Also available is the junior version, which is smaller and less expensive.

Another reliable budget choice is the Winix 5500-2 — this inexpensive filter is designed for odor removal.

Most air purifiers are designed to remove particles like dust, pollen, and pet dander from your home. However, the technology that makes for a good allergy machine is not similar to what you’ll need to remove odor.

Odors are gas molecules smaller than 0.3 microns, and many are as small as 0.001 microns. This means that particle filters (HEPA filters) will not trap the gas molecules because they are too small.

So basically, almost all the air filters on the market will remove little or no odor from the air.

These are the products that eliminate odors:

• An air filter that contains a lot of activated carbon, which is very good at adsorbing odors
• An air filter with zeolite, which is a natural mineral that is very good at adsorbing things
• For very problematic odors, you can use an ozone generator — ozone is active oxygen that breaks up odors quickly — but ozone is dangerous to inhale — so this generator should only be used in vacant homes when necessary

Other filtration methods work more gradually:

• You can put bowls or satchels of activated carbon, zeolite, or binchotan in a room — these raw materials will slowly absorb odors over time
• You can grow indoor plants in a room — they will clean the air gradually — see the book How To Grow Fresh Air for more information

But, if you want to remove odors quickly, these are my filter recommendations:

The Most Effective Odor Filter: Healthmate HM-400

I recommend the Healthmate HM-400 as the most effective filter for removing indoor odors. This filter uses 15 pounds of activated carbon and zeolite to remove odors and gases. It also includes another HEPA filter certified to remove 99.97% of all particles in the air over 0.3 microns.

Many filters remove particles from the air but are ineffective at odor removal. The Healthmate HM-400 is designed to remove odors, chemicals, and gases from the air. It incorporates 15 pounds of activated carbon and zeolite into the filter media. The sheer size of this material allows this filter to remove odors from the air quickly.

The Healthmate is also one of the cheapest to run in the long term because the replaceable filter is designed to last five years (most air filters require annual filter media replacement).

These filters are made in Buffalo, New York, and come with a 5-year mechanical warranty.

I’ve tested the Healthmate HM-400 in my home using a TES Air Quality monitor. This monitor measures VOCs or “Volatile Organic Compounds”. Put simply — VOCs are all the odor-producing chemicals suspended in the air. In my few informal tests, I found that the Healthmate could remove all traces of smoke odors from a room in about 45 minutes. I will be conducting further tests in the coming months.

The Best Budget Air Filter For Odors

If you need a budget air filter, consider these reliable filters that you can find for under $300:

• Winix 5500-2 Air Purifier: this filter contains carbon granules for odor removal and also produces ions for odor reduction — Winix is a reliable filter brand that has been in business since 1973 — the filter costs about $180
• Winix NK105: A WiFi-enabled filter from Winix that also contains a carbon-filter element — costs about $220

Best For Removing Embedded Odors

If you need to remove stubborn odors such as deeply embedded cigarette odors, I recommend using an Ozone Generator. These generators produce ozone gas which permeates everything in a room and effectively eliminates any odors present.

These devices sell for about $70. Important note — an ozone generator should not be used as a general air filter. Ozone will damage your lungs. They should only be used for odor “emergencies” and when a house is vacant.

Link: Ozone Generator

The post Three Air Filters That Remove Odors In The Home appeared first on Reactual.

• For well water or other problematic water, I recommend Big Berkey drip filters. These filters use a combination of ceramic and carbon block filtration. Overall, they are the least expensive type of filters to maintain.
• If you are only interest in a pitcher filter — this BWT filter will remove most contaminants
• If you are able to spend $1500 to $3000, “whole house” filters are the an inexpensive long terms option. These filters are installed at the pipe where the municipal water pipes enters your home. I recommend the whole house filter by Pure Effect.

The Contaminants You Want To Remove

Typically, you want to remove these contaminants from your water:

• Toxic metals (Lead, Mercury, Aluminium, Cadmium, Chromium, Copper, etc.)
• Additives (Chlorine, Chloramines, Fluoride)
• Chlorination By-Products (Trihalomethanes or THMs)
• VOCs and other Organic Compounds (Pesticides, Herbicides, Pharmaceuticals, Fuels)
• Bacteria and viruses (Giardia, Cryptosporidium, etc.)
• Radioactive substances (Radon and Uranium, etc.)

If you use municipal water, you will usually find these contaminants:

• Chlorine
• Chloramines
• Fluoride
• THMs (Trihalomethanes)
• VOCs (volatile organic compounds)

If you use well water, these are the most common contaminants you’ll find:

• Particulate matter (dirt, bits of leaves, etc.)
• Bacteria and viruses
• VOCs (volatile organic compounds)
• Radioactive substances

The Effectiveness Of Different Types Of Water Filters

Pitcher Filters

Pitcher-style filters such as Brita filters are inexpensive units, making them very popular with consumers. However, in the long term, they are actually one of the most expensive option. The filters cartridges require frequent replacement — the cost for 40 gallons is $7-10 each, or $130-$190 for 750 gallons.

Almost all pitcher-style filters use GAC or “granulated activated carbon” as the filtration medium. Typically, GAC is coconut husks that have been heated to a high temperature in the absence of oxygen and then granulated. These filters do remove some chlorine and hydrogen sulfide (rotten eggs odor) — but are not effective at removing VOCs, metals, pesticides or fluoride. Overall, they are not very effective water filters.

Faucet Filters

Filters that attach to your kitchen faucet are very similar to Pitcher Filters, but they do filter a little better than the pitcher-style filters. However, they have the same drawbacks — they are expensive to maintain and they do not remove many contaminants. You must replace filters every 100 gallons at $20-$40 each or $140-$180 for 700 gallons.

Colin Ingram, author of the The Drinking Water Book rates all faucet filters no higher than “Acceptable”.

Gravity-Fed Drip Filters

In my opinion, the best water filters are gravity-fed drip water filters. These filters are excellent at removing chlorine, chlorination by-products, fluoride, VOCs, pesticides, particulates and pharmaceuticals. These filters use “candle” type filters, which are widely available and can be customized to your specific filtration needs.

Gravity-fed filters require no electricity to operate — water is filtered as it drips from the upper chamber to the lower chamber. Because the water is filtered slowly, the filtration is much more effective than a faucet-mounted filter. Generally, slow filtration methods tend to be best.

Berkey is best-known drip filter manufacturer. They make good quality filters. You might also consider ProPur filters. Their latest filter, the ProOne G 2.0, will remove fluoride — including hydrofluorosilicic acid (few filters remove this contaminant).

These filters use carbon block filtration, which works by the process of adsorption (different than absorption). In this process, the carbon attracts certain contaminants at the molecular level, and the contaminants become attached to the surface of the carbon. Once the surface of the carbon is full, the filter must be thrown out and replaced. However, the ProPur filters can be periodically scrubbed, and thus reused for years.

These filter are certified to NSF/ANSI standards #42 (test for chlorine, taste, odor and particulates), NSF Standard #53 (tests for Cryptosporidium, Giardia, lead, VOCs and MTBE) and NSF Standard #61 (tests that toxins aren’t leached into water). They are manufactured in England.

Berkey filter are available from Amazon for about $300.

Overall Rating: Excellent

Reverse Osmosis Filters

Reverse Osmosis filters use a membrane which removes many contaminants from water. They are usually paired with a Granulated Activated Charcoal filter to remove chlorine. Most reverse osmosis filters are installed under the sink and have a holding tank. The semipermeable membrane separates many contaminates (which usually have a larger particle size that water) from the water and rejects a large amount of water in the process. The result is a waste of several gallons of water for every gallon filtered and many naturally occurring minerals (including calcium and magnesium) are also removed from the water.

However, they are quite effective filters, in terms of removing contaminants. However, they do not reduce VOCs or pesticides (unless a Carbon Block filter is included). They can take up to an hour to filter one gallon of water and the filters need to be replaced regularly.

If you want to go this route, I recommend the iSpring Reverse Osmosis System, which is quite reliable.

Overall Rating: Very Good

Countertop Distillers

Countertop distillers are effective water purifiers, but they take some time to distill water (for example 5 hours to distill 1 gallon). They also require electricity to run, and they give off some heat and the integrated fans make some noise. Also, most distillers do not remove VOCs (like benzene) because they have a lower boiling point that water. So they will vaporize together with the stream, resulting in a contaminated distillate.

Countertop distiller that get a rating of “Excellent” from Colin Ingram in the The Drinking Water Book are: Megahome Countertop Distiller, Waterwise 4000 and Waterwise 8800, Kenmore 34480 and Pure Water Mini-Classic.

Megahome Countertop Water Distiller

This distiller is sold under many brand names — it’s the most widely distributed distiller in the world. It has many quality components despite being inexpensive. It produces 1 gallon of water in 5 hours. The water is passed through a small granular carbon filter. There’s a sealed connections from the distiller to the water collection container, so there is minimal risk of contamination by air. The unit has a stainless steel boiling chamber that is easily accessible for cleaning.

The Megahome Countertop Distiller is available from Amazon for about $150.

Waterwise 4000 Countertop Distiller

This is a more powerful version of the distiller listed above. It has the same features but produces 1 gallon of distilled water in 4 hours. Also received an “Excellent” rating from Colin Ingram in the The Drinking Water Book.

The Waterwise 4000 is available from Amazon for about $320.

Overall Rating: Excellent

The post The Best Water Filters appeared first on Reactual.

• The best pair of binoculars is the Carl Zeiss Victory HT Binoculars. They are the brightest binoculars available, and sport a robust and ergonomic design. There is no better option for bird watchers and hunters.
• Nikon Monarch 5 offers a much more affordable yet comparable quality pair of binoculars.
• The best pair of compact binoculars for hikers and everyday use are Bushnell Legend Ultra HD.

The Details

Stellar improvement in binocular technology has leveled the optical playing field. Specialty brands such as Swarvorski and Zeiss still have an edge over their lower priced competitors, but the gap has narrowed enough that you can comfortably purchase a mid-range option without losing much in the way of clarity, color, durability, and ergonomic design.

There are a few important considerations to weigh when picking out a pair of binoculars, and what option is best for you depends on whether you will be gazing at stars or birds.

The optical specification of a pair of binoculars is represented by a number that looks like a basic multiplication equation. 8×42 and 10×42 are the standard binocular specifications, and are the numbers that are best for general purpose use.The first number, which is invariably the smaller of the two, refers to the magnification power of the binoculars. It represents how many times larger the object will appear through the lens than it would to the naked eye.

The second number is the objective lens diameter, which is the larger piece of glass at the front of the binoculars. Objective lens diameter determines how much light is let in. The larger the lens diameter, the more light is let in. Photographers can think of it like aperture on a camera lens. A larger lens also means the binoculars will be heavier, which might compromise how long you are able to hold them steady. Increasing upper arm strength is a great solution to this problem, and will allow you to hold a pair of binoculars for longer while enjoying more light.

Field of View

The field of view is determined by the size of the eye piece and represented in degrees. Therefore, a 7.0 degree field of view would be 7 out of a 360 degree circle.  Wide angle are 7 or more degrees, while standard binoculars are around 5 degrees.

As magnification goes up, the field of view goes down. Birders will sacrifice some field of view for increased magnification. If you want to take in scenic panoramas, opt for a wide angle lens.

Other Factors To Consider

Get a pair of binoculars with a long eye relief if you wear glasses. Eye relief is the vertical distance to which your eye is supposed to sit, and is measured in millimeters. 13-15mm is considered a long eye relief, and the minimum a bespectacled individual would want to comfortably use the binoculars.

Reactual readers will also want to take note of the lens coating. The objective lens will be protected by an anti-reflective coating to minimize glare when light hits the surface. Fully multi-coated lenses are the best for performance and durability, as they enhance clarity, maintain integrity of color, and protect the lens from scratch and other damage.

We also highly recommend you choose a pair of binoculars that is waterproof or, at the very least, water-resistant. Even if you don’t plan to use your binoculars by water, fog and moisture in the air could potentially damage your pair.

Zeiss Victory HT: The Best Binoculars For Hunters and Birders

If you have the money to spare, there is no better pair of binoculars available than Zeiss Victory HT. The manufacturer is a specialty optics company with more than 200 years of binocular manufacturing expertise, and the Victory HT are engineered with precision to deliver the brightest color and most ergonomic design of any pair of binoculars. Released in 2012, Victory HT are made in Germany with the best products and most advanced technology.

They are the brightest premium binoculars in the world. They are the highest contrast and deliver more than 95% light transmission, 5% higher than other premium binoculars on the market. This jump is thanks to the new Schott High Transmission glass, which is exclusive to Zeiss. Schott has been developing special optical glass for more than 125 years, and their HT glass has the highest transmittance levels of any optical lens. This cuts down on a phenomenon known as “thermal lensing effect” and increases blue spectral range, which is particularly helpful in low-light situations.

Hunters and birdwatchers benefit most from the extra color in low light situations, as the HT glass makes the most of deep twilight. The lenses are protected by anti-fogging material which keeps them clear in the early morning cold. The extra color is still noticeable in general daytime use, but the difference is not as drastic as in dim or low-light viewing. If you plan to use your binoculars in daytime, the extra price tag is probably not worth the incremental improvement in color crispness.

The ingenious design of the Zeiss Victory HT sets it apart from competitors. It has a compact bridge and a large easy-to-use focus wheel. The comfort grip system allows you to grasp both optical tubes without a hinge in front of binoculars, and a long eye relief provides a comfortable viewing experience for those with and without glasses. It also has a double hinge feature which increases durability by minimizing the chance of breaking and a robust chassis that is made from lightweight magnesium.

The biggest drawback of the Zeiss Victory HT is obviously the price. Some commenters noted that other premium priced binoculars come with better kit (case, cleaning cloth). The lifetime warranty and 5 year no fault policy do provide some peace of mind for dropping so much on a pair of binoculars.

Zeiss also offers the Victory HT in 10×42, which gives you stronger magnification at the expense of a few degrees in field of view. Another option is the 10×54 version of the Victory HT, which Zeiss launched in 2014. Much lighter than other models with such a large objective lens diameter, this option is great for stargazers and deer hunters who need to make the most of nearly non-existent light.

Another Option For Bird Watching: Nikon Monarch 5

If you are willing to sacrifice color quality, Nikon’s Monarch 5 Series offers near identical image quality for a fraction of the price. It is a mid-level binocular with multi-coated Nikon ED (extra-low dispersion) lens that delivers sharp, high-contrast views. The ED Glass lenses and Dielectric High-Reflective Multilayer Prism Coating were previously reserved for Nikon’s more expensive models, but are available in the Monarch 5 series.

They have a 6.4 degree field of view, and maintain image sharpness outside of a 5 degree diameter up to 80%.

The exceptional design of Monarch 5 is durable and intuitive. It is very light, though not as light as Zeiss (21 oz versus 16 oz). The focus knobs are precise and smooth, very easy to adjust and find the best clarity. We appreciate the fully waterproofed rubber armored fog proof housing, which make this a durable and comfortable pair of binoculars to hold.

One complaint Monarch 5 owners have is that the lens cap is loose fitting, which leads to many lost caps. Nikon assures that this was an intentional design choice, but it nonetheless leads to problems.

 Best Compact Binoculars For Everyday Use: Bushnell Legend Ultra HD

Compact binoculars are lightweight and portable, perfect for hiking and general use while travelling. Any pair with an objective lens diameter smaller than 30mm is considered to be compact.

Bushnell Legend Ultra HD offers stunning HD image, thanks to ED Prime Glass. They are coated with anti-reflective lens and are secured in a lightweight magnesium chassis that is waterproof and fogproof. 

The post The Best Binoculars appeared first on Reactual.

The best mouse pad is the Artisan Hien mouse pad. This Japanese-made pad has a unique woven surface that allows for very precise mouse movement.

The Details

The mouse pad enthusiasts over at Reddit say that Artisan mouse pads are the best you can buy. What gives these mouse pads their edge is their woven surface. It’s a special polyester which provides a very precise reaction to mouse movements — useful for everyday computing or during game action. The fabric also resists dirt and moisture, and there is a non-slip material on the bottom of the mouse.

Artisan mouse pads come in four different level of friction. Here’s Artisan’s humorously translated description of these levels:

HARD: It is near the taste made of the plastic. However, it is not too hard like plastic.

MID: It is not soft. However, it is not hard. Light gliding and the stopping are good balances.

SOFT: Soft more than usual cloth pad. It stops in sharp. Stopping with rigidity feeling.

XSOFT: It is considerably soft. This flexibility provide the stopping performance on the surface.

Typically, the Soft or Mid levels are good for everyday mousing.

The Artisan Hien mouse pad is available from Amazon for about $20.

The post The Best Mouse Pad appeared first on Reactual.

The best portable water filters available today are:

• The Sawyer Products Complete 4-Liter Filtration System. Filters down to 0.1 microns. This includes almost all pathogens, except certain viruses. It costs about $180.
• The Katadyn Pocket Water Microfilter. Filters down to 0.2 microns. It costs about $340.

Another reliable method of killing all pathogens in water is using chlorine dioxide tablets, such as Katadyn Micropur Purification Tablets.

The Details

Portable filters are designed primarily to remove pathogens from outdoor water. Some units also include carbon filters to reduce VOCs and toxic metals in the water.

These are the three type of pathogens you want to remove from wilderness water:

Protozoan Cysts (Cryptosporidium parvum, Giardia lamblia)

Size: 1 – 20 microns

Type of filtration needed to remove: Micro-filtration, ozonation or reverse osmosis, UV (ultraviolet light)

Bacteria (E. coli, Salmonella, Campylobacter jejuni, Yersinia entercolitica, Leptospira interrogans, etc.)

Size: 0.1 – 10 microns

Type of filtration needed to remove: Micro-filtration needed, ozonation or reverse osmosis, UV (ultraviolet light)

Viruses (hepatitis A, rotavirus, enterovirus, norovirus, Norwalk virus)

Size: 0.025 – 0.1 microns (25 nanometers to 100 nanometers)

Type of filtration needed to remove: Ultra-filtration needed – ozonation or reverse osmosis, UV (ultraviolet light)

Notes On Pathogens

• Pesticides, herbicides and other toxins and pollutants associated with agriculture and urban development do not normally impact water sources found deep in wilderness areas
• Viruses are rarely encountered in North American wilderness waters
• Bacteria (including beneficial bacteria) is naturally present in surface water
• Protozoan cysts and viruses are found in water contaminated by animal or human waste (principally feces)

The Best Portable Water Filter: Katadyn Pocket Water Microfilter

The Katadyn is a dependable filter which has been used by back country hikers for many years. The filtration member is rated at 0.2 microns.  The silver-impregnated ceramic element is effective against bacteria and protozoa, and it will filter 50,000 liters (13,000 gallons) before a replacement is needed.

The Katadyn Pocket Water Microfilter is available from Amazon for about $340.

Another Alternative: Sawyer Products Complete 4-Liter Filtration System

The Sawyer Filtration System is an excellent kit, that filters down to 0.02 microns, using a hollow fiber membrane. That’s almost on par with the Lifesaver, with it’s 0.015 micron filtration. Thus, the Sawyer can filter out most pathogen, including viruses.

What’s great about this system is that it almost never needs a replacement filter. The manufacturer has a guarantee that it will filter one million gallons before replacement. However, long-time users report the water reservoir bags need replacing after a couple of years.

The Sawyer System is gravity-fed, and allows you to purify 4 liters of water in about 10 minutes.

The Sawyer Products Complete 4-Liter Filtration System is available from Amazon for about $180.

Chlorine Dioxide Tablets

Chlorine dioxide tablets are a good choice for water purification. They will destroy all pathogen in water. Also, they leave no taste in the water (unlike iodine tablets). Like all water treatment tablets, these take 15 minutes to destroy viruses and bacteria, 30 minutes to destroy Giardia, and 4 hours to destroy Cryptosporidium.

I recommend the Katadyn Micropur MP1 Purification Tablets. This is only tablets registered with the EPA.

Boiling Water

You can boil water for one minute to destroy all pathogens. It is a foolproof treatment method. Only one minute of boiling is required. The most heat-resistant pathogen out there is the virus hepatitis A. Even hepatitis is believed to die in less than one minute in water heated to 98°C/208°F. It is because of hepatitis A (or maybe just tradition) that some health organizations and wilderness rangers persist in recommending at least 1 minute of boiling time to purify water, and 3 minutes at higher elevations.

The post The Best Portable Water Filters appeared first on Reactual.

Fluoride is fairly difficult to remove from water. The filters produced by Brita and Pur use activated carbon for filtration. They do not remove any fluoride.

These filtration methods are recommended by the EPA (United States Environmental Protection Agency) and the WQA (Water Quality Association):

• Bone Char Filtration
• Ion-Matrix Filtration
• Activated Alumina Filtration
• Reverse Osmosis Filtration
• Distillation

Here is the document (PDF file) that states the WQA (Water Quality Association) recommendations.

Pitcher Filters

This US-made Aquagear filter is said to certified by ISO 17025 accredited labs tests to remove 90% of fluoride in water. However, I have not tested this claim so I cannot fully recommend it.

Distilllers

Distillation is capable of removing just about anything (except volatile compounds) from water. If you have a distiller, you can use it to remove fluoride. However, distillation takes time and lost of electricity, and makes water taste flat and lifeless.

My recommended distiller: the Megahome Distiller, which costs about $200.

Reverse Osmosis Filters

Reverse osmosis relies on pressure and a semi-permeable membrane to remove contaminants from water. It can remove around 90% fluoride in your water. Contaminants are trapped by the membrane and flushed away in the waste water. The process requires between 2 and 4 gallons of water to produce 1 gallon of clean water.

Like distillation, reverse osmosis removes almost everything from water, and makes the water taste flat.

My recommended filter is the iSpring 75GPD 5-Stage Filter, which costs about $170, plus any installation costs.

Why Remove Fluoride From Your Water?

Fluoride is a toxic substance. It is used in pesticides and rodenticides. The FDA now requires that all fluoride toothpaste sold in the U.S. carry a poison warning that instructs users to contact the poison control center if they swallow it. Excessive fluoride exposure is well known to cause skeletal fluorosis (a painful bone disease) and dental fluorosis (discolored teeth). Excessive fluoride exposure has also been linked to a range of other chronic ailments including arthritis, bone fragility, glucose intolerance, gastrointestinal distress and thyroid disease.

Since 2010, over 70 communities have rejected the water fluoridation, including cities like Calgary, Alberta and Albuquerque, New Mexico. Most developed nations have rejected fluoridation, including 97% of western Europe. According to the British Fluoridation Society, there are more people drinking artificially fluoridated water in the United States than all other countries combined.

You also absorb fluoride when showering and bathing. Unfortunately, there are no shower filters that will remove fluoride. However, you can install a whole house filter. I recommend Pure Effect Whole House Filters. Another option is to capture rainwater and use it instead of municipal water — see the book Rainwater Collection For the Mechanically Challenged for more information.

The post The Best Water Filters For Removing Fluoride appeared first on Reactual.

The Details

3D printing has been around since the 1980’s, but the prohibitive price and size of most units kept them out of consumer hands. Over the past decade, 3D printer manufacturers have made a concentrated push to get the devices into consumer hands. Predictably, a flood of cheaply produced models that deliver low quality prints hit the market. These lower-end models aren’t capable of much more than churning out the odd novelty. Luckily, a few professional grade desktop 3D printers are now available at a fraction of the cost of larger industrial units. I’ve detailed the two best to come out in 2016.

Best Overall Desktop 3D Printer: Formlabs Form 2

Formlabs got its start at MIT back in 2011. Since then they’ve graduated to become one of the most innovative companies in the 3D industry. In 2014 they released the Form 1+ SLA Printer. It delivered professional-level printing at a price that small businesses and private consumers could actually afford. This year Formlabs improved on the success of their first effort with the release of the Form 2 3D Stereo Lithography printer.

Stereo lithography differs from most desktop 3D printers, which use ABS or PLA thermoplastics fed from a spool into a heated nozzle then set to cool. Stereo lithography employs a laser to harden resin distributed from a vat. It builds up one layer at a time and solidifies the resin on contact with the laser. 

The process is much slower than using the filament spools. It takes the Form 2 12 seconds per layer, which means you might have to wait 20 hours for your product to finish. But the longer time is well worth the wait, especially if you are producing detailed medical equipment. Once your project is done, it needs to be finished in alcohol. Formlabs included an isopropyl alcohol finishing kit with the printer, but be warned that the finishing process should take place in a well ventilated area.

Let’s get into the details. The Form 2 can print 5.7 x 5.7 x 6.9 inches. That’s larger than most desktop printers, but still smaller than industrial competitors. But the real draw is the 25 micron layer thickness, 4x more fine than the latest Makerbot replica. The detail is precise and stunning.

This time around the resin and print area are removable. Each resin tank goes through about 2L of printing before they have to be replaced. The process is simple, and you can switch between types of resin with ease. Each cartridge is quite pricey compared to ABS and PLA- between $150 and $300.

Another big upgrade is a level sensor that guarantees you are printing on a level surface. To level the printer, you have to manually adjust four leveling legs underneath. It also comes with a leveling tool to help in this process. The Form 2 has a touchscreen, and supports Wi-Fi and USB, setting it apart from most desktop 3D printers. Formlabs continues to release firmware and software upgrades to improve the process.

So is the extra money worth the price? Depends on your needs. Professional artists, architects, and doctors benefit the most from the added precision. If you are a hobbyist or new to 3D printing, you can probably stick to ABS for now.

Best Filament Printer: Lulzbot TAZ 6

Colorado-based AlephObjects delivers quality 3D printing with an opensource ethos in the TAZ 6, the latest gen model of  its flagship printer line. The TAZ 6 is a rugged fused filament fabrication 3D printer that looks and operates like something you’d see in an engineer’s warehouse. It doesn’t have the futuristic aesthetic of other consumer-oriented 3D printers. This is a printer that is built with quality parts and the clear intention to last. And it’s all the better for it.

The TAZ 6 printer focuses on reliability and quality over speed. This is a large unit with a 12 inch bed that prints objects up to 250 mm tall. The frame is a combination of aluminum with metal brackets and plastic parts parts printed at AlephObject’s massive print farm. The Z-axis is a giant spindle, while the X and Y axis use 2mm pitch belts. The TAZ 6 uses 3mm filament which comes out of hexagonal hot end on a 0.5mm nozzle. It has an LCD screen and SD card reader hooked up to the company’s RAMBo motherboard. The power supply and computer are cooled off by fans, and every wire is crimped and grounded. These extra touches show that AlephObjects care about the electronic components on this unit and have put in the effort to make them

One of the best features is that the TAZ 6 comes nearly ready to use right out of the box. Just fasten the extruder on with a single screw and then attach the surface and you are up and running within 15 minutes. Another plus is the auto-leveling feature which uses the washers at the four corners of the to establish a level surface before each and every print. It also has a reliable auto-cleaning feature that cleans the print head after every use.

The weakest part of the TAZ 6 is the glass bed, which has heated silicone underneath. The heat tends to dissipate away from the center, making it harder to pry the finished product off if its near the edges and achieve a smooth bottom. Other than that the prints are very high quality for a FFF 3D printer, and you can decide between “fast” “strong” and “high detail” profiles.

Finally, AlephObjects prides itself on its opensource policy. The company uses freely licensed designs, specifications, and documentation to make sure your software is never obsolete and you have access to free designs.

The post The Best Consumer Desktop 3D Printers of 2016 appeared first on Reactual.

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