I’m in the process of deciding on my first 3d printer. I’m wondering if there is any news, rumors, or speculation on the timing of the next generation printer from Form Labs I fear taking the plunge now and within a couple of months feeling the ugly sting of buyers remorse when a better model is announced.
Any thoughts?
Even if there was a Form 3 being developed right now you wouldnt get your hands on it for a couple of years. Heck it takes months just to get a Form 2! You can learn so much in that time it wouldnt be worth waiting IMO
It would be shocking if they weren’t working on the form 3.
Looking at their history, it appears that the first printer was announced in Oct 2012,
Their second in June 2014
Form 2 was announced in Sept of 2015.
Given that history, looks like its possible to see something later this year…
I guess history is no guarantee, but seems like a possibility.
given that this is your first possible printer, I dont think inquiring about formlabs developing a new model should be the first of your concerns, but the question of how well is your understanding of 3D-Printing and the type of 3D printer best for you?
Given how they aren’t quite caught up to the Form2 deliveries yet, and how long it took the Form2 to come, i would say that it’ll be a few years for the next one. They’re probably always looking at new improvements but it takes like a year from when they finalize a design to when they can get it out so it’s going to be a while. If they develop some significant updates they may push to get it out quickly, but I would expect at least 2 years even if they were really trying to get something out quickly.
Product life cycle is a valid concern regardless of one’s experience. It has a direct impact on the value of your investment. The moment NEW THING comes out your printer is suddenly reselling for a measurable amount less than it was before NEW THING
When you order something and don’t see it for 4 months and the product life cycle is only 1 years you’ve got some great potential for buyers remorse.
Build your own DLP, control your product life cycle, no buyers remorse! Then when you want better quality come back and buy the Form2.
There is risk in every purchase, it seems like you are thinking about this as an investment more than a tool.
RD2000 has a great point, think about what do you want to do with 3D printing. SLA technology might not even be the correct path.
There are certainly newer emerging SLA technologies that are faster than the Form2. It’s worth noting the Form2 is actually a bit slower than the Form1+. But having just released the Form2, FormLabs would be crazy to undercut their profits by even hinting at a Form3. Developing a product costs a lot of money. You want to be sure you at least sell enough to recoup the development costs and fund the next product cycle.
Brandon’s comment is a good one. What do you intend to do with your printer? SLA has both advantages and disadvantages over FDM. I own both types and use them for different things.
CLIP. Scary fast.
Form 2 is refined enough that they do not really need to come out with a Form 3. Unless it was massively larger or had multiple lasers, but then it would cost a heck of a lot more.
The biggest bummer for me, now that I finally have my own 3D machine after wanting one since I saw a video of one in the late 80’s… is that now everyone can buy one, so it is more difficult to sell parts to help pay off my own machine. But I am still trying, via 3Dhubs.com.
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