See my 2 Year, 1 Year and 6 month. Now a 5 star.Monday I received my long awaited printer. I thought I would wait a couple of days until I had some experience and then post my thoughts. My first impressions were quite good. The unit looks good, well built with all wiring cleanly aligned and secured. My unit would not feed the filament at first so I sent an email to support and received a phone call within an hour, not many companies will do that. The support rep Charles and I went through a process of trying some things and finally found the problem with the extrusion head had been knocked off center during shipping. Once that was snapped back into place all worked as it should. My first print (white ABS filament comes with the printer) was their demo part, a miniature bird bath. It came out excellent. I then tried one of my SolidWorks parts saved in STL format and the printed parts came out terrible. Again, I emailed XYZ and received a prompt reply back from Charles to try and correct my STL files with this online free service, SAVE THIS ADDRESS you will need it if using STL files NETFABB CLOUD SERVICE. My parts were uploaded and emailed back to me within 5 minutes. It must be an automated process. You can also download a free program and do your own file corrections, no special talent needed. I then retried my parts and they came out great. This is for a product I am developing for one of my clients and the parts will be made from ABS. I have found standard stereolithography material (STL laser generated parts) are very accurate but 7% heavier than ABS. This product I am designing is very weight sensitive. So I now have all my prototype parts and will be building our first test unit. Here are some things that are not clear in the printer description:.1. The replacement filament comes in a cartridge not rolls as shown on Amazon. The cartridge is single use and cannot be refilled.2. The software does NOT have any drawing capabiliies. You will need a separate program to draw your parts, I use my CAD system SolidWorks.3. There are no good instructions on how to use the printer software and what the various options will do to the printed part.4. My experience with the support staff was quite good, quick return call and knowledgeable steps.5. You will need a set of jewelers files if you want to do detailed touch ups.6. Your STL files will most like need to be reformatted by a service such as this; NETFABB CLOUD SERVICE.7. My OS is XP (now Win7 Pro). I had difficulties downloading, installing and then running the printer software due to my virus program. I use WebRoot and I had to spend quite some time to finally get it to allow the software to run. If you have problems try disabling your virus software and then enable after loading the printer software.After I ran more parts and received some of the replacement filaments I ordered I will update my review. Right now I am quite pleased with the product. I took a star off due to the lack of operational instructions.7 Day review:I have had my printer for a week and it has run nearly non-stop. Many dozens of prototype parts have been produced for the models I am assembling, all with excellent results. I received a pre-ordered cartridge of black filament and went through the process of removing one filament (the white that came with the printer) and installing the new black cartridge. The process is smooth and without difficulties. To answer a question that had been posted, the printer ships with a 300 gm sample roll of white filament and the replacement cartridges are 600 gm. The printer tracks the filament use by total capacity in meters compared to amount remaining. The 600 gm equates to 240 meters.The software has several different settings and trying them all in various combinations would take forever. There should be a manual on what the different settings will do to the finished part, again this is why I took the one star off. From my experience the default settings produce great parts. I have found that when I need more than one of certain part all that needs to happen is click on "import" as many times that you want a part and your parts will be staged on the table at the correct distance and placement. This is very helpful to not need to make multiple copies of the part in the original CAD or drawing program. I have made up to eight parts at once from a single design and all came out perfect.Microsoft also sponsors a STL file correction service: netfabb.azurewebsites.net/.Excellent product for the price! If I were still in engineering R&D management I would want one of these for perhaps every 3 engineers. This is a fantastic tool for trial and error and to learn what works.One Month review:Last one, I promise unless something goes terribly wrong. The printer has been running almost daily with absolutely no problems. I have gone through one and half filament cartridges with no binding, clogs or control issues. As I use the software it has become easier to configure the part for printing. I have needed to tighten the X belt (single screw) once and recalibrate the table perhaps four times. It is a fairly straight forward adjustment but can sometimes take several minutes due to the slow process for the automatic measurements to be read. I would recommend checking calibration before each big printing process. The system needs to heat up anyway so the check is well worth it.One of the components I am making is a thin semi, square tube about ¾ inch per side and 6 inches long. The walls are only 0.06" thick. The table is usually set up to print four of these at once. We are testing for various length configurations. I am finding the tubes come out absolutely straight for the entire length, no warps, bends or contour issues - as good as stereo lithography. I have also not used glue for the last 4 or 5 dozen parts. Once the bed cools down the parts pop right off. I am very happy with this purchase and it has paid for itself more than two times.6 month update:I would like to pass along some things that I have learned and solutions to some issues.The printer has been run hundreds of hours since receipt. I have not experienced any failure, clogs, incomplete prints or any malfunctions - it has worked perfectly. The more I have used it the more I become familiar with how a part must be positioned to avoid warps, slippage or out of round situations.I have recalibrated the bed many times, usually every 20 or so hours of runtime. The calibration is tedious and time consuming. I have found that many "999" error codes are due to the contact on the printer head missing the contact plates on the bed. This is where the "jog" command is needed and usually just the X direction. Watch the printer head and contact pin closely during your first calibration to be sure everything is in alignment. I have had to re-tighten the X belt once. If you notice circular parts becoming slightly oval your X belt probably needs to be tightened. XYZ has the procedure on their site.Positioning of your parts is critical to a good part. Something that may be shaped like a cup should have the open part up even though the original position when imported will place it down.An issue that began during the first set of parts is an accumulation of fibers sticking and then hardening on the extruder head. I first used a Dremel tool with a soft wire wheel to remove the hardened filaments but found a better solution. I have silicone mold release (I use the Sprayon brand, found on Amazon but I am sure others will work as well) to coat the print head once it has been cleaned. The mold release is sprayed onto a Q-tip and coated onto the head. Try to avoid the contact pin but if you do coat it it is easily cleaned with a nail file using a light brush stroke. I have not had the problem since our first coating last March. I first tried a high temperature cooking oil that also worked well but decided on the mold release since it was on hand.Occasionally I wish to make another part without waiting for the entire cool down cycle to complete. I let the finished part sit on the bed for about 5 minutes, pop it off and then simply turn the machine off, wait for 30 seconds and turn back on to start the next part. I usually do this while everything is still hot and the platform is in the raised position as this also reduces the heat up time. This technique has saved hours.I have now found that I can get great parts directly from the SolidWorks STL cad files without going through the online correcting process I documented earlier. A lot of this is due to correct positioning of the part. I have seldom needed the "raft" or "supports" features when setting up the print routine.If you plan to make multiple parts at once you will most likely need to add the "raft" call out, particularly if the part foot print is small, i.e. ½ " round or square. I have made up to 36 of same part in one run using the "raft".I am extremely pleased with how this inexpensive machine has performed. If it is still functioning at one year I will update again.One Year Follow-up, now 5 starsI now have a year of use on my machine and the first thing I can say is following hundreds of satisfying builds, nothing has gone wrong. I have not had to replace or repair a single part. The initial setup required technical assistance for resetting the print head but since that simple task the printer has worked perfectly. I have calibrated the table several times and have gotten to a point where I can do this fairly quickly. After a few times you get a better feel for the adjustments. I have tightened the belts once. The parts I have fabricated go from complicated, proprietary prototypes for my clients to simple things used around the home for repairs/replacement of broken or worn out parts.As an example, a close friend has an older home with vintage blinds. The blinds have complicated, plastic end caps that after years had started falling apart. He had one remaining complete part. I scanned the part (both sides) on a paper scanner and saved as JPEG photos. If using a standard scanner with a 3D part you need to do both sides and then combine to provide a complete pattern for your drawing program. I then brought the photos into Photoshop and combined them as one part. The photo was then brought into my CAD system where I merely drew lines and circles shown in the photo to make a 3D part. Obviously some height measurements are added the saved as an STL file. The part was not perfect in the first runs but could easily be modified until the final part is actually better than the original and he could chose colors. We made eighteen beautiful parts. I also made some new hangers for the blinds and increased the thickness where his had been broken and glued several times. (see CAD photos)I continue to use the original software, 1.1.29.3 and firmware 1.1.G as I want to use other filaments that XYZ do not offer such as translucent by Zen ToolWorks or the beautiful colors from HatchBox. These require using the XYZ cartridge material with the new material. The technique is quite simple and can be found through a search.The product has proven to be an extremely satisfying experience and has more than paid for itself supporting my consulting business. I highly recommend it. Should you have questions please ask and I will do my best to provide an answer.Two year follow-upAfter two years the machine continues to run perfectly. I have not had a single part fail or clogged nozzle, amazing. The only negative has been that XYZ secretly changed the software and now I am unable to use filaments from other manufacturers, disappointing but the printer still performs flawlessly. For the price it has been a great purchase.