Aldi will be selling a 3D printer in Aus from 17th.

[aargee]

$499 apparently. It had to happen I guess.

One of these: http://www.cocooncreate.com.au/

Can't find any direct info on the Aldi site, but heard about it here https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/233946

Usual theme of discussion will ensue, I assume.   

I see lots of dust covered printers sitting in corners after families, oblivious to its limitations,  failed to get it to work like it should.

[tszaboo]

So this is as mainstream as it gets. 3D printing is officially not cool anymore.

Limited only by your imagination.
Large prints, incredible detail.

Yeah right. Anyone seen these hobby printers can see the pictures of spaghetti glued together flooding the internet.
At least we will have a bunch of second hand 3D printer on the market soon.

[Muttley Snickers]

I might just place an order for one with a friend who works at the local council recycle centre.

[Galenbo]

So this is as mainstream as it gets. 3D printing is officially not cool anymore...

The mediatised motorised gluepistol for-artists never was.

The 3D printer that combines printing iron, alu, plastic and rubber in the same product is something different.
Or additive manufacturing with a drone swarm, managed by indoor-GPS and distributed intelligence.

Or printing flesh and other "living" body part tissues, cool.

[kc9qix]

Looks almost identical to the one Monoprice sells for $349 (USD)

[Stonent]

Gee all we get in the US from Aldi is cheap food and wine.

[Brumby]

Don't you get the Aldi "Special Buys"?

https://www.aldi.com.au/en/special-buys/

[rrinker]

 Nope, pretty much just a grocery store in the US.

[Brumby]

We get all sorts of stuff - mostly on a theme.

Sometimes it will be a 39" LCD TV - sometimes a 55" - and they will have wall mounts and other associated accessories.

Then we can get tools in various themes, such as hand tools or garden tools.  Then there are sporting themes - like snow sports and bicycling where they focus on clothing.

It's all over the place.  You never know what they'll come up with next!

[tszaboo]

So this is as mainstream as it gets. 3D printing is officially not cool anymore.

Limited only by your imagination.
Large prints, incredible detail.

Yeah right. Anyone seen these hobby printers can see the pictures of spaghetti glued together flooding the internet.
At least we will have a bunch of second hand 3D printer on the market soon.

If they are crap new, why do you seem to think it is a good thing they will soon be available second hand. Surely they will be just cheaper crap.

Hacking it to do stuff of course.

Aldi seems to vary from country to country, in east Europe they seem to sell trash that got thrown out by Germans, here they are probably the cheapest.  To be honest I dont buy from them, the food they sell tastes like wood chips or cardboard with too much sugar. Except they have the cheapest cellular service.

[george graves]

It's basically a prusa i3 made with stamped steal.  I do like the open(as in easy to work on - not open source - although the i3 is fully open source.)

Dave2's(aka mini-Dave's) bubble design, and the other cube designs can be a real pain to repair or made modifications to. That's a deal killer for me.

That and that over head spool tied into the frame will create a movement on it as it prints.

I do agree that 3d printers have jumped the shark for the time being.  Heck, Dave1 was given on for FREE, and can't be bothered with learning it's in-and-outs. It's a step learning curve.  And you really have to stick with it, and learn it's limitations, and inherent faults.

I'll be watching what HP and the other big boys does with theirs.

[Luke]

Just picked up one of these. Won't be able to do much until after work.

[bitslice]

I still can't see the point of these machines, everyone just seems to make low resolution figures or boxes.

Just make a cheap PCB etcher, dammit.

[Luke]

Appears to work at least. Print Quality is what I expected.
It will mainly be used for printing parts for whatever I am building/repairing

[Stanley Linus]

looks pretty decent for the price.

[aargee]

Shocked. Well, shouldn't have to be.

In a moment of weakness, I bought one. Well, it's just sitting there, right in front of you. No imagining over the internet what it might be like, it's there saying "Go on, take me" - ah... bricks and mortar stores. 

Took it home, watched the excellent (IMHO) setting up videos and printed. Six screws to assemble it, unlike the MakerBot Dave put together back in 2012. A few little glitches with setting up printer characteristics in the software (RTFM or WTFV!!!)* - and voila a macro lens adapter for my Flir E4.

It just worked, and, unlike other impulse buys, I can see quite a few uses around here already. Especially for unobtainium parts. I was quite impressed with the quality (well, I was not really sure what to expect). Made the wife/family some trinkets as a peace offering to impress them.

Went out and bough a supply of PLA before Aldi did the 'never to be stocked again' quick step.

Problems: Lever had fallen off one of the micro-switches, fixed with pliers. Gantry was not parallel, fixed with two fingers.

Improvements: The control box came with no rubber feet, scratches/slides everywhere - fixed shortly. A few little mods to be done, glass platform, thumb-wheels for the bed screws and I've adjusted the cooling fan angle to blow more directly on the job.

Happy so far with my current time sink. 

* Acronym glossary: Read The F...ing Manual, Watch The F...ing Video

[Muttley Snickers]

I went to the local Aldi store yesterday to take a look but they didn't have any, so they either didn't have them to start with or they sold out, I didn't bother asking but as an impulse buy I decided to try some of their chocolate, I've already destroyed the peppermint, this I can recommend....

[aargee]

  Love it.

Local one had one left yesterday lunchtime (Printer, not chocolate bar).

When I bought mine there were five, went away to think about it and an hour later there were two.

So I guess it was a pre-meditated impulse buy (an oxymoron if ever I saw one!!  )

[Mechatrommer]

Appears to work at least. Print Quality is what I expected.
It will mainly be used for printing parts for whatever I am building/repairing

it seems like a melzi board like mine... anyway my $400 prusa worth $1000 now... after several phases of modification from the original parts...

[Zero999]

It would be cool if they sold a 3D printer which could make things out of chocolate.

[Brumby]

They do....

[Brumby]

Not Aldi .... but there are several around.

Here's just one:
     

[Stonent]

Don't you get the Aldi "Special Buys"?

https://www.aldi.com.au/en/special-buys/

Well apparently we do, https://www.aldi.us/en/weekly-specials/special-buys-for-feb-17/

But not really interested in a sewing machine, laundry basket, or clothes iron.

[Brumby]

Keep checking each week or two.

If they do anything like they do over here, every now and then you'll come across a couple of things of interest.  The "Special buys" are one-off items.  When the stock goes - bad luck.  If something went well, they might run it again 6 months to 2 years later - or maybe never.

[GK]

Dick Smith would not be impressed.

http://www.dicksmithfoods.com.au/media/press-releases/aldis-lower-prices-you-lose-your-freedom