When 3D printers was first introduced, it was a marvel everyone wanted a piece of. The problem was, not everyone could afford the hefty price tag it came with. 3D printing is new and still pretty expensive, but when you leave it to great minds to pull together power of crowdsourcing and passionate people, there are always alternative solutions.

We have put together here 10 affordable 3D printers that you can own for less than $1000. Some of them are on a preorder status (it’s a few weeks’ wait) while others need until next year to come into fruition, due to the high demand and precision it takes to build these intricate machines. The wait time might be worth it though to turn your 3D creations to reality.

Recommended Reading: 20 Amazing Creations You Can Make With 3D Printing

[Note that the manufacturers may have more than one 3D printer model to their name. Prices vary according to models.]

1. Peachy Printer

If you’ve seen how a 3D printer works, get ready for a whole new different approach with Peachy Printer. It creates things with a liquid light-sensitive resin that solidifies when introduced to light from a laser beam. As the liquid drips slowly while being cured and solidified by the laser, it’s turns into a solid object.

This new method is also inexpensive which explains why the Kickstarter project went over 13 times its initial goal.

Price: $100 – Visit website

2. MakiBox

The MakiBox is designed to be an affordable and dependable 3D printer. This printer would be good for someone who wants to try out 3D printing for the first time. There is one limitation to put up with though, it only has a printing dimension of 150mm wide x 110mm deep x 90mm tall aka it only prints small things.

It comes partially assembled but with very few parts and minor configuration, you could get it running in no time.

Price: $200 – $300 – Visit Website

3. Printrbot

If size is a problem then Printrbot is the solution. It has 4 different variants of 3D printers of different sizes and features. There are kits you can DIY which can help you save about $150. They’ve made their printers very customizable to your needs as you can buy add-on parts where necessary.

It works with both ABS and PLA filaments to print your 3D creations.

Price: $259 – $999 – Visit Website

4. Phoenix 3D Printer

The people behind the Phoenix 3D printer want to offer users a fully functional basic printer if you purchase their unique 3D printing software. One good thing about their software is that it allows you to ‘pause’ in the middle of a print if anything goes wrong. You can then ‘rewind’ the software to the correct point and continue from there, reducing wasteage of print material (which can be really expensive).

Price: $375 – $500 – Visit Website

5. Romscraj

Romscraj is a relatively new company based in Singapore which builds and sell 3D printers. At the point of this writing they have 2 printers of different scales for sale: one a portable printer, called Portabee Go, which is foldable for convenient transport or storage.

The other is a desktop printer (pictured below), made from aluminum and stainless steel.

Price: $375 – $500 – Visit Website

6. The Buccaneer

The Buccaneer is a fully assembled 3D printer that works out of the box. What’s great about this printer is that it’s Wi-Fi enabled, allowing you to communicate with it via an iOS/Android app. The app allows you to browse for things to print based on category. You can customize the size and adjust its shape on the app before sending the blueprints to the printer.

The plastic material that it uses is food safe, so you can print bowls or plates with it.

Price: $399 – $999 – Visit Website

7. Solidoodle

This is another 3D printer you can use out of the box. Solidoodle offers a no-fuss printer at a reasonable price. There are currently 2 models that they offer: 2nd Generation at $499 and the 3rd Generation Solidoodle at $799. They only differ in size: 2nd Generation has a dimension of 6" x 6" x 6" while the 3rd Generation model has a 8" x 8" x 8" dimension, allowing you to print larger objects.

Price: $499 – $799 – Visit Website

8. RigidBot

RigidBot is another company that sells its 3D printer as a kit or fully assembled. The kit not only saves you some money but also allows you to customize your printer to your needs. This customizability lets hardcore users expand the printing space too since all they have to do is buy longer X, Y and Z axis metal rods that are available at most DIY stores.

Price: $499 – $959 – Visit Website

9. RoBo

The RoBo printer prides itself for being open sourced. This means that all the details of the RoBo can be found online. You can even build your own RoBo from 3D printed parts. Because of this, this relatively professional and precise 3D printer is sold at a reasonable price so long as you can wait for it. Backers of their Kickstarter project will only get theirs by April 2014.

Price: $599 – $699 – Visit Website

10. Deezmaker Bukito Mini

Deezmaker made the Bukito Mini very light and portable. It’s roughly 6 pounds. Although it is light and small with a 5" x 6" x 5" printing area, the printer has been shown to be very steady yet accurate. There’s a video of it printing an object without error even when moved around or flipped upside down. Deezmaker has other printers at higher prices, but their Bukito Mini makes it to our list at only $699.

Price: $699 – Visit Website

Time is essential to the modern world to keep everyone in sync. While more and more smart watches are being released, clocks don’t get the same level of attention. Look at the one closest to you now. Is it round or square, only in one or two colors (white doesn’t count as one) with the generic clock hands pacing around the face of the clock in the same rhythmic motion?

Time to spruce things up for a change. There’s nothing in the rule book that says we should keep clocks boring. They can be stylish, cool or downright outrageous. These showcase of 20 extraordinary wall clocks were made to give you some ideas on how to spice up your wall decor, and show off your personal unique style.

Recommended Reading: 20 Alarm Clocks To Wake You Up Creatively

Fry Pan. This frying pan wall clock can be the perfect decoration for your kitchen wall. Just don't try to cook with it! Fried eggs, anyone?

Whatever, I’m late. Being punctual not one of your life’s goals? Get this whatever clock to support your life mantra – even the numbers refuse to remain in their positions.

Artime. Artime is more than just a clock, it is two. This wall clock can be easily turned into a desk clock without wasting materials. Fantastic product design!

5-to-9 Clock. This half-baked clock is your after-time keeper. It highlights the importance of these 4 hours after work, before you go to bed. A reminder to put some thought into your after hours.

Retro Wall Clock. This handmade creative wall clock with a little retro touch serves as a great decoration for the home. It plays with different colors and shapes, so you can easily get rid of your old boring round clock.

Caffe Espresso Clock. Oh darn it, somebody spilled expresso all over this clock! But isn’t this just an awesome design? And look, gold coffee beans for 3, 6, 9 and 12, so you can tell when it is time… for coffee.

Time is Money. If you drop in a dime for every time this clock passes 12 o’clock, then… you’re going to have a lot of dimes.

Homer Simpson Clock. This Homer wall clock will be much appreciated by Simpson fans. His eyes will follow that bottle of beer around the clock (literally).

Recycled Technics Turntable Clock. This awesome clock was made from recycled turntables and albums. You can even change the album if you want. It's the best gift for an audiophile.

FreakishCLOCK. Instead of having ordinary clock hands, the whole face of this clock is a spinning disk with a hole showing you what hour of the day it is.

Tie Clock. This clock was designed for all the necktie-wearing businesspeople who mean business!

GEMSTONE. One more clock example that can be used as both a wall and desk clock. When it's closed the clock takes the shape of a brilliant-cut gem; when it's opened, like the sun or a star.

YOUR TIME. Choose which time you like the most from 2 (Is lunch over?), 6 (Time to clock out), or 9 (Am I late? Am I late?) number and pick a clock.

Table Clock Book. This fun and functional clock is the perfect decoration for any geek's bookshelf. The numbers THREE and NINE became the topic of the two accompanying books.

Penny Farthing Clock. This bicycle wall clock is a symbol of an endless journey, that transcends through time.

Clock Of Recycled Magazines. This amazing wall clock was made from recycled magazines. Way to ‘read’ the time.

Union Jack Canvas. This stylish and bright wall clock, with the British flag, will be a great decoration for any room.

Ink Splatter. This bright ink splatter clock will be a good addition to a wall in a modern house. Moreover, it can be a good conversation starter for the guests.

I’m the Boss III. This wall clock is designed to make a statement. Who’s the boss around these parts? Look at the clock.

Vinyl Wall Clock Stickers. Every designer will appreciate this stunning rainbow wall clock. The clock is made of vinyl, and these stickers can be stuck even on a window.

If you handle many email attachments every day, you’ll understand how hard it is to keep track of where everything is. The search function in Gmail is pretty powerful but wouldn’t it be great to consolidate every Gmail attachment into one place for easier access?

MetisMe is an awesome Chrome extension to help you do just that, manage your Gmail attachments.

Unlike Cloudy for Gmail, MetisMe helps you organize your attachments and put them into a place for easy access. It also allows users to connect MetisMe with Dropbox, Evernote and Google Drive to better management attachments in Gmail. MetisMe uses 128-bit AES encryption, keeping your data private and safe. Let’s check it out.

Recommended Reading: Get More Control & Functionality On Gmail With MxHero Toolbox

Gmail Attachments Manager

To get started, download and install MetisMe on your Chrome browser. Once installed, it will open a new browser tab and take you to the Gmail webapp. You’ll be greeted with a few changes and a pop-up window by MetisMe.

It’ll take a while for it to look for all your attachments. In the mean time, you can explore the noticeable changes it has done to your Gmail.

You can now search for attachments more quickly or access it via the Attachments link on the left navigation panel. There’s also a blue M button on the right that allows you to Set Rule-Engine.

Rule-Engine

Setting a Rule-Engine allows you to automatically send specific email attachments to cloud services Dropbox, Evernote or Google Drive. You can also create other ‘rules’ to manage all your attachments. Do note that you have to grant permission to MetisMe when linking any of these cloud services.

Managing attachments

When you click on the Attachments link on the right, you’ll be able to see every attachment found on all your sent or received emails.

This makes it easier for you to delete large attachments to free up space on your Gmail. You can also compose or forward an email with attachments from multiple emails, send selected attachments to the 3 cloud services above plus SkyDrive, or download them onto your computer.

Quick Notes

Another cool feature that MetisMe offers is Quick Notes that are directly linked to Evernote. Typing text into the box will send the short note to Evernote under a new notebook. The notes will also be saved and will appear every time you open the particular email conversation, good for keeping track of things inside Gmail.

Final Word

MetisMe is a free Chrome extension you will love if you handle a ton of attachments on a daily basis. You won’t have to dig through multiple emails from different senders to compile attachments before sending them to someone else. MetisMe is new and constantly improving; we hope to see more features from them in the near future.

We can display posts published on specific dates with the date parameters in WP_Query. The functionality, however, is basic. We can query posts by day, year, and month, but we were not able to query posts within a certain timeframe. Having been a victim once, I used a hack.

However (thanks to Alex Millis who contributed the code), in version 3.7, released recently, WordPress included Advanced Date Query which allows us to display more complex date-based post queries natively with WP_Query. With this, we can display posts that are published before or after certain hours. Let’s have a look at it.

Advanced Date Query

Version 3.7 introduced a new parameter called date_query. How do you use it?

Say, you are working on a news site, and want to highlight the news (or posts) from the previous week. By using date_query, we can write like so:

 $last_week_news = new WP_Query( array( 'date_query' => array( array( 'after' => '1 week ago', ), ), 'posts_per_page' => 5, )); $query = new WP_Query( $last_week_news ); 

We can also display posts in a very specific timeframe. Below is an example of how we display posts between 15 December 2012 and 15 January 2013. This helps feature end of the year to the turn of the new year stories.

 $new_year_stories = new WP_Query( array( 'date_query' => array( array( 'after' => 'December 15th, 2012', 'before' => 'January 15th, 2013', ), ), 'posts_per_page' => 5, )); $query = new WP_Query( $new_year_stories ); 

And, as mentioned, we can also display posts that were published in certain hours.

If your news website need to feature morning newsbits, you can write the code with date_query this way.

 $morning_news = array( 'date_query' => array( array( 'hour' => 6, 'compare' => '>=', ), array( 'hour' => 9, 'compare' => '<=', ), ), 'posts_per_page' => 10, ); $query = new WP_Query( $morning_news ); 

It’s simpler, straightforward, and the code is more readable.

Final Thought

With the addition of advanced date query, WP_Query has become even more extensive. If keeping track of dates is important on your site e.g. if you are an event organizer or host multiple conferences or conventions, this new feature will definitely be very helpful.

For further reference, you can head over to the WordPress Codex page for Date Parameters.