Cheap 3D printers good or bad for the industry?

Another cheap 3d printer is set to be released on the market in October retailing for a low price of $249 USD The new Da Vinci Mini is another 3d printer targeting the rapidly growing 3d printer market. XYZ are well known in the 3D printing industry for their low cost 3d printers. Personally my experience with these printers has not been very pleasant but there affordable price tag makes their 3d printers appealing to consumers. I often ask myself is this doing more damage to the industry then good? Are consumers expectations in line with the current technology available at this price?

Last year our company tested 6 or more 3d printers that were in the price range of $300 to $800, they all claimed to be plug & play consumer ready products, however after weeks of testing we thought differently. Two of the six (M3D, ICEMAN 3D) printers produced a number of Quality prints then soon started failing and eventually ended up  in the bone yard with the others.As a 3d printer retailer I'm always hunting for new products to offer my customers if a printer doesn't work for me then it's going to work for them! The larger retail chains are offering cheap printers but are they really worth buying?

The trouble is that people who don’t understand all of the common problems most cheap printers have, think that price point for a decent machine is too high, but for small production runs, there really isn’t any comparison.I hope that as the consumer market matures, customers will look to higher quality machines that may be a little more expensive, but will save them huge amounts of time and stress.

In Conclusion…

Before buying a cheap 3d printer always ask yourself these questions! 

1: What type of support are you getting? 

2: Does it come with a warranty? 

3: Ask to view Sample Prints, Print Quality, and Capabilities

4: look at Specs, Construction,

5: build size ( most cheap printers have a small print volume does this suit what you will be using it for?

For more information on Cheap 3D printers see details below 

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74c Maleme Street
Greerton
Tauranga 3112
New Zealand
Ph: 07 929 7278 

www.3dinnovation.co.nz

info@3dinnovation.co.nz