This is a bit off-putting for me as well, and I haven’t committed to a purchase for that reason. Basically, small companies like to use their customer’s money to help finance the production. I see the reasons (multiple), but if I’d wanted to invest in the business I would have bought stock in it.
I’m also concerned that I haven’t received an answer to my post here in over 15 days.
I’m sensitive to this new equipment, because I almost bought into the C3D 5 Pro, and would have been part of a series of customer problems with that new machine.
It concerns me that all that we know about the AltMill is based on one prototype. I’m concerned, but I’m not scared off. The AltMill seems to be the right combination of size, mechanics and features, but I’ll let others provide the beta testing for the new machine.