3d printing is incredibly powerful for hobbyist electronics- you can make professional quality stuff[1], only limited by your creativity and design sense. Home FDM printers are so good that you can 3d print working threads even on cheap machines! If you spring for a more expensive lithography or sintering machine, the parts are effectively indistinguishable from commercial parts (aside from obvious technical differences like the lack of witness marks).
The prices are just ridiculously low now as well. $160 + tax and shipping gets you a printer[2]. Obviously you pay for that in terms of continual fiddling and reduced quality (and the $220 MP select mini is probably a better choice), but even that's better than how it used to be. $600 will get you nearly hassle-free prints and $750 will get you one of the best printers on the market[3] (well, almost on the market). Arguably the new Prusa is the best option out there- right now it has features that no other printers do, certainly not with the same build size. Really impressive bit of kit[4].
IMO 3d printing is legitimately at the point where if you're making things at home, a 3d printer should be on your list of tools to buy even before a mill. Obviously it depends on what you want to make but it now takes way longer to learn and use modeling software than to set up and tweak your printer.
I bought my first 3d printer about a year ago and it quickly turned into one of the best things I've ever bought.
If you're at all interested in making things at home, there's almost no reason not to own a 3D printer.
I recently replaced the no-brand i3 clone that I initially bought with an Anycubic i3 Mega, and am very happy with the new machine. It's nice and rigid, easy to use, prints stick to the bed well while printing and pop off easily after printing. And all for less than £300.
As you said, the hardest part about it all is learning the CAD software.
I wouldn't spring for a Monoprice Delta until they fix the firmware issues. WiFi freezes, poor bed leveling, and X/Y dimensional accuracy are some of the issues that need to be fixed. Otherwise it's a nice unit for small builds.
The prices are just ridiculously low now as well. $160 + tax and shipping gets you a printer[2]. Obviously you pay for that in terms of continual fiddling and reduced quality (and the $220 MP select mini is probably a better choice), but even that's better than how it used to be. $600 will get you nearly hassle-free prints and $750 will get you one of the best printers on the market[3] (well, almost on the market). Arguably the new Prusa is the best option out there- right now it has features that no other printers do, certainly not with the same build size. Really impressive bit of kit[4].
IMO 3d printing is legitimately at the point where if you're making things at home, a 3d printer should be on your list of tools to buy even before a mill. Obviously it depends on what you want to make but it now takes way longer to learn and use modeling software than to set up and tweak your printer.
[1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3O0jKvxUIM
[2]: https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=21666
[3]: https://shop.prusa3d.com/en/3d-printers/180-original-prusa-i...
[4]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwNIzQLtHnU