<p>I am wanting to buy a 3D printer to add to my shop.</p>

<p>I am an engineer and enjoy making/building things so the kit idea sounds fun and economical.</p>

<p>I see Tronxy has two different styles for their larger printers:</p>

<ul>
<li>P802 (reprap frame) style</li>
<li>X3 (metal frame) style.</li>
</ul>

<p>As far as I can see, both printers have the same basic resolution, accuracy, and material specs.</p>

<ol>
<li>What are the advantages/disadvantages/differences between the
P802 and X3? </li>
<li>How important is auto-leveling?</li>
</ol>

[{'answer_id': 3743, 'author': 'Davo', 'author_id': 4922, 'author_profile': 'https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/users/4922', 'pm_score': 2, 'selected': False, 'text': '<p>Some slicing programs will give this information. Here is the first comment at the end of the print, which gives volume and length of material used, from gcode generated by <a href="http://slic3r.org" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Slic3r</a>:</p>\n\n<pre><code> ; filament used = 388.6mm (0.9cm3)\n</code></pre>\n\n<p>According to <a href="https://www.toybuilderlabs.com/blogs/news/13053117-filament-volume-and-length" rel="nofollow noreferrer">ToyBuilder Labs</a>, ABS is 1.04&nbsp;g/cm<sup>3</sup>, so 0.9 * 1.04 = <strong>0.936</strong>, or just under one gram.</p>\n\n<p>In the G-code file produced by the slicer, search for "filament" or "M30" - it\'s right after the M30. You might need to use the verbose G-code option.</p>\n'}, {'answer_id': 3744, 'author': 'Tom van der Zanden', 'author_id': 26, 'author_profile': 'https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/users/26', 'pm_score': 4, 'selected': True, 'text': '<p>You can not tell this by looking at the STL file alone, because how much material will be used depends on the print settings (obviously, printing at 100% infill will consume much more material than 10%).</p>\n\n<p>The best way to check the material usage is to load the model into a slicer and slice it using your preferred settings. Most slicers will report the projected material usage, often in grams but sometimes in meters of filament (but the two figures are easily converted between each other if you know the density and diameter of your material).</p>\n\n<p>Here is an example in the Cura slicer:</p>\n\n<p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/e23iM.png" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/e23iM.png" alt="Cura print statistics"></a></p>\n\n<p>Simplify3D (after you click "prepare to print!") also shows you the projected print time and material usage and even the cost of the material (if you have previously entered the material cost per kilogram):</p>\n\n<p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/pjcxO.png" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/pjcxO.png" alt="Simplify3D print statistics"></a></p>\n'}, {'answer_id': 5644, 'author': 'mostafa Ahmed Hegazy', 'author_id': 10227, 'author_profile': 'https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/users/10227', 'pm_score': 1, 'selected': False, 'text': '<p>This is a link I found that analyzes your G-code ( filament usage, time, etc.): <a href="http://gcode.ws/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">gCodeViewer</a></p>\n\n<p>From the description (emphasis is mine):</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n  <ul>\n  <li>Analyze GCode\n  \n  <ul>\n  <li>Print time, <strong><em>amount of plastic used</em></strong>, layer height, etc. for whole file and for single layer</li>\n  </ul></li>\n  </ul>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Here is a screenshot:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n  <p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/pDsuL.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer" title="Screenshot"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/pDsuL.png" alt="Screenshot" title="Screenshot"></a></p>\n</blockquote>\n'}, {'answer_id': 7400, 'author': 'Thomas Weller', 'author_id': 1570, 'author_profile': 'https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/users/1570', 'pm_score': 2, 'selected': False, 'text': '<p><a href="http://slic3r.org/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Slic3r</a> will calculate the weight after you have exported the G-Code.</p>\n\n<p>Normally, you\'ll only see the "Info" box. But after saving as G-Code, there\'s a "Sliced Info" which mentions the weight according to the settings you made (filament type and infill).</p>\n\n<p>That\'s how it looks like:</p>\n\n<p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/cnZRE.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/cnZRE.png" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>\n'}]
['https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3750', 'https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com', 'https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/users/6417/']