Don't get a Makerbot. It's not bad but you can do much better. Assuming you are in the US, here are some recommendations:
MakerGear makes great printers. Amazing customer support and they even have an IRC channel on Freenode where you can interact with the chief maker.
http://www.lulzbot.com/en/86-assembled-lulzbot-prusa-mendel-...
Lulzbot is another good option.
I recommend building it yourself. It will be much easier to fix stuff when it breaks if you go that way. You can buy a kit from the above companies, or if you want to source parts from different companies, check out Ebay and Emakershop.com.