Sub-$500 3D Printer, good way to spend tax return?

Solidoodle, the pet project of former MakerBot COO Sam Cervantes was announced last week to much fanfare… at least if you read a lot about 3D printers. For many, it might be the first one they read about that even lists the price. Most people probably don’t quite grasp the significance of Solidoodle, so here it is spelled out very simple.

Its cheap. Like 25% of the next lowest option (around $2,000).  Think of it as an even larger price drop than when Amazon launched the Kindle Fire for $199, bringing tablet affordability to consumers who winced at the price of an iPad, which even stripped down to minimal specs runs $499. Android tablets from Samsung and Motorola have similar high price points. The Kindle Fire now has 50% of the Android tablet market, and accounts for 30% of total tablet purchases. And that is after only being on the market for FOUR months.

No one is claiming that Solidoodle will be printing out commercial quality objects or high-end jewerly, at the moment the printer only supports printing with ABS filament, and the level of detail does not look amazing. Nonetheless, it is now possible to order a functional 3D printer for less than an iPad, a plane trip, or even most people’s tax returns.

See Solidoodle in action.