New Reprapper (electronics question)

Hey guys, i just decided to build the Prusa version of the reprap and the mechanical side is going well, however, i was wondering what electronics to choose from. I read the wiki page on electronics, but it did not specify price/ ease of use/ availability on the electronics. As far as i know, RAMPS, Gen 3, or Gen 6 seem to be the best choice for me. I am capable of circuit board work but have never done anything on this scale before. Which is the cheapest and moderately easy to obtain in the U.S.? Thanks!

I have struggled with Gen 3 so I don't recommend it. It uses half-stepping controllers which makes a lot more noise that the microstepping controllers in the RAMPS or Gen 6. Gen 6 only does 1/8 steps as far as I know while RAMPS goes down to 1/16 steps. Even though it works most of the time, my Gen 3 (Techzone Remix) has had issues with either stalling while printing or even losing temperature. It might be a firmware issue but I'm not 100% sure. Just a couple of days ago, I started using Reprap host and MB firmware released on 12/21/2010 and so far it seems to be more stable. Anyway, I already bought the parts for RAMPS to be sure.

Between RAMPS and Gen 6, I think RAMPS is the better way to go. It uses an off-the-shelf Arduino Mega 2560 along with a shield for the pololu boards. You have a range of choices from a complete kit that's fully assembled, to bare circuit boards and you can even use a stripboard to make the shield.

+1 for RAMPS

Another recommendation for RAMPS here. It's great. There's a large range of firmwares to run on it, for that I use [www.thingiverse.com] . It prints so nicely.

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i guess ill go with RAMPS then guys, Thanks! Now one question...where can i buy the parts?!

[ultimachine.com]

arduino mega and pololu you might be able to get locally or maybe from polulu directly woudl be best.