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Balco 3D Printer $399 + Shipping (Was $499) at Dick Smith

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Balco 3D Printer $399 + Shipping (Was $499) at Dick Smith
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Slave1 on 04/01/2017 - 12:18 dicksmith.com.au (433 clicks)
Last edited 04/01/2017 - 13:33 by 1 other user

Been looking at getting into 3D printing without a too high a price point and this seems to tick a lot of boxes for me. Don't know when the next 20% ebay sale is happening and whether it would include free shipping but this appears to be the best price at the moment for a printer with an active community and lots of available mods.

This is currently $499 + shipping with Kogan. It's a rebadged Wanhao Duplicator i3 V2.1 and the same as what Aldi were selling early last year for their Cocoon Create branded model for $599.

Make your own toys, models, spare parts, figurines, phone cases, jewellery and more with the Balco 3D Printer with 4 x FREE Filaments and Print Mat.

Print straight from MicroSD Cards
The heated print bed prevents slipping for accurate printing
Large print area allows for most of your design ideas come to life
Smooth printing with a 3-point bearing system
Perfect for the DIY enthusiast, hobbyist, industrial designer or student

Features:
Build Volume: 200 × 200 × 180mm
Fused Filament Fabrication Technology
100-400 micron Layer Resolution
Works with most 3D model files .stl, .obj, .dae, .am

Electrical & Electronics 3D 3D Printer 3D Printer Filament Balco Printer

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Dick Smith / Kogan
Dick Smith / Kogan
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closed Comments

  • tanabe88gg on 04/01/2017 - 12:30

    I would just keep an eye out for something like this from china
    https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/281095

    They are all knockoffs of the prusa i3 anyway

    • Slave1 on 04/01/2017 - 12:39

      Do you have that one?

      • dlovep on 04/01/2017 - 14:48
        +1

        Honestly I never received anything from Tear-best…

    • newske on 04/01/2017 - 13:07

      Just depends how much tinkering you want to do. The Anet A8 are known to be much more work than the Wanhao, and the Duplicator has a very large community too.

    • Insidious on 04/01/2017 - 14:44
      +2

      They are usually an acrylic frame on the cheap kits which increases vibration etc which can affect the print and how often you'll end up recalibrating.

      Plus Aussie retailer for returns warranty and support

      • Shambler on 04/01/2017 - 17:54

        +1

        The metal frame really helps in keeping it all in line, means less fiddling around between prints adjusting the machine to be straight.

        With the metal frame its rare that you'll need to do anything more than just check the bed level, which you can do in about 30 seconds with a scrap of paper

    • Slave1 on 04/01/2017 - 12:40

      $20 though, not 20%.

    • Garlic on 04/01/2017 - 15:11

      DS ebay store is more expensive.

  • netpenthe on 04/01/2017 - 13:56

    i'd look at the Up Mini 2 as well.. decent printer.

    • Slave1 on 04/01/2017 - 14:38

      But for $500 more than this.

  • Insidious on 04/01/2017 - 14:57
    +3

    I got one a while ago for $400 during an ebay 20% off sale, I've had no issues and love it. It does work pretty much out of the box with a minimal set-up required but it really shines once you get to tinkering with it. Honestly I got it to play with the printer and learn about 3D printing rather then for the end product and for that purpose this is a great machine. If you aren't a tinkerer/builder/modder you probably shouldn't get a 3D printer full stop as even on a high end machine good results will take a fair amount of technical knowledge and a certain degree of luck.

  • Shambler on 04/01/2017 - 17:53
    +1

    Got one in the most recent sale through Kogan

    Great printer, not hugely difficult to work out (though I do enjoy tinkering with this sort of thing!)

    The quality once its dialed in (level the bed!!!) is pretty incredible for something of this price

    Thingiverse allows you to check out photos of other users prints, and every print I've done with this thing has turned out better than 90% of them

  • fefris on 04/01/2017 - 20:39
    +2

    own the re-badged cocoon one, great printer.

  • BaryGusey on 07/01/2017 - 15:40

    Some reading that might be useful for anyone who ordered this printer, I'm still on the fence…

    Getting started

    https://www.reddit.com/r/3Dprinting/comments/5g491r/start_he…

    Upgrades

    https://www.reddit.com/r/3Dprinting/comments/5mdyxo/maker_se…

  • whatthecrappin on 09/01/2017 - 15:11

    just bought one….any recommendations on free software to build the models in?

  • whatthecrappin on 09/01/2017 - 19:25

    just realised I payed 499????????

    • Slave1 on 09/01/2017 - 20:37

      How? You sure you bought from Dick Smith and not Kogan? Software to build or to convert to Gcode?

  • whatthecrappin on 09/01/2017 - 20:53

    accidently bought from Kogan :) dont ask - I must have been doing some research on the printer and went to kogans site for some weird reason. called them up and they said its easier to credit me $100 then to cancel it and reorder on dse. hopefully they actually do it….

    was after software to build models. any good free cad sw out there?

    • Slave1 on 09/01/2017 - 22:13

      Oh fair enough. Fingers crossed they actually give the credit.

      Here's a good link with some ideas on building software as well as slicers. I've been using Cura for slicing so far as its simple enough to use.

      https://all3dp.com/best-3d-printing-software-tools/

    • fredk1000 on 10/01/2017 - 22:18

      Sounds like you had a good experience with Kogan offering a you a credit.

      I purchased one from Dick Smith on the (Friday) 6th in the late evening, I made a mistake and I tried to cancel it right away before it being shipped.

      The only thing I could do was contact the Help Centre via the web link due to time of week and time of day. No emails on Sat or Sunday, not really expecting any.

      Got an email Monday saying I could not cancel the order as it was processing and comment saying they are confident I would love the product, blah. Sent me a link to the return conditions and read it to see if I eligible for a return.

      I called the Kogan phone number, they told me to call the Dick Smith number.

      On the phone they told me the order was processed and could not do anything not matter how much I argued with them (sorry if you are reading). I was not happy at all and they knew it.

      Fair enough I did not read the sale conditions (though the did not mention this, I just checked again), there are no returns on this product. A cancel/hold order button on their website would not be too hard is it to stop it being shipped.

      I did my best to cancel this before being shipped. Failed.

      This has been shipped now, they said I could TRY returning when I get it. They did not give me much confidence I would be successful.

      I may lose on the shipping costs if they let me return it.
      About $23 delivery to me, so maybe the same to ship it back.

      Still deciding on what to do with this now. Should I keep it or try returning.

      • Slave1 on 11/01/2017 - 07:44

        It's a very popular and common printer (if you can call 3D printers common) as it's a rebadged Wanhao so you could try selling it once it arrives. Don't think you'd have any trouble selling it for what you paid As it's still cheaper than what they're selling for now considering it's back to $499.

        Mine arrived last Saturday surprisingly as the weekend and I've already gone through the 40m of sample filament that you get. It's really fun to use and have no issues with it at all.

      • buneyha on 28/01/2017 - 22:44

        you should of just reject the delivery.
        it would just back straight back to them.

  • fredk1000 on 10/01/2017 - 21:42

    The price has gone back up to $499 now.

    • BaryGusey on 11/01/2017 - 13:04

      Cheeky buggers just sent me an email letting me know they had held the item in my cart and urging me to check out. They didn't mention anything about having upped the price by $100 though.

  • whatthecrappin on 14/01/2017 - 07:48
    +1

    Hey where do you guys get filament from?

  • Slave1 on 14/01/2017 - 11:02

    Check out https://www.cubictech.com.au. $24.95 a roll for eSun branded PLA+ with quite a few colours. Free shipping over $100 or $10 flat rate under. Order before 11:30am for next day delivery. Was the cheapest place I could find besides ebay.

  • fredk1000 on 19/01/2017 - 00:18

    Both Kogan and Dick Smith have it at $399 + delivery right again.

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