14 DAY TRIAL // Normally, in a 3D printer, an FDM printer anyhow, the extruder responsible for heating the plastic (or whatever other material) and building an object with it can move in three dimensions. The New Matter MOD-t doesn't work that way.
You see, a 3D printer has an extruder that moves in X (left-right), Y (top-bottom parallel to the build platform) and Z axes (up-down), but the one from the printer New Matter just revealed moves only vertically.
Which is to say, the extruder only works along the Z axis, while the print bed, also known as build plate, moves in X and Y directions.
The patent-pending method of printing can supposedly cut a lot from the price of a 3D printer because it is a lot simpler than normal. It's also supposed to be more reliable and easy to use, in addition to using fewer parts.
Sadly, the actual price of the thing has not been discovered, and neither have the specifications of the MOD-t 3D Printer itself.
A shame really, since the MOD-t might just be the consumer 3D printer that everyone's been hoping for. Maybe it will cost less than five hundred bucks, or even around two or three hundred.
The printer does look pretty small though. On the flip side, it's got a nice, clean, white look with a transparent case made of (apparently) plexiglass. Or maybe just see-through plastic, I'm not altogether sure.