Kit or Partly Assembled?  

KIts

This is just one experieced prospective.  My first kit was an MK3.  It was preceded by an assembled Mk3. I have a total of 8 Mk3S and 5 Minis.  All but 4 were purchased as kits or rebuilt from eBay and Craigslist purchses where an owner could not figure how to get them to work.  

If you are mechanically inclined and patient, buy the kit.  Being able to read and follow instructions is essential.  They do not require a huge amount of tinkering but usually, some is required. I would purchase a kit because you will learn to build and that is invaluable when you have to adjust or repair it.  This can be acquire in other ways, but frontloading it is an investment of time for the future.     

Posted by: @dbee

Thank you for any advice in advance. I am just your average semi-retired Joe. Drive a desk during the day and never owned a 3D printer, CNC or anything of that nature. Also very ordinary at fixing things, servicing vehicles etc., although I have built my own houses.  I can place my order for the $349 kit today, the $399 partially assembled will have to wait for a couple of months. How hard is the full kit for someone like me as I am rearing to go, but am cautious as it is quite a bit of money when shipping and imports are added?

Thank You

Thank you for taking your time to provide the information and your experience with the Mini's.

Minis

No issue.  I love my minis.  They are not perfect but they will print 99% of what I need printed.  

Posted by: @dbee

Thank you for taking your time to provide the information and your experience with the Mini's.

kit

I assembled the mini+ kit a few month back and it was a joy to complete, everything is labelled in bags with all the tools you need, the online digital manual and comments that go along with it were easy to follow, you can tell a lot of work went into the whole experience and that's what it feels like, an experience from start to finish, when I had finished the build I was kind of disappointed that it had ended, it really was top notch, plus you get to see how the whole thing works, that will be invaluable down the line in troubleshooting.

Thank You

Thank you for taking the trouble to reply. I appreciate the guidance and encouragement.

Mini Kit

I'm close to retirement and my son bought me my first Mini in kit form. It was a great weekend experience to build the Mini and get it up and running. I agree with Chuck that it is a great way to get to know the machine and to know how to adjust or fix something if there is a problem.

The Mini is a great little printer and has met my needs to date.

Although one doesn't need to be a genius to assemble Mini kit version, just something to think about:
If you're mechanically skilled and patient, then it can be fun assembling it. Another benefit during assembling is, you gather experience which is for sure useful in future (every printer needs maintenance).
But it's your first printer. And no matter how much fun you had during assembling, it can be even bigger disappointment if it turns out that printer doesn't work as expected. No matter how carefully you follow (excellent) instructions, you will make mistakes -either because of misunderstanding something, or because you didn't pay attention to "not important" details. And if that happens, you just won't know is it your mistake, or is some printer part flawed (which is always possible).
I don't wish to scare you, but many did a mistake even with simple things like changing the nozzle (keyword: "I get blobs/clogs").

I bough a semi- assembled Mini and I would recommend that to everyone that's buying his first printer. Price difference of $50 is very worth to pay, considering printer is about 90% assembled.

Just sharing my opinion...