The Da Vinci Jr 1.0 is the baby brother of the full sized 1.0 3D printer by the same company. As you could imagine, it’s much smaller and can produce much smaller prints. With that being said though, the price is decreased and it’s a perfect small size 3D printer for use at home or in the office. Does the small size hinder it’s performance in some way and is the price tag too good to be true? We’re digging deep to answer these questions in our review below.
Features of the Da Vinci Jr 1.0
One very important thing to realize about the Da Vinci Jr 1.0 is that it uses biodegradable PLA plastic. Whilst this is arguably a lot better for the environment, it’s not as well circulated as ABS or ABS/PLA mixes. For this reason, it’s a lot harder to get a good deals for PLA only filament for this 3D printer.
PLA is certainly going to become more popular in the future though, and this will help future proof this 3D printer. For the most part you can pick up this printer and use it with little to no calibration. You may need to adjust the Z axis slightly to ensure that everything is aligned – this is typically a one step process that only needs to be done to adjust to any changes that may have happened during shipping.
After this, you’re set up and ready to go. You are able to build objects up to 5.9” x 5.9” x 5.9” in volume – this is a portion smaller than the 7.8” x 7.8” x 7.8” of the full sized 1.0 by Da Vinci. However, for the price, you’re still able to print moderately sized objects with a high level of detail. In fact, this printer can print with a resolution of up to 400 microns.
- Uses biodegradable PLA plastic
- No calibration required
- Simple press-and-release extruder
- Build size of 5.9″ x 5.9″ x 5.9″
- Consumes just 75 watts of power
- Print resolution is 100-400 microns
Pros and Cons
For under $400, there really isn’t much else on the market that can rival it. There’s no denying that the price for this printer is absolutely unbeatable for the time being. You may be a little disappointed with the small print size but this makes for a much more compact printer design that can fit in most homes or offices easily.
For just $349, the results are also very spectacular. You can create prints on the Da Vinci Jr 1.0 with detail that rivals many $1,000 plus 3D printers. For the time being, the exclusive support for PLA filament mean that it’s a little less convenient than other printers, which most often use ABS or an ABS/PLA mix.
PLA is the environmental friendly option though, and there’s no doubt that more manufacturers will opt for PLA filament in the near future. This 3D printer also only outputs 75 watts of power and it even features auto filling features to make usage slightly more convenient.
What is the Da Vinci Jr 1.0 Good for?
If you’re on a tight budget but are willing to pick up a 3D printer at the very low end of things then this printer will be perfect for you. It’s a budget design that produces reasonable results and can fit comfortable in most home or office environments.