Advice on buying/building my first 3d printer.

Hello, I'm fairly new to the concept of 3d printing and would like to purchase/build a 3d printer. I have done alot of research on them and have found three 3d printers that interest me; Shapercube, RepRap, Ultimaker. I would like some advice on which one to go for, or a suggestion of a different 3d printer. Bare-in-mind:
Cost (The cheaper the better),
Effectiveness (Not too bothered as long as it works well),
Difficulty of Building (Preferably fairly simple to build, but I am willing to try my hand at building a more complex printer).
I am just a teenager at the moment so bear in mind I will not be able to aford anything £800+.
Thank you in advance.

I think the effectiveness can be achieved with all of those, depends on the time and sweat you spend on settings.

I would say the price should be inversely proportional to build difficulty, but the RepRap Prusa Mendel seems fairly simple to build actually, and is probably the cheapest solution especially if you take the time to get the parts from different sources (all in one kit is not the cheapest IMO).

To help you decide, express what is you main goal : printing stuff or having fun and learning by building the machine, others... probably a mix I suppose.

Anyway, before you purchase anything, double check by reading a lot on the forums and other sources to estimate what is the buyers return - Some providers seems to be especially good at not making people happy, for various reasons.

My main goal is to get a good print and at a reasonable rate.

I spent roughly 600 on all my parts.
Its a prusa,
i got all the printed parts, smooth rods, all-thread and electronics(assembled ramps, mega, and neam steppers) on ebay for 500
and had to by the hot end from maker gear along with some PLA.
Took a month to build, working only 3 hours max on week nights after work.
But i took my time for max accuracy later.
As you will see, as you put it together, going back to make adjustments is just not an easy thing to do, so go slow.
It also took so long because i modified a few things on the design,
oh and burned up a motor driver and my replacement was bad too, so that was a full week and a half there.

But back to the key things to look for.
RAMPS is pretty common,
there is a ton of support here.
The Sprinter firmware works well with it, and is pretty easy to modify.
Pronterface is a great printer communication program and is integrated with Skeinforge which is key.
Skeinforge slices up the STL file to send to the printer.

You can get the all thread and smooth rod at the hardware store and have them cut it if you dont have the tools and will be cheaper them having them shipped.
The printed parts can be found in the things for sale forum, or on ebay.
Ramps comes assembled or unassembled but the price difference is negligible so i would get assembled.
Nema steppers can be found on ebay
Hot end(the end that extrudes) from makergear.com
and a PC power supply from an old comp.
All total you will pay almost half of the online retailers,
Problem is, you have to calibrate everything.

Now for me , i like the calibrating part, because now i know if there is a problem in the print i have a better understanding of what happened and what needs to change.

Warning: if you get involved with one of these printers, be prepared to get addicted.
I cant describe it but once my first *good* print came off the bed, i havent stopped thinking about it.
Its a pretty good feeling when you print your name out in 3d.
in 3 f'in d,
My coworkers had no clue what i was talking about when i told them about a 3d printer.
Some thought it printed layer after layer on paper and then was cut out.
Some thought it was a printer that printed an image that could be seen as 3d. ie 3d tvs.
Until i came in with a good print and everyone was almost speechless.
Classic.
-E

PS your in a good place here.
If you need to ask question, search for it first
if you cant find it, post what you have looked at and what you have tried so we know you put a lil leg work in too,
But be warned, the more you lurk around this website,the more your gonna want a printer.
And i cant do anything about that!! lol

Just to add to the confusion, there are a couple of relatively new projects that might be right up your alley.
Emaker huxley is pretty cheap and easy to build, would have a smaller build platform, may not be available to new orders for a while due to demand.
Orca from mendel-parts looks cool, is still in early beta but may be in stock for sale soon and mendel-parts has a good reputation. It looks like it would be one of the easiest printers to build.
Sumpod is also pretty cheap and easy to build. Haven't heard about print quality.
Makergear mosaic looks nice too, and it's one of the first to be offered assembled. Makergear also has a very good reputation.

Honestly, I would recommend a kit like a makerbot Thing-O-Matic or a Makergear Mosaic for your first printer if output is your primary goal at this point. And if you're set in the money department, go for an Ultimaker for sure. I say this not to bash the RepRap project (I have a Prusa myself) but because if your goal is good prints at a reasonable speed, you're going to get frustrated with a RepRap before you're even done putting it together, let alone calibrating it. Now if you're a big electronics nerd, go for it. But if not, get a kit from a reputable company. Then after you've mastered your kit-built printer, you'll have a good idea of what you want out of your machine and you might discover that you'd like a faster printer, or maybe a bigger printable area, or maybe even the idea of upgrading it as new parts come out instead of having to buy an entirely new printer has appeal. That's the point at which a RepRap will make sense for you and you'll really appreciate the project you're working on. And hey, you can never have too many 3D printers. ><

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Honestly, I would recommend a kit like a makerbot Thing-O-Matic or a Makergear Mosaic for your first printer if output is your primary goal at this point. And if you're set in the money department, go for an Ultimaker for sure.

I'm guessing he's in the UK - the max price was "£800". If that's true, the difference in price between a shipped ToM and a shipped UItimaker gets a lot smaller. Unshipped price difference between the two is about US$400 or ~ £250 and moving it across the Atlantic will put a decent dent in that.

Both are probably out of price range, though. Use the RepRap, Luke!

Ya know as far as frustration goes,
Yeah there is a little.
At times there was some hair pulling but in the end i learned a ton.
Now Luke, you say your a teenager.
if you want to learn about electronics building a kit is way better.
Honestly, if i was already studying electronics, this project would have pushed me to it.
Do you have a career path in mind?
I brought some of my first prints to work and blew everyone away.
Most likely will end up with a dept change because of this printer.
Im 23 fresh outta school and just a tech, but word will travel with something this.
Building this project assumes you know a bit about working with your hand and not being limited to inside the box thinking.
Here anything goes.
The inner creator/engineer comes out.

I was your age when i first stumbled upon the 3d printer concept.
The movement was in its infancy and i couldnt afford one.
But from that moment on i was led on a path to electronics and ultimately my newest and greatest toy ever.

Am i glad i had to wait?
Maybe. i am waaaay more patient now,
So i was able to use that to make sure the chassis was square and everything 100% right before i started printing.
If you dont start with a square stable base, your software cant fix that.

Its not easy by any means.
But the best things in life are not easy.

If your looking for a path to a career this may be just what you need.
Engineering, modeling, design,
its all covered here.
Personally i love it all. so this printer is right up my alley.

take your time to inform your self
and you will know what to do.
-E