would write a review. Of course this is only my opinion and take it as such.

Usability: 4 / 5

The Solidoodle claims to be "Out of the box 3d printing". I knew this wasn't true and of course it wasn't, but I wasn't expecting it so I didn't care all that much. Actually, it is fairly easy to use after arrival - I had my first, warped, banded part created about an hour after arrival. However, there is lots to do, and I did this after doing tons of research and reading. Despite being far easier than say a RepRap kit it is still not for everyone. The reason I gave it 4 out of 5 is because I wasn't expecting it to be as easy as it claimed so there was little disappointment, and I had far less issues than people I have talked to who built RepRaps.

Suggestions for improvement: Not much. The only reason it loses a point was for the false claim (Although, again, if you know what you are doing you won't care. It's a good product). You cannot really have an easy to use 3d printer at this point.

Design: 3 / 5

I can't speak for the electronics as I don't know the benefits of the different types. One thing I really like the steel frame - it's great to lean on when doing repairs and is quite strong. I've seen videos of people standing on one and its easy to see why that would work. The printbed is fine, although I would prefer if they had put knobs of the bottom of the 3 screws to make adjustment easier. Also, glass and hairspray is far better than kapton tape. A final issue I have with the platform is the screw that sets its highest point - I wish it was longer. A longer screw doesn't appear to harm the design but it would help with hotends such as the E3D and prevent having to buy a longer screw.
However, the real reason I took off 2 points for design is the hotend and bracket. I have to say, absolutely TERRIBLE design. The acrylic bracket is in at least 12 difficult to assemble pieces, even with instructions. I had a blob of ABS get stuck on the very top of the barrel once. Instead of having a gap to fix issues like these, I had to remove the bracket to fix a simple issue. Reassembly was met with issues such as the bracket facing the wrong way - when I finally got an E3D and a MK5 brackey I had disassembled the Solidoodle one at least 5 times. It sucks. Truly. Expect 30 minutes, minimum, per reassembly. The hotend, being PEEK, is not the best either. However, mine did not clog until the end of December, so I lasted awhile.

Software: 5 / 5

The preset Solidoodle Repetier Host works extremely well. It is fairly simple to figure out how to change settings and the software is really easy to use, at least on Windows. No problems here.

Overall: 4 / 5

I am overall fairly impressed with my Solidoodle 2 and am glad I purchased it. It was the low price 3d printer I was looking for, was indeed fairly easy to use (although not for everyone, as any printer is not), and didn't really take that long to ship despite the foreboding 8 week warning. I would definitely recommend this printer to prospective buyers.

Suggestions for Buyers:
Get a glass build plate. I waited awhile and suffered through ripped kapton before I finally spent $3 to get a 6x6x6 glass plate. It is amazing. Put hairspray on it to help ABS stick, or painters tape for Taulmans.

Get an MK5 bracket. I just did this a few weeks ago for my E3D, but you will not regret it for the normal hotend either. Makes removal and reassembly 10 seconds instead of an hour.

Suggestions for Solidoodle:
Change that crappy bracket design. After working with it so much there is no better description for it than crappy. It's extremely difficult to use - seriously, change it.

An all-metal hotend design would be very useful, however, this is a long shot.

A relatively minor change would be a longer screw for the platform sensor, this would make an easier transition to new brackets or hotends.

A glass plate that ships instead of the kapton tape would be much better.

Thanks for reading.