Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I have both a Dremel 3D20 and a Dremel 3D45. I bought the 3D20 first and had good results. I wanted to do more and potentially try other materials so I bought the 3D45. Like other reviews the 3D45 was great out of the box. Everything worked well and being able to adjust different settings and calibrate the machine at the touch screen was a nice feature. Other reviews complained about connecting to the computer but it comes with a flash drive.. just put the files on the flash drive. Eventually after thousands of prints the 3D20 needed to be rebuilt. This was a fairly simple process as the 3D20 is fairly simple. I rebuilt it with a all metal hot end to reduce wear and rebuilds in the future. This was another reason for buying the 3D45 which already has a all metal hot end. Ever since rebuilding the 3D20, it has been plucking along. Eventually after many prints the 3D45 needed to be rebuilt. This was by far a much more needlessly laborious affair than the 3D20. There are so many things more unnecessarily complicated about the 3D45. Rebuilding it has been a nightmare. Then, after rebuilding it, the touchscreen adjustments which were previously so nice, have become more of a hassle than the manual adjustments of the 3D20. Right now as I am typing this my 3D20 is printing. The 3D45 is once again broken down. That's the thing, in the long run, these 3D printers are nothing but a tool. A machine that will wear and break. When that time comes, the simpler, easier to fix machine will be better. A simple work horse that just gets the job done is better than a fancy show horse. The 3D45 never was very successful at printing other materials. I was never able to use the webcam. Everything that was supposed to make the 3D45 so much better than the 3D20 either never worked or has now made things worse. Right now the 3D20 is only $600 on amazon while this 3D45 is $1800. You could get three 3D20's for the price of one of these 3D45's. Right now my $1800 3D45 is nothing but a paperweight while the plucky little $600 3D20 soldiers on. If that wasn't enough, the thing that makes the 3D45 able to print other materials is the all metal hot end. I rebuilt my 3D20 with a all metal hot end for less than $50, bringing the total to $650. Still significantly less than the $1800 for this 3D45 but with the same ability. Don't assume the 3D45 is better than the 3D20 just because it is more expensive. Especially if you are just getting started with 3D printing. Think about what you want to make and what features you actually need. Then, take a second look at the 3D20.