MakerBot Replicator Mini+ 3D Printer

I bought a Makerbot Mini+ to make and explore ways to print protein and DNA structures for my teaching. The small size is perfect for exploring that varies way to render a structure. What i miss is the ability to use different kinds of filaments, but the ease and reliability of making a quick print are great. Changing filaments often requires patience and the smartphone app does not work reliably for me. The figure shows the finishing of a G-protein coupled receptor protein.

Heavy duty but the price is very high but u get somthing realy strong and with quality plus feturs in it

Consider this review as 2.5 stars. I think the easiest way to review this printer would be to list off the positives and than follow up with the negatives.Positives:Easy to useDecent quality prints (most of the time)WebcamSharp LookingPrint Bed - prints just stick to this without any prep work; as someone with a lot of experience with other 3D printers the fact that you dont have to prep the bed with Hairspray/gluestick/masking tape etc is a really nice change of pace, you just hit print and things stick to the bed perfectly every time. The added bonus that you don't have to level the bed is also really nice and removes one of the most difficult parts of 3D printing for 3D printing newbies.Now on to the negatives with this printer.First and foremost this printer is LOUD! They advertise that the new Mini+ is x% quieter than the last one but I use many different 3D printers professionally, one of which is a Makerbot 5th gen and the mini is louder than that. I personally own a BQ Witbox which is considered by many to be a loud printer and this mini makes that printer sound like a mouse on Christmas Eve. Despite the fact that the form factor on the Mini+ makes it seem like you can have this printer sitting conveniently on your desk; you are not going to want this printer to be in the same room as you. It is just too loud. It is so loud that an engineering friend of mine commented that if he didn't know better he would say something was seriously wrong with the printer, it sounds like imminent failure.Secondly, if you want to use the built in PLA filament housing on this printer you are going to have to purchase the half pound mini rolls from Makerbot. The small rolls are less than half a pound of filament (.2kg) and they currently list for $18.00 on Makerbots website. This is an outrageously high price for filament. For comparisons sake: Hatchbox PLA filament retails for $22.00 for a full kilogram (about 2.2lbs). There is no reason I can see why basic filament needs to be so expensive. To add to this Makerbot uses a scare tactic to make sure you purchase their filament by putting a sticker on the printer warning (Threatening?) you that if you don't use Makerbot branded filament it may void your printers warranty. To finish off on the subject of filament: The spool that they shipped with my printer had the worst wind I have ever seen. This filament was wound over on top of itself multiple times over creating knots. If I had not been here to hear the printer It would have either snapped the filament or could have caused damage to the extruder. Which brings me to my next point."Smart Extruder" - Now before I go on a tirade about the disaster that is the Smart Extruder, it does have some nice points in its favor and wouldn't be fair not to mention it. The smart extruder can detect when it is out of filament and pause your print so that you can pick up where you left off. This is not a feature seen on most printers, not even ones costing significantly more. Now the downside, I have a Makerbot Replicator 5th Gen and it blew through its first Smart Extruder in only 19 hours of print time (For those not aware, the extruder should last a long long time, I have well over a thousand hours of print time on the extruder in my witbox and it has never given me issues) when I contacted Makerbot about that extruder to request a replacement they tried to get out of having to replace their faulty hardware by claiming it had been too long (6 weeks). By the time we finally got a replacement from them the printer had been down for almost six months (about 1.5 months of this lies to blame on school I teach for because of their channels you have to go through to take care of issues like this, but that still should not have taken that long or been such a fight). Now there are well documented issues with the first batch of smart extruders and the replacement we received was from the revised version and it has been significantly more reliable, but the print quality is all over the board, printing the same object you can end up with prints that are truly amazing, and others are truly bad. Now so far on my Mini it has been fine, but I only have about a dozen hours or so on it. But the issues that have occurred with their past extruders and the fact that a replacement Makerbot Smart Extruder runs at $200.00 (For comparison sakes an e3d hotend runs about $45.00, since the issues with the makerbot extruders was the hotend clogging) this leaves a bit of a sour taste in my mouth that these hotends are not reliable and could be a two hundred dollar hit.Makerbot software and setup - I give setup for this printer a 1 star. It in theory is very easy, download the app on your phone and follow the on screen instructions. However in my case the printer seized up and would sit at "Busy" indefinitely. It took multiple reboots of the printer after waiting 45 minutes+ each time before I gave up and used their desktop software to setup the printer. All in all it took hours to get this printer up and running, not minutes as advertised. When looking online I saw that I was not the only one that had this issue. Once the printer was up and running the software was easy to use and clear. As an experienced user of 3D printers I do find personally the software to be very restricted and low on features, but it churns out acceptable prints, is fast, and is easy to use. For beginners to 3D printing and people who may be curious about 3D printing this is a very easy and safe way to get into it as the software takes a lot of the trouble shooting and struggles of slicers out of the equation and I would give the software a 4 out of 5 stars by itself for its easy of use.Webcam:This is both a positive and a negative, the positive is that it is really nice to be able to monitor this printer remotely (Which you will have to since this printer is so loud). The huge negative though is that you have to be on the same wifi network to view the camera, so the biggest reason you would want the camera (To remotely keep an eye on your prints when you aren't home) doesn't work. So the camera is a wash. I would have rather seen them leave the camera off the printer and focus on making the printer quieter.In conclusion/ TLDR: If you are just getting into 3D printing and are intimidated by the complexities of it, then this printer is perfect for you, as well as perfect for families, hobbyists, and schools. But if you are technically inclined or demand more from your printers than look elsewhere, significantly better prints can be had for less money, but you pay for that with fiddling with settings in slicer packages etc. Some of the features that the printer has are very competitive at its price point (Built in webcam, auto homing etc) and this printer is very easy to use, especially if setup doesn't give you any issues. So Makerbot has a few gems in this printer mired by a sketchy reliability track record and the cacophony of noises from the printer itself.

Love it very easy to setup and start printing the things you want within minutes!

This MakerBot Replicator Mini+ is easy to setup and produces good quality prints without much tweaking. I own two other 3D printers from another company that we use in our small business to make small replacement parts and custom accents, and this one compares very favorably.The printer is fairly large and comes well protect in the shipping box. It includes everything needed you need to get started, including a spool of PLA filament. I downloaded the PC drivers from the company's site, followed the on-line setup guide and had my first print underway in less than an hour of unpacking the box. Here are my observations:+ Setup: almost plug-and-play, it was so much easier than my other printers+ Software; fairly intuitive interface that was easy to learn+ Print Speed; fairly fast, being on par with my other printers+ Print Quality; good resolution, had a few more "hairs" to clean up from the finished prints than expected (see picture, grey print came from this printer)+ Camera; a very cool addition that allows you to watch the print being made from the PC or mobile app (a quick download)- Noise; like my other printers, this is fairly loud+ Wi-Fi; I really like that you don't have to have this connected to a PC+ Filament; while recommended, you don't have to use the MakerBot filament- Raft; the printer makes an easy to remove platform ("raft") that the print is built onOverall, I am impressed with the ease of use and performance of this solid 3D printer!Highly Recommended!CFH

For the amount this printer is sold for it is disappointing it doesn't have a touch screen interface. My $500 Flash Forge Finger has one, but this doesn't. I just think thats very disapointing to require me to use an iphone as that technology always iffy and less reliable which proved true in this case.Pro:Don't need painters tape (woot woot!!!)it has a special slot for the filament which is nice for clean storage but requires using their branded filament. Something is different about their filament, different then hatchbox etc. I felt safest sticking to their brand for this printer I think it has to do with how you don't need painters tape. I would not try an off brand. This could also be seen as a con.Con:Very hard to get the item off the build plate (I'm petite and female) but I felt like I was going to hurt myself or the build plating pulling my prints offNo touch screen interface, requires a phone.I tried with my phone about 20 times before it randomly worked while I was in another room sitting in my kids bed waiting for them to sleep. I think I had tried to connect it a dozen times. It finally randomly worked the first time I was able to print something. Frustrating. I tried from my macbook with zero luck as well. I prefer putting prints on a USB stick and inserting but I don't think thats an option. FYI I have an iphone 7.I believe you must use a raft for all prints, this is a pro or a con depending on how you look at it. For newbie printers this is good because it has more success, for the more experienced you won't get the look you want on the bottom of particular types of prints.