![]() There’s a little confusion regarding this product’s warranty, too. ![]() There used to be email support, but we’ve heard reports that they no longer reply. If you need help, you can search for general information using keywords, or you can call them on the phone during office hours. MakerBot’s website has tutorials and support for all of its printers… except for the 5 th Generation. If you’re a collector or 3D printing enthusiast, by all means, buy one, but most people can find something better at a lower price. It has decent performance across the board, but nothing particularly stands out about it. The Replicator 5 th Generation really struggles to justify its high price. Of course, this would hurt their bottom line, so they didn’t. It’s a bit of a shame: if users can build these on their own, MakerBot could easily have just included them as standard. You can actually use a third-party filament, but you might have to download a user-created print mode in order to do so. On the plus side, PLA is about as cheap a filament as you can get. Even after a couple of years, this price stays too high to be viable. While it’s no longer available directly from MakerBot, it retails on third-party sites for around $2000. There’s an issue, though: it’s priced like a premium one. So far, the Replicator 5 th Generation sounds decent for a mid-range printer. We were pleased to see that there is an automatic leveling function, though, so you don’t have to waste time getting set up for a print every single time. This means that you’ll be relying on tape or other sticky surfaces to keep your prints stable. The print bed, unfortunately, isn’t heated. It’s also more reliable than traditional extruders, which can only be a good thing. The Replicator series claims to be the only range of printers with a hot-swappable extruder, meaning if one stops working, you don’t have to halt production. We’d be remiss if we didn’t mention the smart extruder. There’s also the option to print from a USB stick, but not an SD card. There are even WiFi capabilities so you can print while away from the machine. The LCD screen is an absolute joy to use, with clean, well-organized menus and a control dial to save space on the unit itself. That said, at this price, you really expect it to excel in some way, and that’s simply not the case. Mechanical gears, for instance, rarely need any post-processing in order to work properly. Its speed might have helped redeem it, but 150mm per second hardly makes it the fastest printer around.įor what it’s worth, it does replicate models pretty well. We’ve seen open-source, $200 printers that can handle more materials than this one, and for a company like MakerBot, that’s just embarrassing. The problem is that this printer is intended for experienced users, yet offers very little to draw these people in.įor instance, you’re limited to PLA filament. We were a little underwhelmed by the 0.5mm minimum layer size, but for general day-to-day printing, it’ll do just fine. Overall, the Replicator 5 th Generation has average-to-good print quality. Since the extruder can move up to 150mm/s, you can expect it to be a little louder than most, too. It’s pretty clearly designed for professionals, so you’re really expected to have a designated printing area set up. ![]() Let’s be clear: this printer is probably too big for your desktop. Still, there’s a lot of potential here, especially if you’d like to print models larger than most 3D printers will allow. In actuality, it’s larger than most, except for when it comes to depth. Of course, because of the printer’s size, the build area looks relatively small. It’s built to accommodate an enclosure, in case you’re having difficulty maintaining a consistent temperature during a print. However, it’s designed to be accessible and easy to use. It’s easy to be intimidated by the large, looming frame of the 5 th Generation.
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