Thanks for all the feedback everyone. Our internal discussion has gone toward a Makerbot Replicator. People who have used it are saying it's software is the easiest to go from rendering to printed file. Not decided yet though, the Makergear M2 is very interesting.<br>
<br><div class="gmail_quote">On Fri, Sep 28, 2012 at 7:38 PM, Dave Casey <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:dave.casey@gmail.com" target="_blank">dave.casey@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
Hopefully you have already placed an order w/ MakerGear.<div><br></div><div>FWIW, I deeply regret the time and money I've invested in Ultimaker. A quick glance through their google group (<a href="https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups#!forum/ultimaker" target="_blank">https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups#!forum/ultimaker</a>) will show plenty of users who are deeply frustrated with the extruder design, the complete lack of customer support, and multiple reports of egregious overcharges for shipping.<div>
<br></div><div>Qualitiy-wise: The TC controller that Ultimaker sent me had the IC soldered in backwards, and the filament they sold me varies widely in diameter over the course of a few inches. </div><div><br></div><div>
Open-ness integrity-wise: The TC controller board proudly displays the open hardware logo along with a link that goes to a stub page with no information whatsoever about schematics, parts, or even a vague sense of what the board is supposed to do, and definitely not enough information to build a replacement for the broken one that they sold me as part of a kit that cost OVER A THOUSAND DOLLARS. Inexcusable.<div>
<br></div><div>The only way I was finally able to get the Ultimaker to print was by replacing a large portion of the extrusion path with parts from MakerGear.</div><div><br></div><div>Summary:</div><div>MakerGear: Great people, great support, great products.</div>
<div><br></div><div>Ultimaker: Huge time and money suck. Avoid.</div><div><br><div><div><div class="h5"><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Wed, Sep 26, 2012 at 2:39 PM, Russ Ryba <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:russryba@gmail.com" target="_blank">russryba@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><p>Makergear does publish their files online. <a href="HTTP://github.com/makergear" target="_blank">HTTP://github.com/makergear</a> - it might be out of date but Rick has sent me files when requested before. He's usually just too distracted to get to it. The m2 only has plastic bit online but it's a good start. </p>
<div class="gmail_quote"><div><div>On Sep 26, 2012 1:37 PM, "Al Jigong Billings" <<a href="mailto:albill@openbuddha.com" target="_blank">albill@openbuddha.com</a>> wrote:<br type="attribution">
</div></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div><div>
<div>
Well, they cost about $1,600 including shipping but sure.
</div><div><br></div><div>At the Make event recently where they tested a bunch of printers, I was told by at least one participant that while all 3D printing software sucks, the proprietary Up! and Cubify software actually sucked the least. </div>
<div><br></div><div>People are recommending the M2 from Makergear, which has good support, but I'll point out that none of Makergear's printers are open source either though they do use the (rather shitty) reprap printing software.</div>
<div><br></div><div>Al</div>
<div><div><br></div><div>-- </div><div>Al Jigong Billings</div><div><a href="http://www.openbuddha.com" target="_blank">http://www.openbuddha.com</a></div><div><a href="http://makehacklearn.org" target="_blank">http://makehacklearn.org</a></div>
<div><br></div></div>
<p style="color:#a0a0a8">On Wednesday, September 26, 2012 at 10:34 AM, Sparr wrote:</p>
<blockquote type="cite" style="border-left-style:solid;border-width:1px;margin-left:0px;padding-left:10px">
<span><div style="text-indent:0px;letter-spacing:normal;font-variant:normal;text-align:-webkit-auto;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;line-height:normal;text-transform:none;font-size:13px;white-space:normal;font-family:Helvetica;word-spacing:0px">
While the Up! is reliable, I would recommend against it. The printing</div><div style="text-indent:0px;letter-spacing:normal;font-variant:normal;text-align:-webkit-auto;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;line-height:normal;text-transform:none;font-size:13px;white-space:normal;font-family:Helvetica;word-spacing:0px">
area/volume is much smaller than other printers in the $2k+ range, and</div><div style="text-indent:0px;letter-spacing:normal;font-variant:normal;text-align:-webkit-auto;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;line-height:normal;text-transform:none;font-size:13px;white-space:normal;font-family:Helvetica;word-spacing:0px">
the software is abysmally proprietary and insufficient.</div><br></span>
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