I’m keen to purchase a 3D printer as it is always something that has interested me as a hobby. My engineering thesis also involves 3D printing so it would be handy to have one of my own.After about a week of researching I’ve come up with a few that seem like they would be worth investing in. Ideally the printer would have a decent print quality (thesis involves investment casting the print in aluminium) as well as the ability to print ABS without much hassle. Kits are fine however sourcing all the parts myself would be a bit daunting. Budget would ideally be sub $1000AUD. Having built a lot of custom PCs I’m open to having the possibility of customising and upgrading parts.The one recommended everywhere seems to be the Original Prusa i3 Mk2 kit. With shipping it is just over $1000AUD, which means it gets taxed as an import putting it just under $1200AUD. Comes with good instructions, a great printing bed and auto levelling(?).The other end of the price scale is the Wanhao i3 Plus. I can source this much closer to Australia for under $700AUD. It has had teething issues from what I have read however they appear to have all been addressed in the revised versions. Drawbacks are the potential for low quality chinese components, no bed auto levelling, a (reported) max bed temp of about 80C and the smallest print volume. Does come with a touch panel display for ease of use however.Somewhere in the middle is the Reprap Wilson II. The total cost would be $850AUD. Second biggest print volume, auto bed levelling and from what I can tell a decent all round kit.Closer to home is the Wombot Exilis XL which is made in Australia and would set me back just over $1000AUD shipped. Largest print volume of the 4, comes fully assembled, auto bed levelling and probably the easiest to get replacement parts shipped to me.My questions would be; is the Prusa that far ahead of the rest in terms of quality to justify the extra costs? Both the Wanhao and the Wombot are much closer to where I live (Western Australia) so if anything breaks/needs replacing it will be much easier/cheaper to get. What kind of difference in not only print quality but ease of setting up and use am I looking at? There seems to be decent communities for all of them except perhaps the Wombot, are there any glaring reasons to choose one over the other aside from price? http://ift.tt/2diY05k