Welcome to Extraordinary Tech 2018 Day 4. Join Buchanan, Joelle, Mike and myself on our adventures as we test out some of the best tech available in 2018. Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday we’ll be showcasing devices that came with us on a cross-country trip this summer, ranging from an outdoor speaker that will change the way you think of sound to a smartwatch that offers the best fitness features at an affordable price. Along the way, we’ll be hosting giveaways of some of the tech featured in this series, so stay tuned!
From a room over, we could hear the whirring of the machine stop. The smooth buzz that had turned into a pleasant background noise suddenly disappeared, leaving the air empty, lacking. It was the silence of the world before a storm, the anticipation of the crowd before a buzzer-beater.
We looked at each other, anxious and unsure of what to do next. Mike, the leader of our group, got up from his work and walked over to the next room. As he disappeared around the corner, the silence became even more deafening. Then, we heard his voice:
“It worked.”
At that moment, the silence broke. We laughed, cheered, stumbled over furniture as we ran to see how it turned out. And there it was, sitting nicely on the printer bed – a 3D printed TechTheLead logo. From the failed attempts, machine resetting, and plastic scraping, we had finally printed something out successfully.
After that, our excitement pushed us to print out model after model. In the spirit of Napa Valley, we printed a wine glass. More the size of an espresso cup, it turned out solid and did the job nicely. In honor of the World Cup winners, we printed an Eiffel Tower. A little messy in the details, the printed model still held its own, successfully recreating the shape of the tower itself. From afar, it looked like a miniaturized replica!
In all this, The Micro+ 3D printer by M3D did what it was advertised to do. It was affordable, portable, and easily fit on a work desk. The breadth of models to print was also extraordinary – from ornaments like the World Cup Trophy to more utilitarian items like a hanger or hook, The Micro+ could print almost anything in the online repositories.
That’s not to say the printing process was a piece of cake. At times, the base layer wouldn’t stick to the printer bed, leading to warped or impossible to complete prints. Other times, the nozzle and model would be stuck together, dragging part of the model out of position and ruining the print.
Yet, throughout all this, our excitement was real. The results were worth the effort. And after figuring out what settings to use to best print a certain model, it was a lot smoother sailing.
Given its price point, accessibility, portability, and easy to use in-house software, The Micro+ by M3D is definitely a step above the market when it comes to consumer 3D printers.
Bottom Line:
3D Printing as we know it is fairly new. Burgeoning in the 21st CE, 3D printing moved from an industrial technology to a home product. 3D models are readily available online and people have started 3D printing from small home decorations to usable weapons.
But while it is more commonplace, it’s still not the most accessible tech out there – 3D printers are often too bulky and require a lot of set up, or they are just too expensive and hard to use.
The Micro+ 3D printer by M3D solves this problem through ingenuous design and an in-house software. We’ll be the first to say it wasn’t perfect, but what is really? For me, it was simply extraordinary to see just how far the tech has come. Truly, The Micro+ 3D printer is glimpse into the future of consumer focused 3D printing.
The Extraordinary Tech series was produced in partnership with Xperi. We were provided the Micro+ 3D Printer by M3D for review. The Micro+ 3D Printer is available at store.printm3d.com for $349 (as of publishing, it is on sale for $199).
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