

Worst:
1. Unheated glass plate with no adhesive. (Could not get anything to stick beyond the first few prints, and I'm disinclined to clean between each print. Prints warped badly.)
2. Blue Painters Tape on low heat (40°C) bed. (Kept gouging/tearing the tape when removing the prints. Still some warping on tall prints.)
3. PEI surface. (Unfortunately a non-starter since the sheet i received was warped. Poor quality control for something that expensive.)
Worked:
4. Heated glass plate (40°C) with Elmer's Washable Schoolglue purple stick. (This worked but i personally preferred the hairspray since i had a hard time applying the glue stick evenly. Sometimes had to freeze the print off - it stuck too well.)
5. Heated glass plate (40°C) with purple can AquaNet Extra Super Hold Hairspray. (Worked pretty well. Good base coat needed, followed by light spritz just before a print. Had to be cleaned off every dozen or so prints and reapplied. For base coat - spray a heavy coat from a few inches away until a puddle develops, then gently smear it all around with a finger and let dry. Sometimes had to freeze the prints off and i was worried about chunking the glass.)
6. Heated glass plate (40°C) with Garnier Fructis Ultra Hold Hairspray. (Sticks very well. Good base coat needed, followed by light spritz just before a print. Had to be cleaned off every dozen or so prints and reapplied. For base coat - spray a heavy coat from a few inches away until a puddle develops, then gently smear it all around with a finger and let dry. Sometimes had to freeze the prints off and i was really concerned about tearing a chunk out of the glass with this one.)
7. Full sheet Kapton tape on the glass http://amzn.to/1E08NJx, heated glass plate(40°C), with hairspray. (This was what i wound up using for a long time. Small prints would work without the hairspray, but taller prints needed the extra help from the hairspray. I was less afraid of prying/freezing prints off the kapton tape. It could be nicked though, and the hairspray got to be tedious to deal with.)
The Winner:
8. The Zebra plate. Period.
http://www.printinz.com/zebra-plates/
Pros:
1. Heavy, stable surface with two colors so you can contrast your print depending on what color your filament is.
2. PLA and PETG stick to it while printing, with no warping/edge curling, and no additional bed prep is needed aside from a heated bed. (About 50°C for PLA. About 85°C for PETG.)
3. When the plate cools down, the print pops/twists off with absolutely no drama. No freezing. You don't have to take the plate off the bed. Just lift the print off if it's small, or use a spatula to glide it off from a corner if it is large. It lets go.

4. It dramatically cuts down on the bed heat-up time. (Cuts it to about a quarter of the time needed to bring the bed up to temp with glass.)

5. It really is the best for PLA. (Also excellent for PETG.)
Cons:
1. Can't use it for tall ABS prints - ABS is just too strong and tall prints will warp/deform the plate as it cools.
2. You'll have to reset your Z-stop before using it - it's thicker than the glass plates.
3. It ain't cheap.
