GEEETECH E180 Mini 3D Printer with Power Failure Recovery Function, 3.2″ Full Color Touch Screen

I don't normally.This is an extended review of many aspects of this purchase. Some of it will not sound 5 star, but this is measured against price:quality ratio.This is for the 'newb'. I was a newb.1. Order it if you aren't certain 3d printing is for you but you have bit of some spare cash to find out.1a. buy some good allen keys as they tend have a longer reach and are stronger. It just makes things a tad easier... they aren't mandatory1b. buy a 300g reel of 1.75 PLA1c. buy some good dry or ceramic bicycle lubricant2. Watch the Geeetech assembly videos on YouTube, at least the first 4, this gives you an idea of what is involved, it's not so bad when you get going.2.a NOTE ... there is some wiring required at the end not covered by the videos. By that I mean mostly plugging plugs to sockets on circuit boards3. Take your time and have a friend help you. I built mine over a few days spread over a week or two. It didn't feel painful.4. Lay out all of bags in a grid 10 * 4 worked for me.4a. Put the stuff away in order, do not bin any of the bags... each build session will thank you for your method.5. Assemble along with the videos. 5a Write a sticky label for the motors so you know which drives x,y,z 5b. once in place lubricate the support rods and the Z axis lifting screw. Not so it drips, so that it has a coating6. Go online and find the wiring diagram an look at youtube to see how others have cable-managed.7. Do not expect the temps of the extruder or the hotbed to be bang on... so for the first 50 prints, stay away from ABS and other high temp materials7a. you might want to buy a super cheap infra red thermometer.8. Level the bed, there's many youtube vids for this, take you time. You will find you need to fine tune and re do this a few times... but it makes a world of difference.9. Buy dirt cheap horrible hairspray (because it only has glue, no slippery conditioners) to use on the glass sheet, 4 coats. This makes things stick while printing10. Get the Repetier software Geeetech suggests.11. Read a little bit about 3d slicers and watch some vids. 11a I have settled with CURA slicer which comes with repetier12. Go to thingiverse and find some things that are small and fun or practical to print13. Print it, play with the settings a little bit.I printed at least 15 things before I got used to the hairspray thing, re applying it, using supports (see CURA), having things fail.FAILS ... bed not level enough or too much gap for first layer. Not enough adhesion to the bed (hairspray). Nozel too hot, nozel too cold, settings wrong.Prints will fail. Accept it as an opportunity to learn.Look at what people have done to improve the print quality ... remember, this is a cheap printer, you will learn how it works as you build it and you will learn why and how 'mods' improve it.You will be printing the mods to improve things.So far I have printed a spool holder, the z anti vibration lifts, thumb screw to help level the bed, z axis couplers. All of these things have helped.I suspect this review will hold true for all geeetech i3 pro printers. I think the acrylic ones are 8mm thick and the aluminium and ply/wood/cnc ones are 6mm thick.I'm finding bits I will fix and replace, some cost money. Please don't think the cheapness of the printer makes this a false economy. I bought it wanting to learn. This has been sooooo much easier than I expected and better.

This printer is aimed at hobbyists who have a fair knowledge of mechanical assembly and are competent with schematic diagrams and mains wiring.Tips:1. Before assembly, lay out all the parts in number order and keep them that way during the build.2. Wipe down the wooden parts, the black stain comes off on your hands.3. Although it is possible to build it and have it powered on in a day, better to take the time to do it right and avoid mistakes.4. Do not cut any wires or tie them in a bunch until after you have used the printer for a while and understand how the cables should be routed around the frame. You may also want to wait until after you have added any modifications to the printer.5. You can get some very good quality prints by taking the time to set it up properly and by adding a couple of modifications (3D printed)Pros:1. By building it you get to understand how it works2. There is room to improve/add features3. Cheap (relatively)4. The EasyPrint3D software is easy to use5. Initial calibration is easy6. There's a lot of help on Geeetech forums and Youtube7. There are 3 default print quality settings or you can adjust various controls to find the best solution for yourself.8. You can change the firmware for a more flexible version that allows more control. (some programming knowledge is handy)Cons:1. The print area is advertised as 200mm x 200m x 180mm but the controllable area is only 200mm x 185mm x 180mm2. Even using both the printed AND video instructions, you will need some common sense to get it built.3. The location of the mains switch and socket leave a lot to be desired (there is a mod you can build to protect them from fingers)4. The printer communication Baud rate setting is wrong in the included software, should be 250000 and not 2560005. It can take some hunting around to find the latest firmware version to install (The auto-update feature in the software doesn't seem to work.)6. The black stain used on the wood comes off on your hands.