Update: NEA 3D Passes $75k Indiegogo with Early Bird 3D Printers Still Available

Source: http://3dprintingindustry.com/

NEA 3D’s very beautiful family of 3D printers waltzed into CES this year, where they were met with attendees that fawned over, the elegant appearance of the PRO Mini, PRO, and PRO+ FFF machines, as well as their excellent mechanical design, and their reasonable prices. Though not available for purchase in January, the family is now ready for prime time, as it heads to Indiegogo on May 6th. And, today, NEA 3D hasopened up its VIP sign-up page, allowing you to get VIP access to the crowd-funding campaign 24 hours in advance. You know what that means! Early bird prices!

Watch Video here.

If you head over to the NEA 3D website, you’ll be able to register to purchase any one of the three models of NEA 3D printers before the rest of the public. The first 100 customers backing each model will all get early-bird pricing on the the PRO Mini, PRO, and PRO+ 3D printers. And, for each printer, this cuts the price down by 50%. That’s $495 for the Mini, $845 for the PRO, and $1,095 for the PRO+, all of which have suggested retail prices of nearly twice those figures. And, the best part is, for every NEA PRO and PRO PLUS sold during the campaign, NEA 3D will donate $25 and $30, respectively, E-nable, to get more 3D printed prosthetics to even more people!

All of the machines are billed with self-leveling and wi-fi connectivity, as well as layer thicknesses of 25 microns. The Pro and Pro+ will come standard with a heated bed, while this will be offered as an upgrade for the Mini. The build volumes of the Mini, PRO, and PRO+ are 6 x 6 x 7″ (15 x 15 x 17cm), 10 x 10 x 11″ (25.5 x 25.5 x 28cm), and 14 x 14 x 15″ (35.5 x 35.5 x 38cm), respectively. All of the parts are modular, for easy removal and replacement, which also means that all of the printers will be upgradable. As CEO William Chang puts it, “Any printer can have any feature in the future.” Uniquely, the filament spool is hidden in the top of the printer, where the spool is pushed upward as the Z-axis is maxed out while printing. Finally, the machines also feature the company’s proprietary Vibration Dampening system, for greater repeatability. It was all of these features that impressed onlookers at CES, apart from the printers’ keen aesthetic.

NEA 3D has firm ties with video FX firm, Playfight VFX Inc, through CEO, William Chang. Not only does this yield some really polished marketing for NEA, but it immerses NEA 3D in the world of video gaming and video production, opening the company up to a number of opportunities for connecting with production companies in a number of industries. I envision licensed, 3D printable content from one of Playfight’s many partners, such as the variety of companies behind Titanfall.

So far, NEA has one happy customer, Freddie Wong, of Video Game High School, and I’m sure there will be plenty more, if the company can deliver on all of these specs. We’ll find out when the first batch of printers are delivered in the third quarter of this year. Until then, there will be more opportunities to learn more about the company.

For instance, this summer, NEA 3D plans to roll out their online community beta site, where their galleries, resources, and learning tools will be located. And, this June, from the 22nd to the 26th, NEA will be attending the Consumer Electronics Show in NYC. So, if you’re in the area, you might get to see one of their gorgeous machines up close and in action. For now, sign up for VIP access to the campaign or stay tuned for the Indiegogo launch on May 6th.

The campaign also reveals a lot of new details about NEA 3D, their printers, and their software. For instance, the company plans to launch their online 3D model community, NEATSTUFF, just before the first printers are shipped fall of this year. With the company’s CEO also acting as the CEO of Playfight VFX, NEA will also provide free tutorials to help users learn their NEA Repetier software.

Other details revealed with the campaign include the fact that NEA will likely release additional extruders in the future, meant to be easily added or switched out due to the printers’ modular designs. The campaign also features a number of prints demonstrating the quality of their printers and the following video, showcasing all of the printers’ features, the printers in action, and more.