Imho for most of the home/hobbiest 3-d printers..not worth the time (more so than the money) if you are expecting “finished” product results, unless you like messing with acetone vapor baths,etc.

Ex-coworker has one. And we have one at work.

1. Extrusion process a long time for something small. For example, we printed a simple 3x3x3 simple object, and I think it was like 2-3 hours.

2. Finish is pretty rough if you’re looking for commercial quality results. Hence the mention of acetone vapor baths. To get a really smooth finish, that a cheap and dirty way of doing it.

3. It can be really really frustrating when the plastic filament cools, it warps so things aren’t perfectly straight.

4. Unless you only plan to print things that are already have some cad/reference file, be prepared to spend some time brushing up on your CAD skills.

That said, if you are a hobbiest and want to experiment, and have something specific you want to build, and and have the time and patience for it, go for it. Prices aren’t bad now, though you know they will get cheaper too. Imho, it’s not ready for primetime people who don’t have the time nor the patience to deal with its limitations.

I’ll try to find out what brand my ex coworker has and go to the lab to figure out what we use.

That 3-D printed cell phone case, for example, will take you a long time, probably won’t look as nice as that $2.99 case you get from some vendor in Hong Kong you buy off of Amazon that includes free shipping from Hong Kong, complete with tracking number.