Hello, I have used the Up Plus 2, MakerBot 2 and Stratasys’s uPrint SE Plus at school. I am considering to buy a 3D printer for home use. It is for functional prototyping and product design rather than just for fun. I need some advice on which printer to buy. I like the print quality of the Up Plus 2 and the uPrint SE Plus. The Up Plus 2 worked out of the box. However, the build volume is too small for my current use. The uPrint SE Plus is too expensive for my pocket. I am considering the Up Box Plus and the Ultimaker series. Any suggestion? Although there are some review on the Up Box on youtube, cannot find those for the newer Up Box Plus. From internet forum, it looks like when the Up Box Plus was released, earlier users had some maintenance issues. Not sure if they have been fixed. Any opinion appreciated. Thanks.
1 Like
Hi! I have a long experience with MakerBot Replicator 2. Since 2009. Still have it for my projects, projects of others and for fun. It is very easy to use and to maintain. My printer has 2000 hours of labor and the main issue is always the cable position. After too many moves the cable brakes and you have to replace. Nevertheless, I came with a solution and it’s solved. In the end, if you manage to have a second hand MakerBot it will be grat. The other printers I’m not experienced.
We have our upbox +, and up plus 2. We also have Projet 1200 and Projet 2500. I really can’t compare to other printers because this desktops are the only we have. But yes the automatic calibration really doesn’t work very good, but no issues to calibrate it manually! The prints are awesome. No issues with the nuzzle. The software is nice, compare to obiously 3D systems, is behind, but I believe it’s quite nice too. They have phone support. I don’t know what else would you like to know about it.
If you are looking for “Send to print and forget” you should thik of the Cubicon printer, you will find lot of data on internet
beckatt
5
Have you checked out the MakerBot Replicator+, recently announced to replace the 5th Generation Replicator? It’s reasonably-priced and has a decent build volume, and they’ve improved the reliability and upgraded the build plate. It also comes with a Smart Extruder+.
Do you mean automatic calibration on the upbox+ does not work as well as the up plus 2? When I used the up plus 2 at school, automatic calibration worked quite well. I read some complains about upbox when it came out originally. Not sure if they have fixed almost all the major issues.
One potential issue I see is that there is no dealer nor distributor in Canada. Even I can order it online, I may need to send it to the USA or China to get it fixed. Although the Ultimaker is more expensive, at least they have dealers locally.
The Makerbot 2 failed to function after a month of purchase. The dealer also complained about Makerbot. He told me that the extruder in the Makerbot 2 has faulty design. Makerbot also refused to exchange it nor give it a refund.
1 Like
The automatic calibration works sometimes, but I really prefer to calibrate it manually I think. The print goes better that way. I also prefer to calibrate the Up plus 2 manually too. I don´t know I think that works for me. I haven´t had other big issues, and when something come along, I call support.
I don´t know how expensive it would be to send it to US from Canada, maybe like $160 usd. That info is truly mine, for my experience using both machines in our printing hub, in the other hand, actually we are Tiertime resellers in US and no good luck selling them, I think as you said first, there is no much info with reviews and stuff that make people what to buy them, but I believe they are quite good printers. But If you decide to buy one, here is my info administration@foldio.us
Thanks. MakerBot 2 often printed noodles in the air. Zero problem with Up Plus 2. How about the Up Box + ?
RCole
9
I have 2 Ultimaker 2+ machines at work. Both worked right out of the box. Unfortunately, we are also running about a 20% failure rate on prints. The Lulzbot Taz 5 is our real workhorse. Less than a 2% failure rate and runs 8 to 12 hours every day. Same cost as the Ultimakers.
WavePro
10
Hey !
So yes i can really respond to you, i have the Up 2 and it work really fine, just make shure everytime you print something you really study your parameter and check everypart you will print if the piece have geometrical error (for every printer you should consider it 
I would like to buy the UpBox too and for a quick review, check the “Experiment Boy” youtube channel, they have an up box and printed some pieces that look to have the same (nearly better) quality than the Up2
Filament printer are the better for fonctionnal prototyping but even with this i’m considering to buy a UV resin printer too because of the pure detail and the quality of the print.
Go for the Up Box dude
