Best 3D Printer up to $1500

Not the Solidoodle 4, in my opinion. Terrible support, long lead times, no accountability as a company. Violated GPL v3 license for years, not so much as an apology. If you're set on a Solidoodle, get a 3 and save yourself the $200. Lipstick on a pig.

I'm a big fan of the Mendel90. Do you want Cartesian or Delta?

I would suggest a bit more research on 3D printers before plopping down a stack of cash.

For a first printer, it might be better to stay away from a delta.  They have their own quirks and calibration issues. 

An assembled printer like the Solidoodle is easy to start printing since you don't have to put it together, but it can take a lot of work to get it to print at the best quality.  Something like the Mendel90 will take more work to put together, but you will get better results and be able to print at higher speeds without as much fussing around.  Also you will have a better understanding of the printer if something goes wrong.

There are a few pre-assembled OrdBot Hadrons for sale around the place for just under 1.5k.

This is a crowd funding thing that I'm running: http://www.gofundme.com/bvi140 It's for pretty selfish reasons

For what it's worth, the FlashForge Creator comes in at $1150, and is "prints right out of the box" without having to learn as much mechanical and electrical fiddling, or do or learn much calibration, as other printers in that price range. After most of a year with an SD3 I switched; before, I spent more time calibrating, fixing, upgrading, and throwing away failed prints than printing, but after, I have done so much printing I actually ran out of things to print. It's also dual extruder, and it's a fair bit quicker than the SD3. Print volume is longer on one dimension and shorter on the other two; this may seem like a net loss but I find when I can't fit something it's usually only in one dimension so it's turned out better.

Now, I'm not saying there aren't other printers in that price range that are better, I'm just saying, I have this one and I'm pleased with it. What you really want is to match the printer to your intentions; we can't gauge "better" without knowing "better at doing what?".