Robo 3D R1 vs. Solidoodle Press....which one?

At this point, I'd go with the Robo for sure. I'm not entirely sure that they have shipped any Press yet. If they have, online communities have been pretty quiet. I haven't seen a peep abot them in the Facebook 3D Printing Clube page or the 3Dprinting subreddit.

Even before they ship, there are some red flags. One is the 'proprietary' items. Software and filament spool. Typically these sort of load it into the top of the machine type designs tend to not work out too well, so odds are you're going to end up with some community developed spool holder anyways. The proprietary software may or may not be a problem. Depending on how much they have it locked down, you may not even be able to adjust settings around print temperature, bed temperature, etc outside of the solidoodle proprietary size spools. Makerbot ran a proprietary code format, but at least early on allowed the community to contribute as well (we're talking pre-5th gen). So, you can use their proprietary programs as well as many others online. In the case of makerbot, their proprietary software was kind of nice because it was super easy to use. However, it is very limited so once you get beyond beginner, you're a little stuck. At this point with the press, I don't think there is any info about their proprietary software, so you could be stuck with some serious junk software with no alternative.

Their warranty also looks a little odd. Robo and solidoodle have both had similar growing pains with shipping printers with build quality issues. Robo seems to be getting past that reasonably well, but they still include a standard 6 month warranty. With their solidoodle plan, they seem to be lining the press up for a situation where you're not going to have coverage for potential junk builds unless you pay $100 extra for a warranty.

With the Robo, you're getting a larger build volume and more access to open source / community developed solutions. It is also in stock and shipping now.

I'd also add in the Hot end on the robo as a plus. The hexagon hot end allows you to print at high temperatures, so you're pretty much set to go with true expansive multi-material out of the box. Want to print nylon, colorFabb XT, polycarbonate blends, wood, etc? Go for it. There have been a few hexagons that have had issues, but they're covered under the warranty. Of course if you don't like it, we've got community designed mods to switch it up to an E3D V6.

Did I mention our community is pretty awesome?

 

It can be solid or hollow. any filament printer will do that. It's part of what you choose when you're setting up the print. You can download Cura here http://ultimaker.com/en/products/software to go and simulate the code and play with different options.