Ultimate 3D Printer Comparison Rubric

	A	B	C	D	E
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2	Every 3D printer has its merits and strengths, and it's not really fair to try to compare them. But we're not going to let that stop us, are we? The goal of this document is to provide a technology agnostic comparison of different 3D fabrication technologies. In making this document, attempts have been made not to reference specific technologies like auto bed leveling or does it use USB or SD cards. Instead, general categories like "Capability" and "Ease of Use" have been broken down into performance-based attributes. While specific technologies can influence these categories, the future may provide different solutions that solve the same problems. In this way, this chart should avoid the famous "faster horse" problem, should anyone wants to take this as a metric for future development projects. Obviously this metric isn't perfect. If your requirements skew towards one category more than another, and this isn't weighted to favor those elements, then it won’t answer your specific requirements. Future development will have to be explored to handle that possibility. The final score is calculated by plotting the price score, capability score, and ease of use on a 3 axis scale, connect those points, and then calculating the volume of the resultant triangle. This way if, for instance, a printer is more capable, but at a higher price, the resultant area should be similar.
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5	Capability
6	Category	0	1	2	3
7	Material Variety	Doesn't seem to take any materials	Basically only good for a single material type	Some features to allow for different materials (IE capable of high temps) (common answer)	Additional features to allow for a wide variety materials (IE enclosures, heaters, very high temp nozzles, novel feed mechanisms, etc)
8	Concurrent materials (-0.5 if the result is "fiddly", +1 if can mix materials)	Capable of only single material at a time without manual effort or external resources (common answer)	Capable of 2 materials (dual material)	Capable of up to 4 materials	Capable of multi-materialand material mixing
9	Unique features	No unique features (common answer)	Has unique features. Things like discrete coloration, routing, or something we haven't seen that advances the technology.
10	Speed	Unable to print without loss of detail if speed is not considerably dialed down. Prints take an unreasonable amount of time.	Prints take a reasonable amount of time, considering the model (common answer)	Faster than you'd expect
11	Hackability	Totally proprietary	One of the following: Built from common parts, designs and firmware are available, company embraces open source. (Default answer)	Two of the following: Built from common parts, designs and firmware are available, company embraces open source	Common parts, designs and firmware are available, company embraces open source
12	Accuracy	Inaccurate. Can't even print a circle.	A 20mm cube with a 10mm hole in the middle is within .1mm (default answer)	A 20mm cube with a 10mm hole in the middle is within .01mm	Can print legos studs that work.
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14	Ease of Use
15	Category	0	1	2	3
16	Assembly	Considerable Assembly Required	Simple Assembly Required (For instance, just a few bolts) (common answer)	No assembly Required (Simply unbox and use)
17	Room Presence (-0.5 for noisy, -0.5 for known safety issues)	Large, noisy, and requires special consideration	Large, noisy, or requires special consideration	Reasonable, not too noisy, but unobtrusive (common answer)	Small, quiet, and unobtrusive
18	First Time User Experience	Requires additional knowledge and/or materials not included "in the box" to provide a successful experinece.	Either it has all the equipment necessary or well laid out instructions but no mateiral for a successful experience.	Has all the equipment and well laid out instructions for a successful first time experience
19	User Interface	Confusing User Interface, many steps required to use every time. (IE Bare Marlin)	Streamlined User Interface. Perhaps many steps, but a clear path.	Takes advantage of technology to streamline the process considerably (For instance, Wifi file delivery or super simplified UI that just works.)
20	Common Tasks	Common tasks like changing material, hardware configuration (bed leveling, etc), or loading prints require a significant learning curve, written direction, and manual effort	Common tasks are partially automated, but still require some manual effort on your part	3D printer anticipates user action and reacts accordingly
21	Reliability	Requires significant human interaction to catch the frequent problems that arise	Some error catching and recovery or is built reliably so that errors don't occur. (common answer)	Prints reliably well and catches errors and recovers gracefully
22	OEM Support	Manufacturer is unresponsive, provides no information, and it is likely to break	1 of the following: Manufacturer is responsive, manufacturer provides good documentation, or it is well built and rarely requires repair (common answer)	2 of the following: Manufacturer is responsive, manufacturer provides good documentation, or it is well built and rarely requires repair	Manufacturer is responsive, provides good documentation, and it is well built and rarely requires repair
23	Community Support	No one else seems to be using this machine or is unable to help due to highly propriety design	Small, unresponsive community or a common deisgn that could recieve general help	Large, activbe community providing vast supprot resources
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