Thanks guys. Alrighty then, I am a SD3 man for a while anyway.

So what else has happend that is pertinent and of interest? New filaments? I updated Repetier, any others I should get?

Thanks for the welcome back.

Some cool new stuff coming out from E3D...(this is not a sales pitch)
- Cyclops - single nozzle/dual extruder
- Chimera - dual nozzle extruder
- Volcano - up to 1.2mm nozzle!

Check them out at the Filastruder site:
http://www.filastruder.com/products/chimera-cyclops

I've ordered all of them and will be producing some new mounts soon...

In my opinion... Ultimaker, which starts around 5 grand. (Skip MakerBot, at least with a Solidoodle it's easy to fix design flaws).

About $2500 for a UM2 not 5K

So what else has happend that is pertinent and of interest? New filaments? I updated Repetier, any others I should get?

Thanks for the welcome back.

In my opinion your money is better spent keeping the SD3 and upgrading it to have whatever features you want. In the last year Cartesian printers have not seen many significant mechanical improvements to justify buying a new machine, especially a new Solidoodle. You mentioned you wanted a workbench, but they are identical to the SD3 except for dual extrusion, a larger build volume and auto leveling(which is a huge pain you don't even want to mess with). Your machine as it stands now is capable of dual extrusion with some modification. The reason you can't tell a difference is there really isn't much difference. Mechanically they are all the same, with a few features here and there.

You have to make the time/money trade off yourself. If your time is valuable enough that you'd rather purchase a new machine in place of several hours of work, there's nothing wrong with that! However if you don't want to tinker, anticipate that you will not be buying an open source printer. For high reliability with minimal fuss and good technical support, you probably want to look no lower than Ultimaker, which starts around 5 grand. (Skip MakerBot, at least with a Solidoodle it's easy to fix design flaws).

+1 and they stopped making SD2 & 3 but a China clone of SD2 is out now for same or less cost than 2 years ago. search threads for mods including duel extruder choices. that will keep ya busy this year plus print upgrade parts like carriages etc.

You have to make the time/money trade off yourself. If your time is valuable enough that you'd rather purchase a new machine in place of several hours of work, there's nothing wrong with that! However if you don't want to tinker, anticipate that you will not be buying an open source printer. For high reliability with minimal fuss and good technical support, you probably want to look no lower than Ultimaker, which starts around 5 grand. (Skip MakerBot, at least with a Solidoodle it's easy to fix design flaws).

I had my SD running pretty well, my main struggle was with SketchUp and its many glitches. I since switched to Autodesk 123D and LOVE it. All your stuff starts out as a solid so you avoid all those glitches trying to make a matrix into a solid.

Anyway, my non-3D projects are moving along and I need to get back into 3D.

WOW, it's amazing how much thngs have changed! I feel like I'm lost in the woods again.

Would you recomend I stay with the old SD3 or consider swapping it out to one of the new ones? I can't afford a Workbench, so it's be a Press or SD4 (I can't tell the difference yet).

Is there a Product/Features grid somewhere that elucidates the differences between the SD units?

Is there some other brand of printer I shoudl take a hard look at?

I would rather not have to spend a lot of time dinking with the printer, I just want it to rock and roll so I can focus on my inventions.

I appreciate your time and advise. Glad to be back.