Yes I use it in the house, in a den I share with the roomate and he hasn't complained about the smell at all. I believe they do have 3D builds you can do to add to your Makerbot and then buy a particle filter and put it on to help with the fumes. Rep Rap has some good info, and how to print out / build another 3d printer with micro controllers etc, but in general when I was searching for "what is the best one to buy" it seemed hard to get a straight answer. Honestly I think the technology for "in home" use is just now becoming popular enough for people to become interested in it, but it's mostly people who know how to tinker, so in general they will be more lenient with reviews because if it breaks or needs adjustment they know how to fix it. It looks like as it stands right now if you want an out of the box ready to go system with support and website for builds (thingiverse.com) then MakerBot is the way to go. Now that I have my own, if any of my friends get one I would explore the cheaper ones. Just my opinion tho!