[eonpi]

1. Ender printers are usually a good deal, but in many cases they come partially assembled, so you have to do at least some work to be able to use them. Some of these even include bed auto-leveling which is something nice to have. One important thing to consider is the size of the things you want to print, printing volume is part of the specs, for example 300mm x 300mm x 300mm, which is about 1 cubit foot, can be versatile enough to print plenty of different items, but do keep in mind the actual printer dimensions are a bit more that the printing volume, so you'll need to have some space where to place it, and also keep in mind that besides size, the weight can also be something to consider since these printers are made of aluminum for the most part. Highly recommend getting something that comes already assembled, Monoprice used to have small printers (100mm x 100mm x 100mm) for $150 or so, a bit slow but pretty much ready to get going, you only needed to level the bed and add the filament. Most printers include sample PLA filament that you can use to do test prints. You also should try to get a heated bed (most should have it these days) to ensure proper print adhesion, and ideally a removable printing surface that make it easy to remove prints once finished, like the Ender's flexible magnetic ones.

2. You can definitely use Blender, just make sure you're using the proper dimensions (e.g. millimeters), you can then export your model as STL, and then use Cura or any other slicer you may like to get a gcode file which you can then send to your printer or load into a microSD card that you can select from the printer menu. Quick tip: if you just want to do a quick test, make sure to select the draft profile on your slicer, this way the generated gcode file won't take as long to print, the quality may be rough, but you can make sure that what you want to print will be printed successfully without having to wait twice or three times as long. Quick Blender starter: using the default cube shown on start, it measures 20mm per side, just go into edit mode, remove the top face, then select all the faces, use solidify tool, enter a thickness of at least 2mm, leave edit mode, export STL, slice in Cura, and you should have quick little test box to print. Scale appropriately for a different size, and use your design skills to make round corners in order to avoid sharp edges.

3. Thingiverse has plenty to choose from, look out for the dimensions of the objects, and for any material recommendations or printing notes.