Well Steve, these questions are akin to "what is the meaning of life?" (Only teasing)
It is important to step back and understand what the state-of-the-art of "Personal Manufacturing" is: very early. It reminds me of Microcomputers circa 1978 (yes I am an aging Nerd). It is not close to plug and play and is very geeky But the pace of advancement is breathtaking. A lot is happening fast. It's the pioneering aspect of the space that is so attractive to most of the early adopters - we enjoy the journey as much as the reward.
In order to answer your questions it is important to know what kind of person you are:
Know how to code?
Hardware hacker (Arduino, robotics, mechanics)?
3D Modeler?
Designer?
None of the above I just want to make stuff.
Along with this - Budget is the biggest consideration. It's not only an issue of how much you are willing to spend but will you accept that whatever you buy will be quickly outmoded, even faster than Apple does with iPhone every year.
The world of 3D printing today is populated by just as many people who want to create new 3D printing technology as those who just want to make things. So it is a world driven by engineering brains at the moment. Usability and stability are not key market factors. But that must change if this technology is to ever get more mainstream.
What sites should you read? There are many many and more pop up every week.
3Der is a clearing house of other sites and does a good job of compiling lists of all types.
Thingiverse is the go-to spot for models and a very vibrant community. The community page on
Makerbot site is very informative.
B3dge has a great Twitter feed and there is a good 3D curation on
Scoop.it. And every system has their own group on Google like this one. Also if you want to dive in and just try - go to
TinkerCad make a model and you can ship it off to be printed by a service.
On the question of software, Pronterface etc. Up to this point the workflow associated with creating and printing objects has been a real achilles heel. Traditionally you have had to create a model with some 3D program (none of which are really optimized to 3D printing yet). Export the file in .stl format and hope it doesn't have holes or other imperfections that prevent it from printing. "Fixer" programs like NetFab help to properly "manifold" the model. Then it needs to be sliced into the layers that will be printed with a program like Skeinforge or Slic3r. These will need to be configured for your specific printer. They turn your geometry into the GCode file which will tell your printer what to do. this is where the quality of the print will be determined. Finally you can then start printing. I know this sounds awful but fortunately this mess is rapidly disappearing. Makerbot's Replicator G has come a long way toward simplifying the process. I have also been impressed with my recent experience with Repetier. Very soon we will see all of this infrastructure disappear inside of well written software that should allow you to just print with a bit of option setting. The
Cube printer from 3D systems promises such a plug-play-print solution however it is a closed proprietary system.They are trying to create the "Apple" of 3D printers, a true consumer solution. Whether they have read the market correctly remains to be seen. 3D Systems is the largest industrial 3D printer company, sort of IBM circa 1982.
Pronterface is easily 12-18 months behind the usability curve. It is too difficult for beginners and too clunky and featureless for experienced users, which is why I chose to ditch it for Solidoodle. My humble opinion is that Solidoodle is priced for beginners but it isn't plug and play enough, not even close. But they could easily solve the problem with good software because it actually is a solid little printer.
If you are not comfortable running a Python console you will have difficulty wading through Pronterface ( I'd use it just to make sure a new Solidoodle is functioning properly and then replace with Repetier and the accompanying firmware and never look back). Yes you could flash back to the original firmware and use Pronterface again but it's not something you would want to go back and forth on routinely.
You ask why Solidoodle doesn't use Replicator G or Repetier? I can only surmise that they want to create their own special user experience. Also Solidoodle was founded by an early Makerbot employee so perhaps they want to express their individuality. I would strongly advise the Solidoodle team to ship with a good preconfigured version of Rep G because there is a lot of competition out there and Pronterface doesn't do their hardware justice.
What else to consider? I have had all of Makerbot's products and they have made incredible progress. Thing-O-Matic was very painful to build and run. Replicator was up and running in 10 minutes. I have run the Replicator almost everyday since it shipped earlier this year and it is pretty bullet-proof (for today's state of the art) although dual extrusion (printing two colors) does not work very well. I suspect that many used Replicators will start showing up on ebay soon and should be reasonably priced. In the mean time, many new printers are showing up - seemingly weekly.
Eventorbot looks promising. But this
list gives you an idea of what's out there.
Hope that helps a bit - if you have never been to one of the many
Maker Faires I suggest you try to get to one. You will see amazing things and get a real feel for what is going on. Nothing is as good as hands-on.