More Q&A! This time with questions about endstops, the Prusa Calculator, my last name, hooking up RepRap electronics and why a voltage divider is a better idea than a 7805 regulator for level-shifting the signal from an inductive sensor.
Turns out i slightly misread the question about the sub-$1k printer a tiny bit – if you want to build a Prusa i3 kit, that is definitely a good option as well. It might be a bit trickier than building a Printrbot, but you will also learn a bit more about how these marvelous machines work.
RAMPS on the RepRap wiki
Music by Cosmic Analog Ensemble