OK.. so first of all.
.I don't profess to be an expert here.. but thought I would share my journey.
Yes at first it does feel like it is one of the Dark arts. Why, well put simply it is still a technology that seems to be a little hit and or miss. There are many conflicting ideas and views regarding the whole 3D Printing experience and if like me, you are not wanting to pour lots of cash down the drain but want to have some fun and maybe even build something useful then you never know, this may help.
So lets break this up into bits so that it does not get too boring.
Fitrst - get something that fits on a desk, somewhere you can leave it on for a while!
Its just this. If you want to do a print that is going to be of any real size then its going to take a while. By that I mean could day a few hours to a day or two so make sure you have somewhere you can locate the printer. NO NOT IN YOUR BEDROOM. They are noisy, and the burning of filament can produce some quite unpleasant fumes.
Get what you can afford.
the first bit of advice I was given when I got my printer was, oh so your going to spend most of your time printing upgrades for your printer. Well I was quite fortunate with my choice in that it was a simple printer that worked out of the box and did not need much adjustment. But do your homework and maybe spend the extra at the start to get something that works rather than something that needs updating the moment you get it out of the box just to get going. Nothing spoils a hobby more than not being able to do it because things don't worlk