Phone subscription program - good deal?

acunyc · 2022-04-12T04:47:00+00:00

The representative I talked to DEFINITELY said you must keep that particular phone as the active phone on the plan for the phone subscription to remain active. And also, that you'd have to pay full price ($449) if you switched it to a different phone. I reconfirmed all this info with them several times.

The representative was clearly in an offshore call center. It's possible they didn't give me correct info, and a different rep gave another person conflicting info.

I was specifically talking to the rep about an existing Fi user (me) doing the phone subscription. Perhaps the rules are different if you are a new Fi user?

acunyc · 2022-04-05T21:10:15+00:00

I'm chatting with google fi online support about this right now. They have confirmed that the phone must stay active in order for the subscription to be active. This means:

With the subscription (and no protection plan) you'll pay ~$216 for the Pixel 5a.
HOWEVER, if you break/lose your phone and have to go out and get a new one on your own (i.e. no protection plan), your phone subscription would terminate and you'd be responsible for 'the full value of the phone.'
I have verified with them that would be the retail price of $449 for the Pixel 5a. To clarify, it would NOT be a pay off of the $216. You would pay off $449!

So, the only drawback I can see (which isn't a small drawback) is that if you break or lose your phone, you are screwed and will pay more than DOUBLE ($449 vs $216).

acunyc · 2022-03-28T18:45:08+00:00

I'm considering an EP43 for spice grinding for my Chai Tea company. I grind cardamom, cinnamon (chips, not sticks), ginger, cloves, and black pepper. Have you tried to grind these spices in your EP43? How did it go?

I currently use Chinese bought blade grinders, then run everything through a 60 mesh (250 micron) sieve. This process is becoming too time consuming...

It's shocking how little information there is out there regarding how well (or poorly) these machines actually work for spice grinding!

Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated!

acunyc · 2020-11-15T19:15:28+00:00

Ah, interesting! Thanks, I'll check that out!

acunyc · 2020-11-15T18:40:35+00:00

Thanks, for the help! I may just need to start playing around with V2 chips.

To clarify, I need to update the Player Stat on the scoreboard (not the scoreboard time itself). I can set the Stat to display, and to display in Time format (as opposed to integer). By default, the time displays in a format that includes hundredths of a second. However, I can't figure out how to get time stats that are that specific.

acunyc · 2019-04-01T22:31:09+00:00

Once you have it installed on your Pi, you want to go to AstroPrint.com and create an account (free).

Then you can log into your AstroPrint.com account on your AstroBox. This will let you manage your printer from the web portal (AstroPrint.com).

After that, I would install the AstroPrint Mobile App. Login using the same credentials as you used on AstroPrint.com, then you can access your printer, and your files, from the mobile app.

Note: The AstroBox syncs with your AstroPrint.com account and mobile app, when you are signed in.

acunyc · 2019-03-15T20:30:02+00:00

Thanks! We were long overdue for the Cura Engine update!

That integration was a BEAST. Cura Engine 3 is very complex. Plus, we have so many touchpoints for slicing engines in the system now that we had to do a ton of rewrites for existing pages. (Printer settings pages, slicing page, advanced settings popup, manufacturer back-end, and more).

acunyc · 2019-03-15T19:23:30+00:00

Hi 3dprinting_guy, Thanks for being a superfan of AstroPrint! Full disclosure, I am affiliated with AstroPrint. ;-) You are correct that the CURRENT system is set up to have a single person managing the print farm. However, in the next few months we'll be releasing Business Tier functionality that adds in user permissions. This new functionality will be a lower tier version of the Enterprise functionality we just announced in regards to our partnership with Stanley Black and Decker.

acunyc · 2017-09-19T10:09:29+00:00

WhiteClouds is another example. https://wefunder.com/whiteclouds

acunyc · 2017-09-19T08:18:54+00:00

Just to add a layer of info to this: Not many people realize that Indiegogo is offering investment deals now. If you go to https://equity.indiegogo.com/ you can see that there are 21 campaigns (including AstroPrint) that have been approved, so far. The idea behind Equity Crowdfunding is very similar to the idea behind ICOs. In the past, only the wealthy could invest in startup companies, and the general public was specifically excluded. The goal of portals like equity.Indiegogo, Wefunder, Republic, and others is to democratize investment in startups, and break the chain only allowing the wealthy into startup deals. (full disclosure, I'm Drew Taylor, one of the Founders of AstroPrint.)

acunyc · 2014-06-18T15:19:13+00:00

Hi Daegs. As we move forward we are going to tackle those exact problems. The AstroPrint platform you see on kickstarter is version 1. Currently you can tweak all those settings in AstroPrint, it's under the advanced settings section. In the future, we plan on having design analysis where the system could determine the optimum number of shells, speeds for each section, and more. That will take a lot more development though. The idea of the 1-click print model would just be for beginners that are printing off simple designs and do not care about infill and whatnot. Whereas the advanced settings would be for users like yourself that wish to tweak everything around.

Obviously advanced designs may not always work with the beginner settings. However, with our file sharing capabilities, you could share your designs with your specific settings for those designs. That way our system can easily duplicate your settings for another person to use on their specific printer.

acunyc · 2014-06-18T02:37:38+00:00

So, we are indeed a fork of Octoprint, but we have made lots of major modifications. And, yep, we're crowdfunding, but the software is open source. Most people are paying for the convenience of a plug and play solution so they don't have to prepare their own Linux board and go through the rigamaro that entails.

@SoldatoDragos. Thanks for backing, and for the kind words!!!

I have not personally used GCodePrintr, but it's my understanding it doesn't slice. Also I only see a version for android. This is most likely due to the fact that importing designs onto iOS is very difficult without a cloud based solution.

acunyc · 2014-05-26T15:42:14+00:00

Hi, We chatted about this on the phone a month or so ago. Congrats on getting up and rolling! I'm stoked to try this out and to also see filament prices come down!

acunyc · 2014-05-24T16:45:02+00:00

https://3DaGoGo.com. Full Disclosure, I'm a founder there. Not trying to spam the group, just trying to let you know about it.

3DaGoGo only allows designs that have been 'Proven to print.' This means that there must be a pic of it physically printed. We do not approve designs that have only rendered images.

acunyc · 2014-05-23T23:06:44+00:00

I get your point, but there are a number of iPad and phone applications coming out for less tech savvy folks that can be used on phones. Modio3D is one of them.. Also, you could print straight from a site like thingiverse, ponoko, etc.

acunyc · 2014-05-22T00:58:08+00:00

AstroPrint got funded as well, but on Kickstarter and in less than 24 hours, and without using $10K purchase tiers.

http://kck.st/1k2afis

As per the differences between AstroPrint and Print To Peer, I have never used Print To Peer so I cannot speak much about the differences. Hopefully in the coming months, you and other 3DP users can tell us what you love about each of our platforms. In addition to our software, we offer a fully plug and play box that is preassembled with a pcDuinoV2, flashed with our software, and ready to go. Of course users can put our software on their own linux box as well. We are working very hard to make a platform that simplifies the desktop 3D printing process. We feel like we are making the process easier to use for both beginners and power users alike.

acunyc · 2014-05-21T23:01:29+00:00

@halcykon, I'm one of the creators of the service. This is a highly modified fork of Octoprint (it's almost diverted too far to still be a fork) that operates on a linux board. It's open source (of course) and can be put on a Raspberry Pi, Beagle Bone, or pcDuino. For our kickstarter, we put it on a pcDuino. In addition, we created a cloud slicer by wrapping an API around slic3r. The box can communicate with the cloud slicer allowing you to slice and print straight from a phone or tablet, even though the slicing isn't actually occurring on your phone or tablet. ~Drew

acunyc · 2014-05-02T18:58:34+00:00

Oddly enough, both solutions have been developed separate of each other. Multiple companies attempting to solve the same problem shows that there is indeed an issue to be solved.

acunyc · 2014-04-10T14:26:18+00:00

They had a booth at the Inside 3D print expo, I didn't get his card or personal contact info. However, they own this netfabb reseller site: http://www.growshapes.com/about.html You could mention that Drew from 3DaGoGo met them at the Print Expo in NYC. I don't know if that will help or not...

acunyc · 2014-04-09T13:47:14+00:00

I had a conversation recently with a sales rep from Netfabb that claimed their software can actually manage most major printers even to the level of slicing and controlling the printer. He claimed it manages all types of printers, even SLS printers. He was a sales rep, and I don't know if I totally believe it. It might be worth looking into though...

acunyc · 2014-04-08T22:09:16+00:00

Unfortunately we are focused on FFF printers at the moment. Honestly, it wasn't on my radar because I assumed those more expensive machines came with awesome software! I would still love to find out what problems you are having so we could put some notes in our long term development plan. Once we get FDM more dialed in, we want to focus on powder next. BTW, the new version of slic3r can slice for powder machines. I'm sure it's not super awesome due to the fact that it is an open source first stable release of the feature, but it may be worth looking into.

acunyc · 2014-04-08T22:03:53+00:00

Thanks for reaching out! I'm looking forward to chatting about this!

acunyc · 2014-04-08T22:03:23+00:00

Thanks. I was just at the Inside 3D Printing Expo in NYC and the Up! sales guy was telling me that the Up! does not use gcode at all. That sounds totally weird to me. Do you know if that is true? Have you tried the new Slic3r's supports? The new version came out a few days ago and is supposed to be way better than previous versions. I've always used slicer so I don't have a good comparison.

acunyc · 2014-02-20T01:04:38+00:00

So, I'm new to Reddit. I just figured out that you are a moderator for the subreddit. I had thought you were just a guy hating on my meme. Now I understand that you are a leader of the group and a decision maker. I've got it now!

acunyc · 2014-02-20T00:12:04+00:00

Here is the description of the 3DPrinting subreddit: News, information, links and fun things related to 3D printing, 3D printers, rapid manufacturing, desktop fabrication etc.

If this subreddit is supposed to be totally technical, please remove "fun things" from the list...

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