The 3D Printer You Can Actually Afford

The problem with 3D printing? The price. It's hard to get your own printer without a serious case of sticker shock. What's the incentive to make cool stuff at home if it's going to cost you $1,000 up front? The Micro is here to change that. 

The Micro is being touted as the first true consumer 3D printer, and they aren't wrong. For a tidy $300 sum, you can get in the game and start 3D printing at home. Plus, the Micro isn't some monolithic eyesore like so many other professional 3D printers. It's cool and modular and colorful. The Micro may do for 3D printing what the iMac did for computers: make them fun.

The Micro has killed it on Kickstarter, blowing past it's initial $50,000 goal and cruising past $1 million with nearly a month left. It just goes to show that plenty of folks are into the idea of 3D printing, but not so into the idea of dumping a grand or more into a new and difficult-to-understand technology. There are only a few spots left in line, so if you want to get your Micro by the time they start shipping in August 2014, you better hop to it.


Evan Scott Schwartz is the Tech editor for Supercompressor. His iMac was blue, and he misses it dearly.