Guide to this year's crop of 3D printers

Brian sez, "At CES, someone told me that there are something like 15 consumer 3D printers on the market. Turns out that was a low-ball. Kits included, there are 24 in this roundup -- and that's not including some that didn't make the cut for a variety of reasons..."

CES 2013 proved to be something of a coming out party for consumer-facing 3D printers. Sure MakerBot earned a fair amount of attention at last year's show with the announcement of the Replicator, which snagged its share of awards from various press outlets. This year, however, saw a relative deluge in 3D-printing representation, with strong showings from 3D Systems, FormLabs, MakerBot and the cloud-based 3D printer, Sculpteo. Even with so many companies rising to prominence, the dream of truly mainstream 3D printing still feels a ways off -- if that is indeed where we're inevitably heading.

The shape of things to come: A consumer's guide to 3D printers (Thanks, Brian!)

I write books. My latest is a YA science fiction novel called Homeland (it's the sequel to Little Brother). More books: Rapture of the Nerds (a novel, with Charlie Stross); With a Little Help (short stories); and The Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow (novella and nonfic). I speak all over the place and I tweet and tumble, too.

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anonymity86

Correct link is http://www.engadget.com/2013/01/29/3d-printer-guide/
spacedoggy

Nice lineup, but still pretty general. Nice to see the reprap getting a mention considering it’s the most common 3D printer in the world, yet is often overlooked. good also to see the FORM1 included.

What all these 3D printing compilations are really missing is a side by side lineup. out of the box, set up, calibrate, and print a bunch of test print objects.
People need to see the outputs of these expensive machines, including the ugly f**kups.

One of the best test prints is a 2mm thick hollow semi sphere, be cause it clearly shows the overlay capabilities of the machine because of the decreasing support as the print reaches the top. but there are many others.
- ohbejoyful
  
  Is “hollow semi sphere” a fancy way of saying “bowl”? :)
jimkirk

Here’s a pretty good site that has news, comparisons and such about 3D printers…

http://www.3ders.org/