There are a *lot* of choices in the i3 area. I think that competition is always a good thing for the consumer. Finding a good open source Delta kit is harder. Finding three or four good ones of the same design to pick between is quite hard.
The cartesian printer "thinks" X,Y,Z that makes some issues easier on one of them. The Delta with a Bowden tube setup has much less moving mass. Weight reduction is the big reason for a Bowden, retraction performance is the main argument against a Bowden. Some filaments / hot ends / printing styles / people are less critical in terms of retraction than others. Low mass is the key to high(er) speed. Loading hot end fans, direct drive extruders, bed leaving servos, LED lights and other stuff onto an i3 carriage is "how it's done". If you made that same set of decisions on a Delta it's no longer light weight.
An i3 will give you a silly high level of Z resolution. You don't need the resolution it supplies. You also don't need much Z speed on an i3. A Delta gives you similar resolution in all three axis. The big(er) resolution issue on a Delta is how well the math models your specific mechanicals.
Moving carriage printers (as in X/Y) are not a great idea for 5' tall prints. A fixed carriage machine (like a Delta) is a better idea for tall skinny prints. None of these printers are a good idea for 5' cubes...
What ever you get , who ever you get it from- think about the level of support and documentation you get with the kit. I'd claim that on your first build, support is a very big issue. It's a "you don't know what you don't know" sort of thing. You *might* not have any questions and everything just works. You also might be like 99% of the people who do a first build - there's *something* that just doesn't quite work the way you thought it did. Much better to have a kit supplier who does good support *and* to have forms like this than to just have one or the other. Waiting for Uncle Bob to wake from his :)-D:)-D:)-D:)-D "nap" for the answer to a question can be a pain.
Finally - this stuff is addictive, you are just looking at the first printer in your life. There will be (many) more.
The cartesian printer "thinks" X,Y,Z that makes some issues easier on one of them. The Delta with a Bowden tube setup has much less moving mass. Weight reduction is the big reason for a Bowden, retraction performance is the main argument against a Bowden. Some filaments / hot ends / printing styles / people are less critical in terms of retraction than others. Low mass is the key to high(er) speed. Loading hot end fans, direct drive extruders, bed leaving servos, LED lights and other stuff onto an i3 carriage is "how it's done". If you made that same set of decisions on a Delta it's no longer light weight.
An i3 will give you a silly high level of Z resolution. You don't need the resolution it supplies. You also don't need much Z speed on an i3. A Delta gives you similar resolution in all three axis. The big(er) resolution issue on a Delta is how well the math models your specific mechanicals.
Moving carriage printers (as in X/Y) are not a great idea for 5' tall prints. A fixed carriage machine (like a Delta) is a better idea for tall skinny prints. None of these printers are a good idea for 5' cubes...
What ever you get , who ever you get it from- think about the level of support and documentation you get with the kit. I'd claim that on your first build, support is a very big issue. It's a "you don't know what you don't know" sort of thing. You *might* not have any questions and everything just works. You also might be like 99% of the people who do a first build - there's *something* that just doesn't quite work the way you thought it did. Much better to have a kit supplier who does good support *and* to have forms like this than to just have one or the other. Waiting for Uncle Bob to wake from his :)-D:)-D:)-D:)-D "nap" for the answer to a question can be a pain.
Finally - this stuff is addictive, you are just looking at the first printer in your life. There will be (many) more.