Thank you David... I really appreciate your review. We are looking at replacing our Replicator 2x, because it is very in consistent when we try and print. We have purchased Simplify 3d and have tweaked it many times but it is always a challenge to get a good result, even on prints you would consider basic.
I remember my school’s Repli 5! 😂 Broke twice in a week, and teacher didn’t know how to fix his own printer, so I had to do it! Didn’t even get extra credit!
WTF .. my Acrylic i3(ish) prints WAY better , for around 250$ , AND has a Heatedbed . My Hypercube prints even better ... MakerBot is a Joke ! (for Me) ...
Thanks for making and posting this video. I was thinking of buying a Makerbot Replicator+ for prototyping and small runs of components. After watching your video my understanding is that the Replicator+ is more of an upgrade printer for home users who print garden gnomes in PLA. For $3,496 (United Kingdom price) I would really want better.
Well, it's gotten MUCH better since my initial review. That said, there's a lot of price competition now, with things like the CR-10 (although you need to bed level by hand) for a fraction of the cost. Mostly the MakerBots are used in education and design/industry. They're definitely not targeted at home users.
Thank you for an informative and well balanced review of this product. I was interested in your test prints of the two printers but shocked by what you considered a good print. A friend of mine recently purchased a cheap, Chinese generic Prusa style printer and has been producing prints for me that are much cleaner than the ones shown, albeit of a different type. This inspired me to build my own reprap Prusa style printer which, even at 0.2mm resolution, are far cleaner and smoother with little or no Z banding and a base layer smoother than a baby's bottom. This is my first printer using standard RAMPs and Marlin setup with a E3D Lite hot end. I would have rejected both of your prints for my own projects. I use Cura for the slicer by the way. Do other folks in the community consider your print examples 'good' prints from the demo?
Yeah, their output has improved a lot since I first tested this. I certainly would recommend asking them. This is a discovery series precisely because I'm not an expert, just someone exploring to find out how this stuff works.
Hey Dave, Is your replicator 5th gen running a smart extruder or a smart extruder+? I bought a refurb 5th gen and i was wondering if i was imperative that i bought the smart extruder+, since it seems to substantially improve performance?
I did upgrade the 5th Gen to the SE+ and it did improve performance. I'm now running an R+, which came with an SE+. My advice would be that if you have a regular SmartExtruder and it works, stick with it. If you run into annoyances, then it's probably worth using the SE+.
Really hard to take this as anything other than Apples vs Oranges bc you're not running the same software, and you're not printing at the same resolution. Defaults or not- it's not a comparison at all.
These devices are provided by their companies to me for review. MakerBot gets major points for helping us kick off this series and we appreciate their help. The machine has improved considerably since my first look.
It was. They've since done a number of slicer and firmware updates and it's much better. I'm having very few failures and a lot of clean, successful prints. Seems much more reliable now than the old Rep 5Gen. I think they just released it a few months too early. Nice machine now.
The smart extruder plus only prints in PLA and its the most reliable printer out there, i have printed in excess of 60 kgs of filament in each of my makerbot printers with minimum maintenance, Im running a farm that consists of 6 printers that have not stopped printing since Feb 2015 I have printed over 5000 pieces for my prototyping business these printers are for professionals that dont have the time to tweak and modify. the only mod i made was an external spool holder and build tack on the old build plate. The fail rate is less than 2% COMPARED TO PRUSA I3 MK2s which fails over 20% of the time, Note: if you want to print with supports don't use the makerbot software use Simplify 3D
Thank you David... I really appreciate your review. We are looking at replacing our Replicator 2x, because it is very in consistent when we try and print. We have purchased Simplify 3d and have tweaked it many times but it is always a challenge to get a good result, even on prints you would consider basic.
Do not buy Makerbot
I remember my school’s Repli 5! 😂
Broke twice in a week, and teacher didn’t know how to fix his own printer, so I had to do it! Didn’t even get extra credit!
I definitely think you should've gotten extra credit!
Nice review. I like the fact that you had some close up comparisons.
If you are having problems with your raft just tweak Z and temperature and use a 0.5 mm flexible pallet knife to remove the prints
Mussy Design exactly - I run at 220, with one tap negative z calibration and print raftless
WTF .. my Acrylic i3(ish) prints WAY better , for around 250$ , AND has a Heatedbed . My Hypercube prints even better ... MakerBot is a Joke ! (for Me) ...
Thanks for making and posting this video. I was thinking of buying a Makerbot Replicator+ for prototyping and small runs of components. After watching your video my understanding is that the Replicator+ is more of an upgrade printer for home users who print garden gnomes in PLA. For $3,496 (United Kingdom price) I would really want better.
Well, it's gotten MUCH better since my initial review. That said, there's a lot of price competition now, with things like the CR-10 (although you need to bed level by hand) for a fraction of the cost. Mostly the MakerBots are used in education and design/industry. They're definitely not targeted at home users.
Informative and straight on. Thanx :)
I haven't done a later piece on this, but it's improved mightily. The Print program now allows all sorts of adjustments.
Great review! Thanks!
Thank you for an informative and well balanced review of this product. I was interested in your test prints of the two printers but shocked by what you considered a good print. A friend of mine recently purchased a cheap, Chinese generic Prusa style printer and has been producing prints for me that are much cleaner than the ones shown, albeit of a different type. This inspired me to build my own reprap Prusa style printer which, even at 0.2mm resolution, are far cleaner and smoother with little or no Z banding and a base layer smoother than a baby's bottom. This is my first printer using standard RAMPs and Marlin setup with a E3D Lite hot end. I would have rejected both of your prints for my own projects. I use Cura for the slicer by the way. Do other folks in the community consider your print examples 'good' prints from the demo?
Yeah, their output has improved a lot since I first tested this. I certainly would recommend asking them. This is a discovery series precisely because I'm not an expert, just someone exploring to find out how this stuff works.
Simple, clear review. Thanks.
Thanks!
Nice review. quick question: is the raft issue fix with the new software?
Yeah, it's gotten a lot better since I did this review.
Hey Dave,
Is your replicator 5th gen running a smart extruder or a smart extruder+? I bought a refurb 5th gen and i was wondering if i was imperative that i bought the smart extruder+, since it seems to substantially improve performance?
I did upgrade the 5th Gen to the SE+ and it did improve performance. I'm now running an R+, which came with an SE+. My advice would be that if you have a regular SmartExtruder and it works, stick with it. If you run into annoyances, then it's probably worth using the SE+.
Really hard to take this as anything other than Apples vs Oranges bc you're not running the same software, and you're not printing at the same resolution. Defaults or not- it's not a comparison at all.
Plus, the software has improved RADICALLY since I first looked at it more than a year ago.
please compare .1 mm with a .1mm on both
Unfortunately, I don't have both printers anymore.
The failed vault 111 T-shirt copy explains why you bought a makerbot gen 5 and later instead of an ultibot.
These devices are provided by their companies to me for review. MakerBot gets major points for helping us kick off this series and we appreciate their help. The machine has improved considerably since my first look.
The print quality looks terrible on both tbh.
It was. They've since done a number of slicer and firmware updates and it's much better. I'm having very few failures and a lot of clean, successful prints. Seems much more reliable now than the old Rep 5Gen. I think they just released it a few months too early. Nice machine now.
Please review Cubicon Single Plus printer!
Well, if they send me one, I'll certainly take a look at it.
The smart extruder plus only prints in PLA and its the most reliable printer out there, i have printed in excess of 60 kgs of filament in each of my makerbot printers with minimum maintenance, Im running a farm that consists of 6 printers that have not stopped printing since Feb 2015 I have printed over 5000 pieces for my prototyping business these printers are for professionals that dont have the time to tweak and modify. the only mod i made was an external spool holder and build tack on the old build plate. The fail rate is less than 2% COMPARED TO PRUSA I3 MK2s which fails over 20% of the time, Note: if you want to print with supports don't use the makerbot software use Simplify 3D
Hello I’m not sure if u are still on UA-cam but I am wondering how do I print on my rep + with simplify 3D
2000 dollars for a glorified PLA printer; my how the mighty have fallen
Yeah, times have definitely changed.
MakerBot is overrated overpriced trash