Hello SeeMeCNC Forum! Nice to meet you.
I'm an electronics engineer (recently graduated) and I'm planning to get into 3D printing in a big way. I'm currently reading on different models, trying to decide which should be my first 3D printer, with a budget of 1000 euro (roughly 1400 USD).
So far I got it down to three models. I'm trying to decide between the Rostock MAX V2, the Ditto + by Tinkerine, and the Ultimaker Original. They three are within my price range, they are kits (which is a plus for me, as I enjoy the challenge of building it myself, plus future moddability) and seem to be well regarded by the community. I'm having a hard time deciding which one to choose as my final pick, though. I don't care much about speed, but I'd like to strike a good balance between a reasonably big printing volume, good resolution, and reliability (I wouldn't like to have many prints failing mid-job as I typically won't be around to oversee it).
I decided to make an account in the forum of each of the three makers (although I'm not sure if Tinkerine has one) and ask for opinions on which one I should choose. I realize there might be a conflict of interests and that most people here will probably lean towards the Ultimaker, but it's okay, you can go ahead and convince me! I would appreciate an unbiased point of view though .
I don't know much about 3D printing yet, but so far this is the mini list of pros and cons that I put together. Please correct them if I'm wrong!:
Ultimaker Original
A lot of people swear for the Ultimaker Original and it seems to be pretty established. My main concern with it is that it's a couple years old, and seeing how fast this technology advances, maybe it's not the best idea to go with a product that might be slightly outdated. However, It seems to print in good quality, and it has a big presence in Europe so I wouldn't have problems with shipping.
Rostock MAX v2
I'm liking the Rostock MAX V2 because of the big printing area, and because it seems to have high quality despite the low pricetag. I see pictures of it and it looks... Professional. It prints with both ABS and PLA which I like a lot, plus it seems that most of the assembly problems that the Rostock MAX original had have been fixed with the V2 redesign. However, I'm not sure about its resolution and detail (I haven't seen any small, detailed prints with it), and being in Europe I'm not sure if I can find a retailer that won't cost me an arm and a leg in shipping fees. Also, I'm not sure how reliable it is compared to cartesian machines.
Ditto+
I've read good things about the Ditto+, but it seems like it hasn't been around enough for me to find opinions in forums. It looks to my untrained eyes like an upgrade to the Ultimaker original in the same price range, and seems to strike a good balance of detail and volume. However, it doesn't print ABS out of the box, needing an upgrade for that. The company is Canada based so the retailer issue may be even worse.
Sorry for the long read. That's where I stand right now. Any feedback, corrections, and opinions are very welcome! I will also accept recommendations for other printers, but I'm trying to narrow it down to these three because otherwise I'm going to die of information overload .
Thank you very much in advance!
