Jan 22, 2015 | By Alec

As if choosing your first 3D printer wasn’t hard enough already. A brand new device, that is above all looking decent and affordable, has just been launched by company GP3D: the Root desktop 3D printer. But one of the machine’s biggest perks? It can be delivered within 3 months from now.

GP3D is a relatively small supplier of 3D printing products (specifically accessories and filaments) based in Hacienda Heights, California. It’s a subsidiary of Green Project Inc., a more familiar name of a leading company in the ink and toner industry. They have now launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund the launch of their very own low-budget range of 3D printers because, or so they claim, ‘customers asked why didn't we have a printer as well. That is why we are creating Root.’

Now if the photos of their Root 3D Printer look familiar, that’s because you might have come across it under its earlier name ‘Sprout’. We don’t know why its name has changed, but it must have happened very recently as it was featured under Sprout at the 2015 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas earlier this month.

Regardless of what you call it, two things especially stick out about this smooth-looking machine. First and foremost, there’s its price. We often report on compan‎ies aiming to make 3D printers as affordable as possible, but then you can still quickly pay something in excess of $1000. As the team from GP3D stated on their Kickstarter, ‘Our competitors have said their 3D printer is “affordable”, but what is affordable? $1,000? Root is the definition of an affordable 3D printer at HALF the cost.’ To be exact, the expected asking price advertised at the CES was $549, while you can get a Root 3D printer as an early bird special through their Kickstarter for as little as $375 (only several packages left, then it goes up to $440).

The other promising quality GP3D brings to the table is its shipping time. While some 3D printers on Kickstarter come with an expected waiting period for shipping of somewhere in excess of six months (or more), GP3D promises to start shipping as early as April 2015. As they explained, ‘The final design is ready to be shipped out in months, not years. All we need your help to reach our goal to produce. We know that other kickstarter campaigns have promised and sold their ideas to you with over promised ideas; not adhering their own timeline and stretch goals.’ It’s online support structure will also be available by then, suggesting that their design is almost entirely completed already, and they simply need production funds.

But of course specifications, not delivery time, is what matters in the long run. But by the looks of things, you get your $500 money’s worth with Root 3D printer. For that price you can’t expect the highest possible quality, but it seems to have all the stats necessary for desktop tinkering and classroom education.

Specifically, this printer has an averagely sized body for a desktop printer, with the dimensions of 11.7 x 8.7 x 15.9 inches, whose metal body will ensure stability during printing. And just like many other printers in this price range, it has a print bed that is 5.9 (length), 5.9 (width), 5.5 (height) inches in total. In short, it’s small enough for a desktop, but large enough for many standard projects. However, it does come with the added bonus of a movable build plate that moves up and down but also side to side, definitely setting it apart from many competitors.

Screenshots of their own Germinate 3D printing software.

The Root printer specifically supports PLA filament (which obviously has a number of advantages over ABS) and flexible filament, and can print at a decent resolution of 0.18 mm. Plus, it’s easy to operate through both SD card and USB options. Finally, it features a 3.5 inch color touchscreen control mechanism and comes with its own 3D printing software called Germinate (works with STL files), for easy and intuitive use.

Check out the printer in action here.

All these statistics suggest that the Root 3D printer is shaping up to be a very decent model for classroom and first-time printing enthusiasts, that doesn’t appear overpriced when compared with competitors. And if you’re looking for a few more options, they even offer an enhanced version: the Root Plus, featuring ABS printing (and every other filament offered by GP3D) and a heated print bed, amongst others. And with a price tag of $550 for the Root Plus early bird, that isn’t a bad option either. You can check them out here on Kickstarter

 

 

Posted in 3D Printers

 

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Tom McBaum wrote at 2/19/2015 5:32:28 AM:

Feb 16 Update: The campaign has relaunched with a better description of why the Root resembles the IdeaWerk. I quote: "We've partnered up with a factory based overseas to help us build our printer. We took a prebuilt platform and stripped out the internals and rebuilt it from the ground up. We've spend the last 6 months working on this printer with our factory making changes. Although the exterior shell may look similar, the internals of the printer are different. Key features of our Root is an upgraded extruder able to print down to 100 microns. An updated print plate along with customized clips and lastly upgraded software, Germinate, to make usage of our printer easier."

Alice wrote at 2/18/2015 8:54:09 PM:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/gp3d/gp3d-root-full-metal-body-3d-printer/description It is listed again on Kickstarter

Eirikur wrote at 1/27/2015 7:27:26 PM:

Kickstarter suspended this project...

Tom McBaum wrote at 1/24/2015 11:26:09 AM:

So the whole bit in the GP3D video about how GP3D "spent the last year deveoping our own 3D printer" is basically false, then. Good to know.

Joey wrote at 1/24/2015 9:58:41 AM:

I think Mano miss the point. Whe are not looking for a bargain with kickstrt, but the promotion of new idea and project to help : that promote creativity. This is an new original way to sell old stock of unsold machines by letting you imagine you are getting a new product : really disturbing.

manko wrote at 1/23/2015 10:13:18 PM:

I don't mind copies, as all 3D printers are copied from someone else. The price is 1/2 of the weistek. If they can deliver, they should do well. The design is sturdy, self-contained and nice looking compared to other 3D printers.

3d printer user wrote at 1/23/2015 3:41:13 PM:

it is copy of Weistek Ideawerk 3d printer https://www.3dprintersonlinestore.com/ideawerk-mini-3d-printer

serge wrote at 1/23/2015 8:42:41 AM:

well. it's a up! , no ? or I am wrong ?

Timaz wrote at 1/23/2015 2:22:11 AM:

Another scam, this is just a Weistek IdeaWerk printer. http://ideawerk3dprinter.com/ideawerk.html

bob wrote at 1/22/2015 11:31:08 PM:

Hello, It is really a good printer, I've got one. In europe the name is ideawerk wt 150 from weistek : a chinese builder. The software is Doraware freely downloadable from the net. You can buy it from conrad.com, a german reseler for 799€. But it is white...

TEAM GP3D wrote at 1/22/2015 8:06:16 PM:

Thanks for the support! We changed the name as we didn't want market confusion with HP's new desktop solution also called the Sprout. THANKS SO MUCH FROM GP3D!!!!!!



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