FlashForge Finder 3D Printers with Cloud, Wi-Fi, USB cable and Flash drive connectivity

I bought this printer as a backup/experiment printer to my Creator Pro, plus I figured I could use those 1KG PLA spools piling up against the wall. So I unpacked the printer, loaded the spool that came with it, noting it seemed smaller than usual, but passed it off as just not paying attention or something.. Followed the instructions, found a test print (the 2cm box) after going through the level process, which is the easiest in the business I've experienced so far. The test went perfectly, my next print went off without a hitch, and it's so quiet too! After using the Creator Pro for so long (it's not a subtle printer), I can't even tell if the Finder is printing, all I can hear is the cooling fans, it's great. No problems with prints not sticking, they even include a gluestick (a well known easy way to get that first layer to stick if you are having sticking problems with a non heated build plate), and the easily removable build plate is a fantastic idea I wish more printers had built in.So it is almost the perfect beginner printer. The touch panel works great, as a relative beginner myself in some aspects of 3D printing, it's easy to navigate and know what state your printer is in, and the graphics of the print themselves next to the file name is really cool. The operation of this printer has been virtually flawless.My issue. I know there are workarounds. The requirement of 6KG spools is really tough. I would have no problem purchasing them.. but they are not available.. anywhere. I think I've found a spool or 2 around the internet but this being a new model, you'd think there would be a supply.. or better yet, knowing the standard spool is 1KG, built the new model to accommodate the standard spool? It was frustrating when I found out, having a large supply of good quality PLA filament, I was not able to use that supply out of the box. There was nothing in the description, or sales blurb about needing 6KG spools to fit the filament chamber, or that 1KG spools will not work with this printer out of the box.Some may say this is a mountain out of a mole hill, you can even print the parts you need to work with 1KG spools.. but that should have been advertised with the printer, or some clip on parts included to make it a non issue. It said it came with a small spool, but nothing about "you will need special spools of filament to run this printer". So what would have been an easy 5 star review from me, has been knocked to 3. I don't think I should have to add/make parts not available in the box, to enable my printer to work with standard supplies.Otherwise, this is an amazing printer so far. I haven't tried anything really detailed with it yet, but it has been easier and quicker to get up and working consistently than the Creator Pro, but the CP is made for the more advanced enthusiasts that love to tinker and work with all the settings, it takes some finesse to get prints to work, but the ones that do look amazing, and it's an incredibly versatile machine. Having it as my first printer was probably a leap, but I've learned and am still learning as I go between the community and CS (which is good). Both have been more than helpful working through problems with me.Now that I have bought an entry level machine, it's so cool to compare. Apart from the versatility of the Pro, the Finder prints just as well (in my experience so far, to be clear) as machines much more expensive than it is, especially after the price drop, and also catching it on sale :-) It was money well spent, for the decibel change alone.. ;-) lol. I'm just amazed with the look of the design, the quality of the prints, and several small details other printers just don't have that make the process just that much easier.The required filament spools that are unable to be found, even on the manufacturer's website, is a huge issue to me design-wise. Amazon even pairs the printer with a 1KG spool in their little "buy this together" deal lol, that's just wrong.. I'm in the process of printing parts from the internet that are supposed to enable me to use the larger spools, I will update after I've completed the aftermarket modification to let you know how it goes.EDIT: I have since written to FlashForge about the spool issue, and after discussing with the rep, and so many clean prints since opening and beginning use of the printer, the frustration I initially experienced has passed for the most part. I still see it as a poor design decision, but the ease at which it can be bypassed or fixed sort of makes it a non issue. You can just set the 1kg spool on the ground next to the printer and it'll unwind around the rim, you can use the bottom of a kitchen paper roll holder to sit the spool on and it will spin as needed, or there are more elegant solutions that the community have come up with.. some have designed their own solutions that connect to the printer that you can print yourself. So you can print the part(s) that will fix the problem with the printer.. both a testament to the community, and to the idea of home 3D printing in general. It really is a fantastic printer that spits out perfect print after perfect print. Worthy of the seasoned pro but aimed at the plug and play beginner.The availability of the 0.6kg spools is not as bad as I first thought, they do have a selection of 8 colors on their website, even if the shipping is a bit hefty ;-) The alternative of finding a way to use the standard 1kg spool is much easier and practical, after all, we bought these printers to make useful things.tl;dr - this is the single extruder, small form 3D printer you've been looking for

I wanted to wait at least a couple of weeks before reviewing this. Now that I have gone through one full spool of PLA, and started a second, I feel that I have enough to work with.So far I've been very impressed with this machine. The setup was very easy. There were only two slight setbacks. First, I'm not sure exactly what happened, but the first time I tried to print the extruder head went all the way down and burned through the blue build surface that came with it (so I never got to use that to see how it worked) and created a little puddle of PLA between the glass plate and the surface which effectively destroyed the middle to the surface. The glass was fine though, so I removed the blue surface and put down some Build Tak and it's worked great since. The second issue was I kept getting a problem with the filament sensor, which would cancel printing almost immediately. I found in the settings where I could turn that off and, no more problems. Really that was it.From that point on I've been printing like crazy. I've tried the Medium, High, and Highest print qualities, and really I can only barely tell the difference. However, having said that the Medium or standard (whatever it's called) does a very nice job with lines being only barely noticeable. However you would still want to smooth before painting if you plan to do any weathering, as lines are still there.The PLA that came with it is a translucent, almost iridescent purple (I think the PLA color and maybe type you get is random) and I've had a lot of comments on how great the prints look just raw, compared with normal colors.Overall very satisfied. For the price point I really can't complain. The build dimensions are smaller than most, but honestly I knew that going in, and it hasn't been a problem yet.The instructions are Ok. But this is my first real experience printing, and I've been able to get through just fine.The company's software for it seems pretty good also. The only issue I've run into is I've had no success with the tree-like supports. So I just stick to the normal straight ones. The only prints that I've had to abort (2 so far) were because of supports failing. However, it does remarkably well even without them in many cases where things just slope up.5/22/16 Edit: Was supposed to be 'no more problems' after I turned off the filament sensor. Sorry for the typo.One more thing I found out, the on-board filament holder doesn't work with most brands of PLA spools (they're too big. Maybe just works for Flashforge branded ones?). Anyway, not a problem really, I just use a spool holder that I've placed on a shelf above and behind the machine and works great, and it's a lot easier to see how much you have left on the spool anyway.7/23/16 Update: Good customer service.So this thing is still printing like a champ. If anything it's printing better than it was originally, but that could also have something to do with more experience.What I wanted to add was one day when I started a print I heard this snap-crunch sound. After I aborted the print job I noticed the tip of the auto leveling sensor was hanging down at an odd angle. My guess is it collided with the side of the print tray, possibly the part that sticks up higher, over the logo on the front of the tray. I contacted the manufacturer by email, and after verifying some information a new sensor was delivered to me by mail within a few days (less than a week I think). It took a little bit if tinkering to figure out how to remove the plastic cover of the extruder carriage (as I could find not instructions), but it wasn't too hard, and just a matter of unplugging/unscrewing the old one and putting the new one in. I really thought I was going to have to go back to old school manual leveling (which I can do, but don't particularly enjoy doing). I also took my dremel to the edge of the build plate that sticks up above the logo, and sanded it down to the same height as the rest of the plastic around the build plate, just in case.Still very pleased, and I get a lot of compliments on the print quality compared to others my friends are familiar with.Update June 2017: So after a year-ish it's still working great. Had to replace the extruder head once, but that was do to operator error (long story). Was able to do that, and it still works. It's worked great with every PLA filament I've put through it, and even the polysmooth. I've really had not problems beyond those I've mentioned here. And compared to what I've seen with other printers, that's not too shabby.