One of the things that takes the most time when printing is bed-leveling and calibration. Evidently, this depends on what exactly you’re printing, but for prototyping, there are very few 3D printers that can match this one. It’s hard not to be impressed here: there’s very little filament wasted, and finished models usually require very little post-processing. It seems as though Stratasys wanted to do one thing very well, rather than including half-baked support for as many materials as possible. There’s a more durable, ABS-based filament named ABS plus, as well as both water-soluble and snap-off support material. Unfortunately, the Dimension 1200 supports only a handful of materials, all proprietary. If you value speed more than quality, you can slightly increase the layer size, but even this produces models to a higher standard than many other printers on the market. Complex shapes are no problem, and the layers are all but imperceptible. Say what you like about the aesthetics of this machine, it does an extraordinary job of recreating virtual models. After all, it’s not like this is a specially cheap model. It’s a nice touch, but with even mid-range printers offering mobile app support, we have to wonder what the designers were thinking. This allows you to select CAD files and make minor tweaks before printing. There’s a small, neat control panel on the right-hand side. This is hardly ideal, particularly in the design sector, where Macs are more common. There’s not even a USB port – everything has to be controlled via the Ethernet connection, and only Windows devices are supported. We were pretty surprised by the lack of connectivity and limited OS support, too. However, with an enclosed (and exceptionally large) build area, maintaining a consistent temperature is easy. Additionally, there’s just one extruder – something of a rarity in high-end 3D printers. Setup is a two-person job since the Dimension 1200 weighs over 300lbs. Let’s address the elephant in the room: standing 45” tall without the base, this printer is absolutely colossal.
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