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My 9yo loved his 3-D printing spring break camp last week [0]. Any views on the Monoprice 3-D printers? [1] It seems hard to compete with Shapeways [2], if we'

My 9yo loved his 3-D printing spring break camp last week [0]. Any views on the Monoprice 3-D printers? [1] It seems hard to compete with Shapeways [2], if we're willing to wait a day for shipping. As with lots of technology, it's hard to buy a 3-D printer given how much they improve each year. They used TinkerCAD at the camp. Should he stay with it or is there better online software for a beginner? [0] http://www.pixelacademy.org/spring/ http://www.pixelacademy.org/spring/ [1] https://www.monoprice.com/product?c_id=107&cp_id=10724&cs_id=1072403&p_id=13860&seq=1&format=2 https://www.monoprice.com/product?c_id=107&cp_id=10724&cs_id... [2] http://www.shapeways.com/ http://www.shapeways.com/ [3] https://www.tinkercad.com/ https://www.tinkercad.com/

ThatPlayer 11y ago
I've got the Monoprice Maker Select. You'll find it's a rebrand of the popular Wanhao Duplicator i3. Shapeways printers are not really comparable to the cheap FDM printers. For example, they have Full Colour Sandstone as an option which just isn't possible on the Monoprice one as it will only do one color at a time. I think the improvements in 3d printing aren't too huge like they are in other technologies. 3D printers can be upgraded too (with plenty of self-printed parts). For the popular Wanhao Duplicator i3, http://3dprinterwiki.info/wiki/wanhao-duplicator-i3/ http://3dprinterwiki.info/wiki/wanhao-duplicator-i3/ . Of course if you want something that just prints without having to do all these modifications/maintenance, you'll probably have to spend more on a printer.