Autodesk/Makerbot Promo Fail

[Jeff Mottle]

Hmmm, Autodesk Fail! Am placing the order for my MakerBot 3d Printer today and thought I might take advantage of the Autodesk/MakerBot Promo http://www.123dapp.com/Subscriptions/UpgradeAccount.cfm At checkout however I can't figure out how much they are going to charge for shipping until I enter in my credit card information. So I call their support number and get an answering machine telling me to leave a message and someone will call me back within 2 days. I think I'll just place my order with MakerBot directly. At least then I can get some proper support. Good Grief! If I'm spending $2K+ on a product you have to do better than that. Sorry Autodesk.

[John Dollus]

why not spend just a bit more and get the Form1?

[Jeff Mottle]

Mostly because there is still a pending lawsuit against them for patent infringement by 3D Systems. And I also don't like being locked into proprietary consumables which significantly increase the build costs. http://www.technologyreview.com/news/515071/next-generation-consumer-3-d-printer-arrives-but-a-lawsuit-looms/ I have seen these Form1 machines in person and they are pretty nice, but it's too early to know right now if they will survive the lawsuit.

[John Dollus]

Yes, I've been following the lawsuit but the same strong arm tactics have been used by countless technology companies in the past and the risk/reward seems to favor the Form1 to me. Granted, the scale isn't the same as the Apple/Samsung or Intel/AMD infringements but I expect the result to be similar in that the lawyers will buy an island somewhere and the companies will go back to selling.

 

As far as the consumables, I've just never been satisfied with the level of detail/finishing of the FDM based systems so paying more for the detail is an acceptable price for quality. They are getting much better but 25 microns in resin is really nice.

I suppose the decision also has to do with what you plan to fabricate. The Makerbot easily outclasses the latest crop of printers in terms of build volume.

 

I used to print on the Zprinter back in the day and it's amazing how far the technology has come. The FDM filament is soooo much better than the powder that had to be treated as a hazardous chemical.

[Jeff Mottle]

Yes 25 micron is pretty nice, but at the expense of price (3-5X more I think than FDM) and no colors, smaller build area. I was a bit hesitant on the FDM stuff at first as I had seen some pretty bad prints, but if you really dial them in you can get really nice clean prints. I was at a 3d printer show in NYC earlier this year and also stopped into the MakerBot store too and was really impressed with the quality of the prints that are possible. The way I look at it, 3D printing technology is going to explode in growth over the next 5 years with lots of innovation, so for now I'm going to invest in FDM, but like a computer which you upgrade every couple years, I suspect I'll be doing the same wit the 3d printer. I don't consider buying a MakerBot a marriage to FDM. You have to get your feet wet at some point and the FORM1 is not even available until Dec.