i got from support that they have not got the filament in stock yet for the press .. i hope they can deliver some when it ships

hey I found that out the hard way. Placed an order for a spool of black "filament for press" because they don't have standard black filament on the site, and I foolishly assumed that ABS is ABS no matter what spool it is on. Waited two and a half weeks without hearing anything- while Solidoodle had already processed my payment- before sending a customer service claim to ask what the heck was going on. They then told me "you've ordered the wrong filament. This filament isn't for your printer. Pick a different one". My issues with this are many, but ultimately the biggest concern I have is that SD listed a product as "in stock" on their website, let me order that product, accepted my payment for that product and then stayed silent for two and a half weeks until I asked what was going on. If you don't have a product available, don't take orders for it. Accepting money for a product or service you can't provide and not alerting your customer that you can't deliver the product they've paid for is a hair this side of fraudulent.

Also, I'd have to say I'd rather the company tell me "sorry we don't have that thing in stock" rather than "You've ordered the wrong thing"

Anyone got a good source for quality black ABS? I'm not feeling too keen on giving SD any more of my money...

Allow me to clarify. The custom filament spool on the Solidoodle Press fits nicely inside the unit - this provides a clean design with a minimal footprint. It really looks great and the spool doesn't hang off the back, which would take up extra space on your desk. There is no chip which locks the spool to the printer. Users are able to print with third party filament, but since Solidoodle can't control the quality or suitability of such filaments, we're not able to vouch for them.

We were very careful to strike a balance between offering our customers the improved design and performance of our internally-mounted spool while also allowing them to use third party filaments by mounting them externally.  As to the referenced clause in the warranty and SoliCare policy, the relevant language states: 

The Solidoodle Limited 60 Day Warranty (and SoliCare) "does not cover any issues...attributable to...(ii) use of improper filaments or other third party products with the printer."

The exclusion is specific to issues attributable to such use. If you are using third party filament and a belt breaks or you experience some other issue that is unrelated to the filament, that issue is covered.  But if you are experimenting with a new filament and it strips the drive gear or causes some other damage to the extruder head, that issue is attributable to your use of third party filament and so is not covered.

We are working on supporting a wide array of the new filaments that are being introduced, but currently recommend using only Solidoodle PLA and ABS with our printers.

All that being said, if you break your printer doing something we think is really awesome, we might just hook you up

Thanks for the clarification.  Is the custom filament spool the same spools you sell now?

We were very careful to strike a balance between offering our customers the improved design and performance of our internally-mounted spool while also allowing them to use third party filaments by mounting them externally.  As to the referenced clause in the warranty and SoliCare policy, the relevant language states: 

The Solidoodle Limited 60 Day Warranty (and SoliCare) "does not cover any issues...attributable to...(ii) use of improper filaments or other third party products with the printer."

The exclusion is specific to issues attributable to such use. If you are using third party filament and a belt breaks or you experience some other issue that is unrelated to the filament, that issue is covered.  But if you are experimenting with a new filament and it strips the drive gear or causes some other damage to the extruder head, that issue is attributable to your use of third party filament and so is not covered.

We are working on supporting a wide array of the new filaments that are being introduced, but currently recommend using only Solidoodle PLA and ABS with our printers.

All that being said, if you break your printer doing something we think is really awesome, we might just hook you up

Other spools may not fit inside, but you can still feed them from outside.  Proprietary would mean that the spool that fits inside has a chip that ID's it as Solidoodle filament, keeps track of the amount of filament in the spool, and the printer refuses to function unless it sees a chip that reports the presence of official Solidoodle filament.  That's how the Cube and Stratasys printers work.  That kind of filament is usually much more expensive.  It may be more inconvenient to use other filament, but it isn't locked out.

+1

Looks like they've taken a pretty fair approach - a genuine effort to provide the advantages of cartridges for new users without creating unnecessary restrictions for people who want to experiment. It's a sensible step forward.

Other than the solicare extended warranty voiding thing - it's a bit of a broad brush stroke which comes across as unfair. I see it as perfectly justified not to provide any guarantees on the hot end with unknown filament, but what about the rest of the machine? Why couldn't the restriction be limited to say, repair/replacement of hot end and extruder? EDIT: Refer to solisam's clarification below - it appears to be that the restriction is in fact limited to issues attributable to non-SD filament