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What is everyone expecting from CES?

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    What is everyone expecting from CES?

    What would you like to see in new printers on the market? What are you excited for in 3D printing this International Consumer Electronic Show?


    I personally am excited to see the future of HP's computer thing with the scanner on it but can't help but feel it's proprietary and won't have many 3rd party programs.

    I would love to see more printers and enclosures all in one. Especially heated build chambers as from my experience and knowledge they should help a ton for ABS.

    #2
    The show was smaller this year than last, which was smaller than the year before that. We walked the showcase and also attended the all-day 3D Printing track sessions put on by TCT. The main theme that was repeated over and over this year is that the desktop hype is over and most of the players are focusing on industrial and professional sectors, not consumers. That said, the quality of the desktop machines for the money has never been better. One of my take-aways was how many FDM printers there are for under $2k that print as well as Stratasys systems I've used in the past. I think the market is fast approaching where it won't matter much which printer you buy, they're all good. We're not there yet, there are plenty of terrible machines still for sale, so buyers still need to do their research.

    The Afinia H800+ really impressed me. Great print quality, and quiet machine. Being fully enclosed with a HEPA filter, wifi, power-loss recovery, and out-of-filament detection, I can easily see this machine in schools and offices. You couldn't get that much capability for that price even a year ago, which is great.

    The Prusa i3 MK2 also lived up to the hype, really great machine and probably the best value on the market. Josef Prusa was also a pleasure to meet, very friendly guy that is happy to answer any question you throw at him. The quad-material printing was stunning.

    For 3D scanning, the Einscan Pro+ by Shining 3D was quite impressive. For schools and SMBs looking for a quality 3D scanner in the $3-5k range that can rival the quality of an Artec or Creaform, this is the answer. It fills a big gap in the market I think.

    The biggest disappointment was the absence of Glowforge. They were supposed to be there, but pulled out last minute. It's understandable given their recent announcement of missed shipments (again), but never-the-less still a big let down not to see it live and in person. In contrast, FSL3D was there showing off their new Muse laser cutter, a direct competitor of the Glowforge with remarkably similar industrial design. 2 differences stood out to me. First, while both systems use cameras for alignment, only GF uses that capability to cut/engrave on curved surfaces (i.e. Mac book). Second, you don't need a cloud connection to run the Muse, it's all local control. The price of the Muse is currently higher than GF, ranging I believe from $5500 to $8000 depending on the package you get (i.e. chiller vs water pump, fume extractor, etc.).

    Hope some of that insight was helpful.

    Cheers,

    Chris

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