What about aesthetics of the machine?  Then the options become somewhat limited.

The only reason I got a Press was for its curves!

Curves and aesthetics are for pretty girls and fast cars. I don't care a bit what my power tools look like, they're not display pieces at an art museum.

I'll also, having studied industrial design, and doing product design myself... I'm not so sure either rank very highly in my book as far as beautiful products go. Better than a naked steel frame? For sure... But still a long ways to go before I swoon over there looks.

I'm not really a fan of how Solidoodle does business, but XYZ isn't much better. Vote with your dollars.

Just buy something, all this time hemming and hawing and waiting could be spent printing. Just realize that at $500 you're going to put in some of your own dollars, blood, sweat and tears to get quality and reliability that you'd expect out of a Ultimaker or similar.

If I wanted cheapest possible, I'd get a used Solidoodle 2 or 3 off eBay or these forums for $200-300.

If I wanted good quality (and still cheap), I'd get a Mendel90 or ORDbot.

If I wanted good quality and not a kit, I'd probably get a TAZ4 or Ultimaker2.

Pay to play, either with dollars or time.

What about aesthetics of the machine?  Then the options become somewhat limited.

The only reason I got a Press was for its curves!

Anyhow, I realized the Da Vinci would have it's quirks, failure prone issues.  But after owning a Solidoodle 3... I am positive it can't be worse... maybe the same, but not worse.  The other thing that bothered me once I looked at all the specs of the Da Vinci 1.0 was how long it's been out, Steel frame, brass bearings, Built-in SD/LCD, and the filament wiper w/ catch basin.... I just feel like they actually finished the thought of what a consumer 3D printer should be.  Where as the press while much closer, seems like a, oh no! We need to catch up with everyone else.  QUICK! Let's put something together, and then....

Never mind I'm just glad to be done with the whole Press mess. I hate their constant promise of amazing experience wrapped inside some of the most frustrating customer support experiences i've ever had.  Each time while they recovered well, it was such a HUGE struggle to get them to just take care of the issue...

Anyhow.  I think what most printer companies are struggling with is that they just don't seem to want to listen to the general advanced users who are telling them what there machines are struggling to accomplish.  It's like they put together what there designers think is right, but don't listen to what we tell them we NEED.

lol, rant done.  Now in zen zone knowing i'll have my hands on a 3d printer by Halloween.

As far as the press not sure if any have been released into the wild yet . They are due or release. so how can one compare anything to a model that has yet to see the light of day. We have a spec sheet and a few minutes of video that is it.

I considered a davinci. purchased a used SD4 instead it works.

Tin

Anyhow I have not been very good about searching through all the various options, and today I finally did, and was disappointed about how far behind solidoodle seems.

Agreed these $500 machine's are bottom tier, but I have tons of spare parts, electronics, steppers, etc... So for me the best value is to get these pre-assembled kit machines

I'm a little disappointed that Solidoodle's press seems so far behind in comparison.  The only feature that the Press seemed to have on the the Da Vinci was the auto-bed leveling implementation on the press took 9 calibration points into consideration, where as the Da Vinci only uses 3. 

However I can live with that, or upgrade....

And thus a new modification journey begins!

Just buy something, all this time hemming and hawing and waiting could be spent printing. Just realize that at $500 you're going to put in some of your own dollars, blood, sweat and tears to get quality and reliability that you'd expect out of a Ultimaker or similar.

If I wanted cheapest possible, I'd get a used Solidoodle 2 or 3 off eBay or these forums for $200-300.

If I wanted good quality (and still cheap), I'd get a Mendel90 or ORDbot.

If I wanted good quality and not a kit, I'd probably get a TAZ4 or Ultimaker2.

Pay to play, either with dollars or time.

pastprimitive wrote:

Why is anyone buying the Press is what I am thinking?

My press was only $350

Plus shipping. DaVinci is (was?) $400 on newegg with shipping.