Printing question

This may be a stupid question,but what is the deal with 3d printers?How much and where can you get one?

I have been eyeing this one off for ages:

Cubify

I recently had a conversation with a friend who works in architectural design , who is considering buying a 3D printer for producing prototype models for clients . He told me that you can now buy a printer in kit form for about £400 . Apparently , the technology is on the verge of "breaking through" and becoming less expensive . Materials though , can still be costly . He was asking me , as a modeller , whether there was anyone using the technology/technique and I said that I'd heard very little on the subject . The thing is , to utilise it properly , you need to be fluent in using the programming software , such as CAD .