In either case I guess it comes down to what brand you want and what you are willing to spend. For their price though you could have a real Formlabs machine if you know where to look.

Both very true statements.  IMHO the prusssa fans are the targeted market . the Prussa is a very popular and respected printer . It is open source so often copied  sort off. And the Chinese import market is very different from the USA made top of the line market.

I would assume that big appeal hear is using open source firmware and software.

I think this printer will find a niche in the market and sell decently.

Wanhao D7 and Anycubic Photon are made in China, Formlabs Form 2 and Prusa SL1 are made in USA, there is 3 times difference in material and 10 times difference in production cost, not to mention Formlabs Form 2 and Prusa SL1 have more complex design that require more custom-made parts. I think Prusa tried very hard to get the price down to $1599 while maintain enough profit rate.

Other than the tilt which is actually very simple there is very little difference between this machine and the D7 to be honest. It does have a bigger LCD and build area but still not worth the extra $500.

They also don't say if it is made in the US or not. Since they bought out Futur3D my guess is they are building these at that factory since all the equipment is there to do so. So they are most likely being made in Czech Republic and not the US.

In either case I guess it comes down to what brand you want and what you are willing to spend. For their price though you could have a real Formlabs machine if you know where to look.

From what I read, it uses LCD like the Wanhao but also does some kind of tilt and peel like the form labs machines. Perhaps that mechanism is why the extra $.

I can't really see a few extra pieces of sheet metal and a motor adding $500 to the unit. I know for a fact as I have had to replace it that the tilt motor in the FORM printers are about $35 bucks. But I guess they have their reasons for the high cost. I just think it is going to be a hard sell if the tilt is all that is going for it while the peel works just as well.

I have not taken the time to read the full article or do a head to head comparison .
It is apparently fully open source and has the support of Prussa behind it.
Also one can save three hundred by purchasing a kit.
These are due to ship jan of 2019.

Not criticizing your post or anything. Just pointing out they are late to the game with the technology they are using and for the price they are asking you could get an actual Form 1+.

The question will be if they offer resin as well and the resin is lower cost than others. Because at that entry price they stand some stiff competition of their own. Wanhao actually has very good support as well if you don't mind the time difference between your region and theirs.

http://www.3ders.org/articles/20180924- … a-sl1.html

Prusa reasearch anounces  open source resin printer  Prusa SL1  for $1599 USD

The form labs form 2 is  $3350

It uses the same process and technology as the Wanhao Duplicator 7 which retails for $500. So Prusa might be a little late and over priced to the resin world.

They also say they are not trying to compete with Formlabs or even the Photon which I might add they call flimsy.

Prusa reasearch anounces  open source resin printer  Prusa SL1  for $1599 USD

The form labs form 2 is  $3350