The newly announced ProMega provides a 15.3"x15.3"x15.3" build area in 20" all metal enclosed housing and was revealed on a new crow funding site Fit For Launch
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| M3D ProMega |
The roll-out includes a novel pricing strategy. The official MSRP is $3,500 after the Fit For Launch funding period. But, the Fit for Launch opening price was $1,000. Periodically, the price is raised and at the time of this writing the pre-order price is $1,170.00.
In contrast to earlier M3D printers, except for the proprietary heated bed, the ProMega is almost entirely open source in both hardware and software. This should be assuring for anyone who has never had experience with using M3D products. This means that replacement parts and software improvements can be obtained from a variety of vendors.
I am confident that it is an incredible value and will deliver on every promise. So what are these promises? Let's look at the specs as published on Fit For Launch.
I have seen the ProMega in action and, as a backer, follow the progress on a daily basis. I have never experienced such an open and candid process.
With a 20" footprint, it probably not for everyone. But, for those looking for a fast dual material switching printer that uses a single nozzle (avoiding nozzle leveling problems) this is, in my opinion, a really great value. CubePro users will especially appreciate that ANY filament can be used and print tips can be interchanged for different materials and temperature requirements.
I do want to mention the unique heated bed strategy. There is a center area and a second surrounding area so that one doesn't have to heat the entire bed when printing an individual object that completely falls within the center zone. Leveling and gap are entirely automatic using a sensor that actually works.
We bought in at the $1,000 launch. Quite frankly, having already purchased more than a dozen Micro and Micro+printers from M3D, we knew we could trust them to deliver the ProMega, giving our lab a large platform dual extrusion printer that could superior prints with high speed performance.
It would be foolish for us to NOT pursue the ProMega at the entry price of $1,000. It's going to be a bargain at $3,500! All of our CubePro Duo and Trio printers cost more than the ProMega and while they performed for us, the ProMega is a big step up in terms of print quality and cost of materials. We're really looking forward to its arrival.
I hope to be able to see it in action again in the near future and will keep you up to date on its progress. But, if a large platform commercial caliber printer with a heated bed fits your 3D printing needs, I urge you to take a serious look at the ProMega Fit for Launch page.