I’ve been wanting to get a 3d printer for a while and now I’m starting to finally look at getting one. It seems like in general though finding clear reviews and knowledge on printers is much harder than other things but maybe that’s because I’m not in the hobby yet. Bambu is a no from me but I’m open to other options. I was kinda looking at he centauri carbon but I’ve heard it’s pretty loud and I live in a small apartment. The Prusa Core One seems like a decent option but it’s all quite expensive so I don’t wanna save up for that unless it really is the best option and there’s nothing reasonable cheaper. What’s everyone’s thoughts? Absolute max budget is $1k but I would strongly prefer to spend something ~$500 or less
Avoid Elegoo like the plague. Horrible customer service. Literal months of fighting, explaining the problem over and over, and four escalations before the ticket was just closed.
We got an Anycubic Kobra S1 to replace the Elehoo junk and its been fantastic so far. They also have a 4.0 vs. Elegoo’s 2.3 on Trustpilot.
I’ve got an Anycubic S1
It’s half open. It doesn’t run Klipper but you can install it if you want. It has cloud features but you don’t have to use them. It comes with a proprietary Orca fork but you can run regular Orca or whatever slicer you want.
If you can wait, I’d get a Snapmaker U1.
I’ve heard snapmaker as a brand has been unreliable is that something I could solve with klipper? Otherwise the Anycubic is also a cheaper option between the two it seems
Given the speed and complete change in designs from year to year I don’t think there is any correlation between brands and reliability.
There are many complaints about the expensive Bambu H2D whereas everyone says the P1s is perfect.
I expect the Snapmaker to have problems given its complexity. But 4 print heads for $800 is worth some hassle.
I’ve got the Centauri Carbon and really like it. It is fairly noisy, but we’re in a small studio apartment and it’s been pretty easy to tune out during the day (Overnight prints are annoying though)
Have you tried any mods like a different fan or 3d prints to reduce noise? Curious if those affect the sound
I’ve considered it but it hasn’t bugged me enough. Probably going to try them out here pretty soon
I have a carbon as well and it is louder than I’d like. But with that said it’s no louder (with the enclosure open) than my old Ender 3S1. The real noise comes from the enclosure fan which is optional if you’re printing PLA.
I haven’t tried any sound dampening mods to it though. I have the luxury of being able to stick it in a closet when it’s working.
With it all considered I would definitely recommend it for it’s price point and how well it prints for a novice hobbyist like myself. It’s really close to “set it and forget it”
Consider the following:
- qidi q2
- creality k1c
- sovol sv08 max (for something bigger)
I own the k1c and it’s been ok reliable for the 6 months I’ve had it. If you are printing PLA/PETG you will need to keep the door open (and it’s breakable glass)
I’m here to shill for Qidi again whenever their name comes up. I’ve owned two, an OG X-Plus and currently an X-Max 3. They’ve both been rock solid, unpack from the box, and print. My only gripe about the Max 3 is that they are not extending support for their new AMS-esque filament changer doohickey to it, but that wasn’t even on the horizon back when I bought it so I guess I can’t be mad about that.
Thus far Qidi’s machines have been reasonably open source, with readily available parts, and they haven’t pulled any lock-in bullshit. You can run your own firmware on them if you like as well, since the controller boards and so forth are commodity parts.
The Q2 is definitely something I’m considering how’s the volume and such?
I ended up going with the Flashforge Adventurer 5M for ~$175 https://slickdeals.net/f/18590524-flashforge-adventurer-5m-wi-fi-3d-printer-w-auto-leveling-167-20-free-shipping (You can get 20-60% back from certain cashback websites like TopCashback or Capital One Shopping if you are comfortable with using them.)
You can 3D print an enclosure for the 5M after purchasing an enclosure kit for ~$40 online.
There’s also the 5M Pro model for ~$100 more that comes pre-built with an enclosure for sound dampening and printing with materials like ABS. It also comes with a camera and an extra nozzle. I didn’t go for it cause of the higher upfront cost, plus I don’t expect to print outside of PLA and PETG.
I bought my printer used, it only cost me 50€. Although I had to replace a bearing in the extruder.
Depending on the offers in your area that might be an option. Or I just got very lucky who knows…
Where’d you find it?
Germany’s Craigslist equivalent.
Sometimes you have to be patient for the good deals to show up. And usually there is no shipping. So some hidden cost in transportation and time may exist.
So I had a creality K1 and it was rock solid. I saved up after and just bought a Prusa Core One which I love. Now the K1 was great I got it when it came out on sale at microcenter for 300$ so if you can find it around that price or lower in my experience you can’t go wrong. I only printed PLA on it so I can’t say how other filaments print on it but pla it just worked.