NOTE: I had to shorten my original comprehensive review (I did elsewhere in December of 2014) by 50% for Best Buy.
I am not going to say I had a great time with this printer at first as it was a bit of a rocky experience. I purchased this printer on November 10, 2014.
Firstly, I like to have some experience using a product before I would consider reviewing. Additionally, given the effort I have put into 3D printer research since the middle of 2013 and the fact that the reviews on THIS product have caused some tribulation on my part, I was motivated to do a thorough review. Note that I have looked at many printers over the last year+ including Makerbot, Makergear, Isis3D (dont ask), Robo3D, DaVinci, EZ3D, g-Max, Type Amachines, Fusion3Ddesigns, Solidoodle, Airwolf, Cubify (GREEDY filament RIP OFF@!), Plastic Scribbler, ORD Solutions, Ultimaker, Taz, Afinia and Rigidbot to name JUST a few.
Secondly, I am in Tulsa, Oklahoma and I will say that I have NO AFFILIATION with Robo3D and have never met these guys in any way nor do I have any vested interest in writing them a good review (except the satisfaction of having helped someone). I DO BELIEVE they have, at the very least, the makings of a good product here and that deserves a fair review.
THE REASON I TOOK THE RISK - (I suggest you read this review before checking out my YouTube video (link later in review))
This is due to the fact that the specifications were superior to the only real alternative in my budget range. The alternative was XYZprinting's DaVinci. Robo3D has superior build volume (even to Makergear's M2 I believe); has no chipped cartridges (like ANY products from friggin Cubify or the DaVinci whose cartridges supposedly develop tangles in the filament and will also fall apart); they wont brick your machine if you try to use other software or hacks like XYZprinting supposedly will; you don't have to calibrate it all the time; and it can use a LARGE array of other filament types and filament from other manufacturers (again no chipped cartridges). For example, I am using a $20 one kg spool of red filament from Hatchbox and Saint Smart I bought on Amazon and I have used most of the spool with NOT A SINGLE PROBLEM.
This was the first 3D printer I have actually had my hands on (or seen in action in person for that matter), and after over 350 hours of research on 3D printers since the middle of 2013, and for the price, I was AT LEAST looking for a starter printer to get some "hands on" experience. I figured that even if I sent the Robo3D back, I at least would get experience with this printer before exchanging it for another. But I was FULLY COMMITTED to sending the darn thing back if I had a problem of ANY KIND.
BUT HANG ON.... IT ACTUALLY WORKS!:
HOWEVER, when I actually unboxed the thing and set it up following their video, it actually WORKED! NO CALIBRATION, No hassles, NOTHING. From ALL the research on 3D printers I had done over the last year+, I was sure this was going to be at least a little bit of a pain in the butt (like the reviews on the DaVinci indicate for example)... but it actually worked as advertised.
BUT, I quickly noticed the sick-sounding fan and said "that is a bad sign, I had better stress test this to see if I have a leaky extruder", and sure enough, I did (see YouTube videos for detailed history of this).
But in the process, I liked the thing so much that I decided to give Robo3D a shot at setting this right. I wouldn't have done this unless this knocked my socks off since I think it is ridiculous that I was having to repair a product I had owned for a week! I HATE THINGS that are a headache to boot... but I fully realized that this will have to be done with likely ANY printer eventually, and at least the Robo3D is open source, so even if they go out of business for some reason chances are I will find some way to replace parts if that were an issue. Contrast this to DaVinci which with the lawsuits they are likely to get from bricking their printers, they MIGHT go out of business, and they ARENT open source.
TIME TO FIX THE THING :
In any event, I contacted Robo3D via e-mail, they sent me a repair kit with no instructions as far as I know (but their old printer kit videos from their Kickstarter campaign in 2013 were helpful) and I set out to not only repair the thing, but make YouTube videos of how to do it. And again, with the state of the industry at the moment you can expect to have to do things like this with any printer at some point.
Now the printer is printing leak-free. So when they told me that they had a few bad units floating around on shelves out there at the time I purchased the printer, but the problem is fixed now (ie new fan mfgr and properly tightened extruder), I believe them fully because IT WORKS. See my video to see the results of the 'post-repair' print stress tests I have ran. I have printed far more objects than I had before the repairs, and the extruder is CLEAN AS CAN BE...no leaks, and the fan is far less annoying than before!
Just being able to un-box the thing and print with no calibration and default software settings was a great first 3D printer experience for me! I haven't calibrated it or leveled the bed ONCE since I purchased it...it self-levels. I should note that I am running this printer from a Windows 7 PC (an old Dell Optiplex 755 Core2Duo. Despite the necessity for the repair work on it, I believe the printer was well worth it!
CUSTOMER SERVICE :
Regarding their customer service, they were quite helpful to me in getting this done (even called me on the phone). Some people complained about their service but this is a new and growing company in what is shaping up to be a nescient but very competitive industry and I can tell you from experience as a former technology manufacturer that they are running around like chickens with their heads cut off.
The first couple of years of business in this would break most people, but they have kept going and I think they deserve to have some tolerance given what they have achieved. (Update: Their customer service has had glowing reviews in past months!)
WHY I CARE :
Given my own experience in better days as a new company and manufacturer in the mid '90's in the booming field of LED lighting technology targeted at signage (the real origin of the stuff), I feel a certain kindred relationship with these guys and the 3D printing industry in general...so it was time to figure all this social media junk out and spend some (long) hours giving them a fair review... one of the biggest reasons to give it five stars (other than the fact I love the thing) is to get your attention, so that you might give them a fair chance (given all the bad reviews and perhaps dubious good reviews... I know, I had thought the same thing!).
If you are interested you can see some of the videos of my LED R&D facilities and my LED production plant from ‘back in the day’ on my YouTube channel under ‘Grips – My History” while you are looking at the Robo3D video(s)…I DO have an idea of what these guys are going through!
IN CONCLUSION :
I am not going to say that it is a perfect product. For example, there's no LCD screen, would be nice to at least have a 'quick remove' shroud or alternate shroud design for easy access, LED lights on print head, better software with much fewer bugs, easier hole to load filament in, etc, but I could critique ANY product that way!!! You WONT get perfection out of ANY product, some more than others I'll grant you, but NONE are perfect! However I was quite impressed overall with I actually got out of the box.
Even though it doesn't look as cool as DaVinci (which was what made it harder to buy a Robo3D instead), it is still much better done than I would have expected from something that was on Kickstarter in 2013!
In the end, I was NOT looking for a new friggen HOBBY (I simply don't have time for such things), but I WAS looking for a tool I could develop ideas with...and I do believe that the Robo3D is a decent tool to start with!
Given that I am new to 3d printing, I cannot comment on the relative quality as compared to a $2000+ printer, but I am not disappointed at all. You can get a sense of the quality from my YouTube video since I review every single thing I have printed so far on it.
These guys still have a ways to go, but they are getting there and their product is a good solid start if you are new to 3D printing (just follow my advice above if you have problems). I Hope this review helps you like so many reviewers efforts have helped me over the last year.
At the time I am re-posting this review (March 4, 2013), I have had no further problems with the printer. I still have yet (thank god) to have a clogged nozzle. I thought I did once, but it turned out to be a bug in the software with their Cura engine that was just trying to print too close to the glass bed so nothing could come out….switch back to the MatterSlice engine and no clogged nozzle!
I plan on posting videos to YouTube about how to fine tune my printer so you may want to subscribe to my YouTube channel if you are interested in such updates. I am very busy developing several inventions with my Robo3D right now, so it could be a month or so before I do this.
The YouTube title of my FIRST video is:
"Robo3D R1 Review / Extruder Repair Video 1"
Just click on the "Grips - Robo 3D Printer" section and you will see all 5 Robo printer videos. By the way, my Video-5 also has an interesting review with some info not shown in the newer review in Video-1. You can read my full review in the comments section of my Video 1 on YouTube.
My review(s) video can be viewed on my YouTube Channel at:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCv3cPEtMhoSTjQOUpcD1e4g
