Hey guys love the thread and some great info on here! I just purchased my first 3D Printer off GearBesr for a black Friday sale for just $177 total ($23 shipping). It’s the A8 Desktop 3D Printer Prusa i3 DIY Kit and it has some great reviews on there as well as on YouTube. It also has a pretty big printing area of 220 x 220 x 240mm which I’m really looking forward to. I’ve had some experience with 3D printers in the past using mainly a Lulz Bot Mini at our Library but I’ve always wanted one myself and I’m so happy to have finally got one! Once I’ve received and tested it I’ll update this with how I think it is.
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That’s an incredible deal! Looks like a great platform to start on and should be easy to upgrade as needed.
I backed the tiko too but as of the recent update it doesnt look like ill get it till april!
Hey guys just wanted to let everyone know that the Anet A8 Prusa I3 printer on GearBest is now for sale for $148 WITH FREE SHIPPING TO THE US, FROM A US WAREHOUSE! http://m.gearbest.com/3d-printers-3d-printer-kits/pp_343643.html?wid=8
Back at it again with another new deal from GearBest, Anet just released there new E10 printer and its on sale for $290 for the next couple days. Its pretty much a CR-10 knockoff, excpet its a bit smaller at 220x270x300 instead of the 300x300x400 of the CR-10, but its $100 cheaper. Coupon code ANETE10 takes $10 off the 299 sale so its $290 with that. LINK
My vote is the MPCNC. https://www.vicious1.com/
A lot to read about it, it is a cnc machine that can be a router and a printer with some geometry changes. The fact you can switch between the two makes it a very attractive option. You can print and then later do something more difficult like milling aluminum
Personally have a prusa i3 (original) DIY kit based one was $330 at the time (couple years ago). You can get cheaper versions of that one now that are no doubt a bit better too and mine worked amazingly well considering I put it together and had no experience with the machines before that. Have definitely learned a lot since then about them and upgraded to an all metal hot end to print with some stronger materials but I still give the machine a big 
There’s now the Prusa i3 MK2 which offers auto bed leveling and can support multiple extruders but if you get prebuilt with all the bells and whistles it drives the price up.
Regarding the mixed machines it seems like an okay idea if implemented well (have seen some with just a swappable head and very little work to switch back and forth). Main issue I see aside from wanting that to be easy is the amount of dust and garbage the milling process will make without some dust removal setup will be a big mess and the dust messes up prints if it gets on the filament and builds up in the nozzle as the plastic is extruded. Good to be able to make the machine more multi-purpose but just not sure that would really work great in practice.
go for the obsidian 3d printer, its non profit and prints VERY GOOD!
Have obsidian started a website of some sort