That is why I dont like the wikis right now.

I completely agree. I have not found a single Wiki based page/thread (or whatever is that mess is called) helpful. Here is why.

1) The layout/formatting is horrible. I almost never find what I am looking for.

2) Those articles are usually general and can apply to anything. Most writings are in the form...if you have this printer do this...but if your motherboard is this then go to this...if your printer had 2 red lights and 1 green light flashing every 3 seconds then go to this...if not then...??? Very confusing!

3) They are written by "experts" and expect the reader to read their minds. For example, if you want the printer to do something, just type this line YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY. Type it where? Before I run the print? While the printer is printing? How do I do that?

One of our ideas has always been to make sure users aren't overwhelmed by information at the start of the process. This philosophy conflicts with the idea of giving a full explanation of the printer.

I am not being sarcastic but I find this funny because when I got the printer I was OVERWHELMED with not knowing what to do or where to go. It took me 3 weeks to have a first decent print and a month a half to actually print something useful, and I am a mechanical engineer and a pretty handy person! Imagine if I wasn't mechanically inclined!

What I would like is a SINGLE webpage that directs me step-by-step, in clear, correct, and concise details what I need to do from A to Z to be able to have a decent print. Because so far there are websites, links, videos, tutorials, forums, and e-mail addresses all over the place! I wish someone had said "Don't use Skeinforge" with red letters so I wouldn't waste 2-3 weeks trying to print a decent part that's sliced by it!

If you absolutely had to pare things down, what would you include?

View our basic set-up procedures as a prototype of sorts. What would you like included?

Breakdown of the parts and their names.

Glossary of terms.

Lastly: Dont suggest or gloss over calibrations. I have said it before: Publicly state they are mandatory. Currently your website says this:

-Install software.
-Connect printer
-Change filament
-Print

You should be saying:

-Install software
-Connect printer
-Manually move head
-Home Z
-Level bed
-Set Z
-Change filament
-Calibrate extruder steps/mm (include a paper ruler they can cut out to help)
-Print test cube with 1 wall for extruder calibration
-Check X/Y belt tension
-Print 20mm cylinder (or another filament spool holder)

Considering my personal experience where my bed was way off, Z height was over 2mm out, X/Y belts were mis-aligned and unevenly tensioned, and I changed my steps/mm for my extruder by more than 30%, I dont think these steps are in any way extraneous. If I had been told up front, I would have wasted much less time and filament getting to where I am now. It would have been a better 'out of the box' experience.

I would also like to note:
-My printer arrived in one piece and clean, no broken parts.
-My printer works great as stock and I have even less issues than most of the seasoned people have had.

The reason why I harped on this particular thing is that I spent so much time learning everything, and choosing what did NOT apply to me, it got frustrating. For starters, I had downloaded the newest version of RH, not the SD version. I followed outdated guides to setting up RH that made prints badly (they were outdated because I was using the wrong RH and the guide was for the original migration to RH). The wikis were still new, and they both had conflicting information. Even today, as I read through them, they are still confusing. One Wiki focuses more on Sanguino SD2's with wooden beds. Um, that helps me not at all. And if someone with an SD3 with printrboard goes there, he will either be confused, or mess up his printer. That is why I dont like the wikis right now. They are poorly structured (each page should be broken in half whenever model type or motherboard versions make a difference, not just omiiting non-included information), there are 2 of them, and there is nothing distinguishing the one thats officially supported.

For instance: 3 times in the last week, people on the forums who have recently purchased a Solidoodle have had problems getting good prints and believed their nozzles were 0.35mm. Currently concensus of everyone is that if you got yours 'within the last 4 months' you have 0.4mm nozzle. It would have been really nice to have received something written by the manufacturer stating that your particular unit came with these particular specifications.

Even my toaster came with a 7 page manual.

Here is a fresh perspective:

My Stock SD3 with new motherboard ...... works just fine. I have no need for all of these improvements honestly. They are all 'upgrades', not needed replacements.

But I will restate this one thing: The ****ing printer arrives with a single sheet of paper that gives next to nothing for what you should do. Instead, lets all read the internets for a couple of days to finally get all the right information (and hope your not one of those who just clogged thier nozzle by reading the wrong information) from 2 wikis, a forum that keeps saying 'all the information is in the wiki (which one again?), and lets not forget Solidoodles main page (outdated) that is more of a blog.

A few printed pages would go farther than anything else.

I know you seasoned guys believe the right information is well structured and easily obtainable, but from the 'new owners' standpoint, it downright sucks. Especially when most of the best information doesnt even come from the actual people who sold you the printer.

Paper does cost money, but then again so does support. I had a manual draft a while back, but other priorities came to the forefront. Maybe we shall do a manual for next time. However, we may have a different idea of what a good manual would be than the community does.

One of our ideas has always been to make sure users aren't overwhelmed by information at the start of the process. This philosophy conflicts with the idea of giving a full explanation of the printer. 

If you absolutely had to pare things down, what would you include?

View our basic set-up procedures as a prototype of sorts. What would you like included?

1) I don't really want a warranty. I think the printer is well designed and built over all. Beside, if I am using a 3D printer that means there is a big chance that I am a bit handy myself and can fix little things myself; I'd rather watch a tutorial and fix it myself than send it to them and pay for shipping and wait 4 weeks for it to be fixed and send back to me.

2) I rarely leave things unmodified and my car is a testament to that! It's not fair to ask Solidoodle to fix something I broke! Providing warranty by a small and new business can be a financial suicide.

I am not saying that Solidoodle is a horrible printer--all I am saying is that I really like this printer and would like to see it improved. If I had a chance to buy a 3D printer again, I would still choose the Solidoodle over any other brand. My favourite part about it is its simplicity and relative ease of maintenance. The worst part is the warping.

Oh, may be I want it to be painted because at work I often design things out of sheet metal and I am sick and tired of looking at bland gray sheet metal parts all day longs that I don't want to see the same thing when I come home! All I am saying is you add the paint as an option. I think painting it will make it more professional looking and competitive.

My Stock SD3 with new motherboard ...... works just fine. I have no need for all of these improvements honestly. They are all 'upgrades', not needed replacements.

But I will restate this one thing: The ****ing printer arrives with a single sheet of paper that gives next to nothing for what you should do. Instead, lets all read the internets for a couple of days to finally get all the right information (and hope your not one of those who just clogged thier nozzle by reading the wrong information) from 2 wikis, a forum that keeps saying 'all the information is in the wiki (which one again?), and lets not forget Solidoodles main page (outdated) that is more of a blog.

A few printed pages would go farther than anything else.

I know you seasoned guys believe the right information is well structured and easily obtainable, but from the 'new owners' standpoint, it downright sucks. Especially when most of the best information doesnt even come from the actual people who sold you the printer.

And elmoret's classic from last year, which is really the only one to actually dissect the reasoning well and at least rather than just stating he wants it better - offering whats *wrong* and *why* with the current designs:
http://www.soliforum.com/topic/459/soli … iciencies/

I just re-read that. Kinda disappointed in it, though to be fair I'd only owned a Solidoodle (or any 3D printer) for a month.

The big mind blowing thing to me is the jigsaw. Over 6,000 units shipped without refinement or even adoption of a CC licensed design. Would cost next to nothing, given they have a botfarm.

I bet they could get E3Ds for $35 in bulk, so only about $10 more than their current hotends. You could definitely make up for that by marketing your new all metal hotend design.

I'm not saying these are bad ideas and I'd bet they have discussed all these internally many times. They might eventually adopt a few. However, I'd rather they stay focused on a low cost creation of a quality product and not start creating a Cube or Replicator clone.

http://www.soliforum.com/topic/3928/sd- … ke-to-see/
http://www.soliforum.com/topic/3560/wha … olidoodle/
And then theres this one
http://www.soliforum.com/topic/4245/sol … ke-to-see/

And I haven't even included the ones that talk about improvements but dont include the word in their Thread Subject

And elmoret's classic from last year, which is really the only one to actually dissect the reasoning well and at least rather than just stating he wants it better - offering whats *wrong* and *why* with the current designs:
http://www.soliforum.com/topic/459/soli … iciencies/

All these threads can be found with simply searching the forum for the word 'improvements'... https://www.google.com/search?q=site:so … kgWk34DwCw

If we want to be serious about 'listing improvements' - lets list them once, not just throw up a new pipe-dream list every month 

How do you tell if a part broke because of a fault, or because someone tried to change their hotend and broke the assembly in doing so.

Better to say, no warranty and work with people on a case by case basis than to increase the cost of all units to support a very grey area.

Screw you when you tell everyone, "we never said we had a warranty" just because you don't want to fix the crap you sold us.

as hazer has said... should be with all machines.