Tuesday, January 12, 2010

uPrint 3D Printer Gets Faster But Still Can't Print Time [3dPrinting]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/c7IGS0Su9To/uprint-3d-printer-gets-faster-but-still-cant-print-time

If you're a designer with a need for three-dimensional printing and $20,000 to spare, the uPrint Plus is right up your alley—it's 33% bigger, 69% faster, and 40% more efficient than its predecessor.

It may not play Daft Punk like the MakerBot—and it costs a whoooole lot more— but Dimension's uPrint Plus is professional grade, small enough for desktop use and gives users resolution settings of either .010 inches or .013 inches and prints materials in nine colors. It'll ship in March, hopefully by which time they'll have figured out how to get me that 4D support I've been holding out for.

World's Best-Selling 3D Printer Line Expands

Dimension uPrint Plus offers material colors, larger build volume, resolution options, and more

MINNEAPOLIS—(BUSINESS WIRE)—One year after introducing what has become the world's best-selling 3D printer - the Dimension uPrint - Stratasys (NASDAQ: SSYS) says it has expanded the product line with the uPrint Plus – an enhanced version with lots of new features – while still keeping the price under $20,000 (USD).

Like the Dimension uPrint personal 3D printer, the uPrint Plus has a small footprint for true desktop use [25 x 26 in (635 x 660 mm)]. uPrint Plus can print in eight colors of Stratasys ABSplus material, making it easier for designers to differentiate individual assembly components and better depict their product. The printer has a build envelope of 8 x 8 x 6 in (203 x 203 x 152 mm) – 33 percent mo! re volum e than the uPrint, enabling larger models. uPrint Plus offers two resolution settings – 0.010 in (0.254 mm) and 0.013 in (0.330 mm) – to give users additional print options.

uPrint Plus also features two support-material enhancements that reduce material consumption and modeling time. The first, Smart Supports, is a software enhancement that reduces material usage by 40 percent, cutting costs. The second, SR-30, is an improved soluble support material that dissolves 69 percent faster, to speed the modeling process. Smart Supports and SR-30 enhancements are available for both uPrint and uPrint Plus.

"When the uPrint was introduced one year ago, it quickly became the best-selling 3D printer worldwide, with 1,000 units sold in the first 9 months," says Dimension Product Manager Mary Stanley. "Based on its success and customer requests for expanded features, the uPrint Plus was created. Now designers, engineers and architects have expanded options for building models based on proven FDM technology."

uPrint Plus material colors include red, blue, olive, black, dark gray, nectarine, fluorescent yellow, and ivory. The new 3D printer will be available for shipment in March through authorized Stratasys resellers.