Printer Recommendations?

[kend]

It's time for me to add a 3D printer to my toy box and with Black Friday here I think now is the time, any suggestions on the lowest cost printer that still has features that are worth spending a little more on? Thanks!

[flemdoug]

Having been 3D printing for almost 8 years - I now own 6 of them -- I would caution against trying for the lowest cost -- but your qualification on features worth spending money on is correct. The lowest priced printer I would consider -- (that I don't own) is the Creality Ender 3 V3 SE. Appears to be a nice printer, but it is pushing older technology to the max while dressing it up some with new technolgies. However, if you jump into the $500-$600 range you will probably have a better user experience -- along with the latest innovations. Bambu Labs P1S or P1P, Creality K1 or K1 Max, Flashforge Adventurer 5m or 5m Pro, and the Qidi Tech X-Smart3, X-Plus3 or X-Max3 (a bit higher but much larger build volume) all appear to be solid choices. Be warned - it is not a plug-n-play technology - there will be a learning curve. But if you are patient and willing to learn you will be amazed at what can be accomplished with one.

[fc60]

Greetings Flemdoug,

Any comments on the Prusa3D printers from the Czech Republic?

https://www.prusa3d.com/category/3d-printers/

Cheers,

Dave

[flemdoug]

The Prusa printers are great printers. I've owned one since 2019 (MK3S) and it has been solid and reliable. However, to the OP's question - they might be more than he wants to spend - and only recently have they updated the MK series (MK4S) with new technology. I wouldn't mind having one, but at $899 (for the kit) or $1099 assembled I think some of the less expensive choices might be a better experience for a new user. A Prusa kit is a box of parts -- BUT -- the documentation and support from Prusa are outstanding. In any case - you won't go wrong with a Prusa.

[kend]

Thanks for the info!

[MrWolf]

Based upon my experience I would stay away from Creality. Nothing but problems after the first month and then outright lies from their customer service. Even told me I had to buy a full replacement printer part versus and individual component as they said it didn't exist. When I showed them their own service video on that exact part they went silent. Good luck.
Ron

[flemdoug]

I don't own any Creality printers - but I have seen a lot of users with complaints similar to yours. I hate to disparage printers or companies if I haven't had personal experience with them. But your point is well taken.

[sierra1911]

I'd also recommend Prusa, either the current MK3S+ or the newer, faster MK4 depending on your budget. I bought a MK3S+ kit 2 years ago during their Black Friday sale and love it. I chose Prusa as I wanted bullet feeders and other printed objects to be my projects; I didn't want the printer itself to be a project. The Prusa came with the features I wanted including a good auto bed leveling system. I'm also using the Prusa slicer. The printer uses powder coated steel PEI sheets on the heat bed.

Although I started printing with PLA as recommended for the bullet feeders, I've switched to PETG for almost everything. Prusa prints many of the parts for their printers and uses PETG for all of them. They've perfected the printer settings in their slicer for their Prusament brand PETG and those settings are so far working well for Overture PETG. The Prusament PETG filament is expensive but the Overture PETG is about the same price on Amazon as the Overture PLA Pro. Prusa having the slicer settings dialed in for their printers and PETG is likely because they're running PETG on 600 of their printers in their print farm!

They released the newer, faster MK4 this year, but they still sell the MK3S+ and the kit price is currently $649. They're again having a Black Friday (thru Monday) and it offers free shipping, free filament, an extra steel print bed sheet, etc. The professionally printed instruction book for assembling the printer is written in good English and easy to follow. It does take 8 hours to assemble but you'll learn about every part of the printer (and you'll probably receive a bag of gummy bears for rewards for completing each chapter of the instructions).

They have updated the printer firmware and slicer software and my two-year old printer is printing faster than ever before.

[MrWolf]

I'd also recommend Prusa, either the current MK3S+ or the newer, faster MK4 depending on your budget. I bought a MK3S+ kit 2 years ago during their Black Friday sale and love it. I chose Prusa as I wanted bullet feeders and other printed objects to be my projects; I didn't want the printer itself to be a project. The Prusa came with the features I wanted including a good auto bed leveling system. I'm also using the Prusa slicer. The printer uses powder coated steel PEI sheets on the heat bed.

Although I started printing with PLA as recommended for the bullet feeders, I've switched to PETG for almost everything. Prusa prints many of the parts for their printers and uses PETG for all of them. They've perfected the printer settings in their slicer for their Prusament brand PETG and those settings are so far working well for Overture PETG. The Prusament PETG filament is expensive but the Overture PETG is about the same price on Amazon as the Overture PLA Pro. Prusa having the slicer settings dialed in for their printers and PETG is likely because they're running PETG on 600 of their printers in their print farm!

They released the newer, faster MK4 this year, but they still sell the MK3S+ and the kit price is currently $649. They're again having a Black Friday (thru Monday) and it offers free shipping, free filament, an extra steel print bed sheet, etc. The professionally printed instruction book for assembling the printer is written in good English and easy to follow. It does take 8 hours to assemble but you'll learn about every part of the printer (and you'll probably receive a bag of gummy bears for rewards for completing each chapter of the instructions).

They have updated the printer firmware and slicer software and my two-year old printer is printing faster than ever before.

Nice info there. Thanks. Been getting the itch but have been leary after my Creality fiasco.

[flemdoug]

I don't disagree with your praise of the Prusa - however, for the money I feel there is more value for the money to be had. I bought a Qidi X-Plus 3 this summer. These are the current feature improvements over the Prusa MK4 - Black Friday Special - $589/free shipping always vs MK4 $899 free shipping (only during Black Friday) - much larger build volume at 280x280 vs 225x225 (or with the X-Max3 at $899 -325x325), enclosed build chamber on the Qidi, open on the Prusa, Qidi has heated chamber - a big plus for difficult filaments like ABS and Nylon. Qidi is CoreXY - Prusa is older style 'bed-slinger' -- Qidi is capable of faster print speeds. Qidi also has reputation for incredible customer service which I have experienced personally to be on par with Prusa. Finally, at $899, the Prusa is still an 8 hour kit build while the Qidi is fully assembled - from opening box to printing, no more than 30 minutes. My Qidi has been an absolute workhorse and also does very well printing TPU. Again, YOU WON'T go wrong with a Prusa - PERIOD. But the Qidi X-Plus 3 for $300 less or the X-Max 3 - same price but fully assembled - just offers more value in the end.

[Handloader109]

I'm late, but anyone just getting into 3d printing that wants the easiest printing experience should look at one of the Bambu printers. I've had a X1CC for a year now. Still have my prusa mk3s+ that mainly sits unused. One of the newer A1 mini or A1 printers is roughly half a new prusa mk4 kit and it works fast and well out of the box.... just sayin.

Sent from my SM-S908U using Tapatalk

[lksmith]

Late entry to the party here, but i have been printing off and on for about 8yrs, started trying to cheap out with an Anet A8, then went to a Davinci XYZ enclosed, then to a BIBO Dual extruder, and now on a Bambu X1C.
What I've learned is that starting cheap with the intent of upgrading costs you more in time, money and frustration than "doing it right the first time"
Enclosed Printers remove a variable of drafts, therefore makes warping less likely
Heated bed, worth it!

For what I spent on the other 3 printers, I could've bought at least one more x1 combo, not to mention that I spent more time trying to get a good print than using the prints.
I have been pretty pleased with my X1, the AMS is a pain in the butt at times, but when it works correctly it is awesome. The X1 already has about all the upgrades one could want so while its overkill for just PLA it gives you a lot of options for future filament expansion. Just wish it had a bigger build volume. A 10"x10"x10" just isn't enough sometimes

[MrWolf]

Late entry to the party here, but i have been printing off and on for about 8yrs, started trying to cheap out with an Anet A8, then went to a Davinci XYZ enclosed, then to a BIBO Dual extruder, and now on a Bambu X1C.
What I've learned is that starting cheap with the intent of upgrading costs you more in time, money and frustration than "doing it right the first time"
Enclosed Printers remove a variable of drafts, therefore makes warping less likely
Heated bed, worth it!

For what I spent on the other 3 printers, I could've bought at least one more x1 combo, not to mention that I spent more time trying to get a good print than using the prints.
I have been pretty pleased with my X1, the AMS is a pain in the butt at times, but when it works correctly it is awesome. The X1 already has about all the upgrades one could want so while its overkill for just PLA it gives you a lot of options for future filament expansion. Just wish it had a bigger build volume. A 10"x10"x10" just isn't enough sometimes

I had the junk Crealitythat I had mentioned. I will be unboxing my Bambu Carbon X1 today. Hopefully it will be everything I have read about and do what I want.

[MrWolf]

I can definitely recommend the Bambu Carbon X1. What a huge difference over the junk Creality. I have been printing almost non stop with wall hanging boards, desiccant holder and lids, scrappers, etc. Fast and easy. I will be getting into their slicer a bit more as am trying to set things up for my boredom after surgery next month.

[flemdoug]

I can definitely recommend the Bambu Carbon X1. What a huge difference over the junk Creality. I have been printing almost non stop with wall hanging boards, desiccant holder and lids, scrappers, etc. Fast and easy. I will be getting into their slicer a bit more as am trying to set things up for my boredom after surgery next month.

I had my first experience with Bambu's over the weekend - my son-in-law and grandson bought the new A1 and P1S - both with the AMS unit - on my recommendation because they were completely new to 3D printing. I came away with some mixed feelings. (They had them for about 2 weeks before I was able to spend time with them). What I found (and am seeing a ton on Facebook groups) is that "newbies" have inflated expectations about these new 3D printers and 90% of the time think print issues are related to the printer. While the Bambu's do a great job of masking and simplifying basic machine calibration and setup, they leave inexperienced users completely clueless about what to do when something goes wrong. I don't know if there an answer to this issue - but, in any case, I was VERY impressed with the quality and ease of use of the Bambu's.