I made my own 3D printer in 2014 (E3D, Core-XY, oversized Nema motors, …), but it has been sitting in the garage for too long and it’s a bit bulky, finicky and so on. A good first try IMO back when crappy chinese ones was 700-800€ on AliBaba… But because my kid asked me if we couldn’t buy one, and this one specifically, I checked it out, it’s ~300€ which I thought was way too cheap for something reliable but things have changed in the 3D print world it seems, and I haven’t kept up.

So I’m mostly looking for something reliable (or easily fixable, I do have printed a bunch of stuff so I know how things work, at least I have had all the basics problems :-) ) and in a box, no need for anything fancy.

I read that the hotend isn’t interchangeable, or you go third-party, but I will mostly (only?) use PLA which is not very abrasive.

I also read that you can use other slicers, which is nice. Future proofing is nice.

Thoughts / recommendations ?

Thanks!

Edit: Kid just sent me the " 3D Bambu Lab P1S" too, but I think I don’t like the closed echo system of the Bambu… is it a legit concern ?

  • sbird@sopuli.xyzEnglish
    1·
    2 days ago

    As an owner of a Bambu Lab machine (the A1, the big brother of the A1 mini), they print great, but the closed ecosystem is pretty bad and I would not recommend Bambu printers anymore. Plenty of other companies make great printers without the annoying Apple-like restrictions.

    A year or so ago they released a firmware update that bricked third-party software (like OrcaSlicer, which I use) unless you set a “LAN only” mode that meant you couldn’t access your printer remotely without stuff like Tailscale, and they also bricked third-party hardware (like the “Panda Touch” display for the P1 series models) because screw us consumers I guess? And given that they already have RFID tags in their filaments, they could easily flip a switch to make it so that Bambu printers require first-party filament and then jack up the prices of their filament like what HP did with 2D printers (which everybody hated). What’s stopping them? Or what if they make third-party hotends, replacement parts, etc. all incompatible?

    The Centauri Carbon seems like a neat option, haven’t used it myself, but reviews suggest that it prints pretty well (though try to evade to super sponsored ones that came out on release, it’s the same with all tech) and it looks like many people have good experiences with it.

    If you decide against Elegoo’s printer, there are plenty of other options available. Sovol makes the SV06 line which seems pretty neat, and Qidi has a bunch of good value options (the Q1 Pro has been mentioned a bunch, for instance). You might also want to look at Creality with their K1 series, but some people don’t like Creality as a company. If you truly want something that can last, constructed in Europe, etc., then there’s also Prusa, but all that costs extra. Prusa’s printers are really cool as they sell upgrade kits so that you can turn your old printer into the new model for less money!

    If the kid is looking for colour changing, make sure they really want it, since it wastes a bunch of filament in the form of “poop” when changing colours (there’s a bunch of videos on the topic). If they insist on it, the companies that offer colour changing systems that aren’t Bambu are Creality and Prusa. If the printer you are looking to purchase runs/supports Klipper, there are also a bunch of DIY options that you build yourself (there’s BoxTurtle, EnragedRabbit/ERCF, etc.)