3D printing technology has been in existence since the beginning of the 20th century. In the recent past, more and more 3D printers have been manufactured as the demand increase.
Their popularity has increased over the past few years and their use is gaining moment far and wide.
In fact, the manufacturers have put into consideration the need for affordable 3D printers and that is why different models have different prices depending on their features.
It is no wonder that you can get a good printer at an affordable price of $100 or even less. So, are you planning to purchase a 3D printer for $100 or less anytime soon? Do you even consider acquiring one at that price or lower than that?
To help you in finding the right answers to these questions, we will take you through a review of two brands of our top-pick 3D printers for $100 or less, discuss their pros and cons in depth and give you our final verdict on these products.
Obsidian 3D Printer
Obsidian 3D Printer is a state of the art printing device that has raised the bar in 3D printing at a price as low as $100. But why would you even think of scrambling for the last piece left in the store?
Besides its price, Obsidian 3D Printer boasts of its high quality and sleek design that makes it stand out among its close competitors on the market.
Also, this model is widely praised for its combination of reliability and aesthetics in addition to running on a non-proprietary firmware.
If you think those are the only reasons you will want to have this device in your possession, then you need to brace yourself for more.
Obsidian 3D Printer comes ready for you to use unlike most of the other pocket-friendly 3D printers which will take part of your precious time to assemble them before use.
This model gives you an easy time where you will only load the filament and then plug the power in to get started.
In case of the accidental power disconnect especially when you are halfway into your printing task, you will just need to connect your printer to the power and tap “resume” on its LCD screen to proceed with your work without getting frustrated.
This feature is only unique to Obsidian. The bottom line is, Obsidian 3D Printer is a leader in its class when it comes to the design, build quality, reliability and print resolution.
101 Hero 3D Printer Blue Pack
Our second fact finding mission on affordable printers for $100 or even less, starts right here with 101 Hero 3D-Printer Blue Pack which retails at $104.00 per piece.
Clearly, you cannot afford to miss out on this product if you truly understand what you are looking for in a 3D printer. As a matter of fact, the printer is simple and easy to use thus saving you the time and agony of going through the manual to learn how it is operated.
All you need to do is just to turn on the printer, place or insert its memory card and you are good to go. Once you set everything in order, this printer will enable you to do your printing without much of a hassle.
Why is it affordable? Well, 101 Hero, 3D-Printer Blue Pack is designed to save you the additional shipping costs where you will likely to get about 90 percent of the finished pre-assembled kit.
This should not worry you given that you’ll spend no more than five minutes of your time to put every piece together. The whole process is just simple and it doesn’t require you to be an expert to assemble the entire 3D printer.
What is needed in this regard is a simple task of turning a few screws here and there to get your printer ready for work. And when it comes to its safety, you can always trust that 101 Hero 3D-Printer Blue Pack will not disappoint you or anyone, both young and old when using it to print anything you want.
Pros and Cons of Using a Very Cheap 3D Printer
To begin with, using a very cheap 3D printer helps you in saving your money for other things and this is the most important factor regarding your budget.
This way, many people can afford 3D printers without going deeper into their pockets. Apart from that, using affordable printers can cut the cost of production by a large percentage and also save you a lot of time.
However, using a very cheap 3D printer has its own disadvantages as well. As usual, cheap can be expensive and before you know it, you will have spent a fortune on repairs and replacements of the same commodity.
Most of the cheaper printers have been blamed for their constant failure to feed filaments into their print heads and this can be really frustrating to the user.
Even though most of these printers are cheaper, you should always be aware of the hidden charges. This means that after exhausting the printing materials that comes with the printer when still new, you will have to spend even more on printing materials. Such cases are extremely rare when using a high-end 3D printer.
Additionally, there are reports of malfunctioning when using cheaper printers. Those issues eventually lead to a total breakdown forcing you to spend some more money on another new printer.
Finally, a number of very cheap 3D printers have too many restrictions. For instance, there are copyright issues where some people are likely to find an easier way of coming up with counterfeit items making it difficult to tell a real from a fake. There is also the issue of size restrictions due to the small sizes of the printers which limit you from printing the real size of an object in its three-dimensions.
The Final Verdict
Does a $100 3D Printer Worth it? Based on the features and functional ability of the 3D printers under $100, you will realize that there are limitations. Such limitations come as a result of using cheaper components to make the printers.
These components are usually not durable and are of very low quality rendering your printer non-functional shortly after buying it. Therefore, the answer to the question is a no because you will spend more money on buying accessories every time your printer breaks down and in the end, you will realize that you’ve spent more than what you purchased your printer.
To be on a safer side, we recommend that you spend a little more money and buy a high-end 3D printer such as FlashForge Finder 3D Printer, if you truly want to get the best quality for your money.
