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Add to SafariWhen comparing Monoprice MP Select Mini vs Printrbot Play, the Slant community recommends Printrbot Play for most people. In the question“What is the best 3D printer for beginners?” Printrbot Play is ranked 1st while Monoprice MP Select Mini is ranked 2nd. The most important reason people chose Printrbot Play is:
The Printrbot Play is capable of creating prints of quality comparable to those made with more expensive, more professional printers. It delivers the 50 micron resolution perfectly, and defects are practically non-existent.
Specs
Question Ranking
Pros
Pro Very affordable
Not very long ago, to find a good printer with a retail price under $600 would be almost impossible. The fact that today we can find a printer like this, for this price and with such a good price-performance ratio, is remarkable.
Pro Good quality of the final prints (at low speed printing)
For a printer in this prince range, the final prints have very good quality. It's capable of printing models with resolutions as low as 100 microns (0.1mm) without any major issues. For well made models of 200 microns, the results are admirable, with no major issues during the printing process. However, it should be noted that printers in more expensive price ranges still offer a final result of much higher quality than the level offered here.
Pro It is delivered ready to start printing straight away
Unlike several other printers, that either come as DIY kits or as assembled printers that still need to be properly calibrated before printing models, this printer is shipped completely assembled and calibrated. While the assembly and calibration experience may be seen as a valuable learning experience for more experienced users, for those that are new to the 3D printing community, this can be a daunting and frustrating experience. The Monoprice Select Mini makes it possible to bypass this process without sacrificing affordability and quality, making it the perfect option for beginners.
Pro High quality prints
The Printrbot Play is capable of creating prints of quality comparable to those made with more expensive, more professional printers. It delivers the 50 micron resolution perfectly, and defects are practically non-existent.
Pro Sturdily built and reliable
This printer is built with strong materials and well-designed parts, creating a sturdy, strong, final product that's more rigid than many of the bigger printers currently on the market. This is important because it decreases the chance of problems created by mechanical failures and incorrect alignments that can appear after some use.
Pro It's easy and quick to set up and start
The Play is sold assembled and Printrbot provides comprehensive guides explaining the set-up process all the way up to the printing of a provided sample file. Follow the instructions and it's unlikely you'll have any issues.
Pro Harm-proof, therefore suitable for use by children
The Printrbot Play's printhead has a small cover that keeps the extruder hidden. As a printer that can be used by children, this design choice makes sure there are no accidents created by finger contact with hot, moving parts. It has the downside of also stopping us from seeing the object being printed, at least for the first few layers.
Cons
Con No learning experience from the assembly and calibration of the printer
The assembly and calibration of a 3D Printer that is sold in a DIY kit format is usually an accessible and enjoyable process, even for those that aren't specially tech-savy. It is also an important learning experience for those that are interested in getting into the Maker movement and will probably move to more high-end printers in the future. This printer eliminates this experience, since it's comes assembled and fully calibrated.
Con The specs are low-end
Even if the quality and results are good for the offered specs, the specs themselves are low-end, so if the user becomes more demanding with the models he wants to print (size, materials, etc.) he may run into problems. In short, the beginner that evolves quickly may soon "grow out" of the Monoprice MP Select.
Con Unreliable at high speed printing
The printed model's final quality gets considerably worse if the printing speed is increased. Several defects can appear and details can become garbled.
Con No learning experience from the assembly of the printer
The assembly of a 3D Printer that is sold in a DIY kit format is usually an accessible and enjoyable process, even for those that aren't specially tech-savy. It is also an important learning experience for those that are interested in getting into the Maker movement and will probably move to more high-end printers in the future. The Play eliminates this experience, since it's only sold assembled. When it was released, the consumer could choose if he wanted to get it assembled or as a kit, but the lack of demand for the kit format drove it out of the market.
Con Low maximum hothead temperature
The maximum temperature for the hothead is about 240ºC: this makes using the filaments made of plastics that require higher temperatures very complicated and getting a proper quality print with these materials is an impossible challenge.
Con No heated bed by default
A heated bed can be added to the Play with some tweaking, but this is a feature that it doesn't have by default. This means it's next to impossible (without the heated bed) to use ABS filaments here, which is unfortunate, since this a widely available filament material.
