EEVblog #356 - Makerbot Replicator 2 Announcement

Forum Topic:
Makerbot announced the Replicator 2 today.
As usual, Dave has something to say about it.

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[EEVblog]

Will be interesting to see who solves the manual calibration issue first, and at what cost...

[EEVblog]

Yep, different price brackets completely now. How does the Solidoodle compare in print quality and speed?

[EEVblog]

I have another quick video shot. Haven't edit yet though, it's in the pipeline.

[EEVblog]

Wow, yeah. You think he would have seen that and went "I won't bother!"

[EEVblog]

The dream changed the day the suits bought the company!

[EEVblog]

Sure, I'll quit the blog and spend the next year on it full time...

[EEVblog]

Prototypes are what it's all about. Having something physical in your hands to play with is worth it's weight in gold to a lot of people.

[EEVblog]

Thanks Josef. "Closed" in what sense though? Isn't some of their stuff based on OSHW stuff, so that variations of it *must* remain open? At least in theory?

[EEVblog]

The deal with this video is it was news worthy so I made a video on it. I did not trash the Tangibot, I *supported* the guy, I just though he was doing it the wrong way. Makerbot can go in any direction they want. They chose the more expensive high end route. I was surprised and disappointed by that at first, but when I think about it, it's maybe not bad path for them financially as a wannabe big corporation.

[EEVblog]

Yes, it would be suitable for that, as would most other low cost 3D printers. I have not used the Rep2, so can't comment directly on it's performance. But it shoudl be better than the Rep1 I have which is suitable for such stuff.
No, you would not use these machines to churn out cases like a factory, they are only suitable for prototyping.

[EEVblog]

That's the question I guess. I have not used a higher end commercial one, so cannot compare. I consider the Replicaotr 1 pretty darn good for what it does (when it's tweaked to work), so if the Replicator 2 works better, bigger and faster, then I'd consider that pretty impressive performance for it's intended purpose (rapid prototypes et.al)

[helloworldstein]

Our High School here in NY purchased few of these for the ElectroMech Major to work with (we are a specialized high school focused on STEM fields: we already had industrial grade, large, boxy printers that used powder, lasers, etc.). The replicator 2 is a lot quicker to prototype on, more reliable and much simpler! As a Senior (Grade 12), the underclassmen I supervised quickly learned in a few mins. Anyone with the slightest CAD experience can easily pick it up. Looks great, works great!

[EEVblog]

Yes, reputation is important in the small end of the market, but in theory not that important in the mid to higher end of the business that it looks like Makebot is headed. So I suspect if they turn their name into mud in the maker community, it likely won't affect them much.
I'm not sure what there is to "close" and is likely very messy business legally. That's why I think they should just leave it all open and avoid all that and keep their rep. So maybe it's a long term direction thing?

[daspolemon]

I really like the EEVBlog jingle at the end. It's nice it has come back.

[EEVblog]

I have not used the Replicator 2, but I hope it works a lot better than the Replicator 1, as I'm having continuous problems getting the thing to work consistently, or at all for some prints. So based on the Rep 1, the technology isn't there yet for these things to be consumer friendly. And from what I hear, it's not just the Makerbot, so just the technology in general at the moment? Anyone got a Rep 2 and can comment? Makerbot are trying which is good.

[EEVblog]

That's kinda what they are claiming. They are developing higher end product so the technology can possibly filter down to a lower end product in the future. But I think the low cost printer market has passed them by, and already had for quite some time.

[EEVblog]

The area of the lab I mainly shoot in (right of camera in this video ), now (as of this video) has about 5 times the light. So hopefully video will look even better from now on. Videos on this light upgrade coming soon.

[PrusaD]

Points:
I was the one who called their tech support and got that info!
I started Occupy Thingiverse.
Why dont they tell it right now? Maybe because Bre talks on Open Hardware summit? :-D

Dave, you have (-) point for approving this :-( Especially after your last Open Hardware video :-(

[EEVblog]

Yeah, but I'd be pretty sure the original founders dreams would also have included "open source" and "affordable to the masses". But yes, the reality may be that "the best 3D printer", i.e. with excellent precision, simply does not come cheap?

[EEVblog]

He might have got more, but nowhere near half a million. It was not a huge drop in the price over the Makerbot, and people knew it would take a long time to get one. The majority do not give toss about what critics say, and/or are quite capable of making up their own mind, so it was left up to "the people". So he got a fair shot I think and it simply didn't work. You said it, he aimed too high, and with an approach some didn't like, and as a result he failed.