I have been looking at the Ultimaker range, the original Ultimaker is available for about £900 (I am in the UK).
I found a Tech Rader Top 10 3D printers here but the only Ultimaker that was listed was the Ultimaker 2 Go but this only has a small print size and is restricted to PLA only.
What is listed is aPrusa i3 kit (I have seen the name Prusa mentioned on here) from Ooznest, it does not come in a nice case and looks a bit of a thrown together printer but its nearly half the price at £475 of the original Ultimaker.
Also found this one on ebay but at this price it looks dubious?
I know next to nothing about 3D printers and printing so would appreciate any advice.
I’d take the cheap e-bay one and use the spare money to buy upgrades, like threaded rods, kapton tape, a spare set of RAMPS, another set of mechanical endstops, 4 DVR8825, a wooden anchor board to lessen vibrations and some acrylic panels to make an enclosure.
The more I think about it, as this will be my first venture, I am inclined to go for the cheap reprap prusa one on ebay. The upgrades that you mentioned, where would I get these from?
I ordered the Prusa MK2S Mar 14th 2017 and received the kit May 8, 2017. I took a week carefully assembling it and calibrating it and the prints are fantastic!
You could get a prusa i3 and then 3D print parts for a prusa i3 case. I have heard of people making cases for there prusa i3 and I have heard good results. if not you could always by a replicator 2 or a corexy style printer. Good luck!!!
Just to follow up on this thread. I ordered an Anet A8 Prusa i3 3D Printer kit from GearBest. They have been retailing for about £250 but got a great Black Fridya deal at £106. (Just been online today and they are now retailing at an incredible £104.
This printer has a big following and lots of support and looks to be a great kit / learning entry into 3D printing.