Way back in January we had a sneak peek of Monoprice’s new low-cost 3D printer. Now you can order one, sort of.
The MP Mini Delta 3D Printer is the machine in question. It’s not the largest 3D printer by any stretch, but it does offer some good features and one of them is a standout: the price.
While their current “Join the Waitlist” page doesn’t specify the price, we were told in January to expect a price of USD$149 for the machine, which would obviously put it among, if not the, lowest priced assembled desktop 3D printers ever sold to the public.
The Mini Delta is not only assembled, but has a number of other very interesting features, particularly for such a low cost item:
It includes a heated print surface. This alone distinguishes it from almost all other low-cost 3D printers that have cold beds, and thus unreliable printing. A heated bed will do wonders for print reliability. This also means the machine can actually attempt to 3D print ABS, albeit with less reliability than PLA. The build plate can hit 100C, suitable for many materials beyond even ABS.
The Mini Delta includes automatic bed leveling and calibration. This lack of this feature bedevils the generally non-technical folks who tend to buy these low cost 3D printers. But no baffling here: the Mini Delta automatically sets itself up before every print.
The build volume on the Mini Delta is a cylindrical 110mm diameter by 120mm tall, as such things are stated on delta-style equipment.
Monoprice claims a layer resolution of 0.05mm, which would put it in the same class as many other desktop 3D printers, including ones that cost many times more.
The Mini Delta includes WiFi, meaning you can 3D print wirelessly, in addition to USB connection and good old SD cards.
They say the machine is “in production” and you can bet there will be a huge demand at this price (if that is the price). It’s low enough that many people will simply take a chance on it, whether it’s known to work or not.
But it probably will, as Monoprice has a very good reputation for selecting reasonably good quality equipment from their manufacturing partners.
And finally, there’s one more important aspect to this announcement. This machine, when available, should finally kill off the possibility of low cost Kickstarter campaigns by poorly executing startups.
If you can get a machine from Monoprice that’s more or less guaranteed to a) arrive and b) work, at a price of USD$149, why on Earth would anyone take a chance at an unknown Kickstarter campaign for a machine with similar characteristics – even at a lower price?
If interested, join their waitlist before it gets too long.
Via Monoprice
