<TLDR> • Experience: none • Size: > 20x20x20 cm • Price Range: 800-1500€ • Print Medium: PLA </TLRD>
Hi all! I would like to join the group of 3D printer owners but I don’t have any experience. I don’t want to buy a cheap printer just to find myself buying a better one in a few months so I set my price in the middle segment (I think).
I am going to set it up in my office which has AC but direct sun light for some hours a day. Is a full case recommended?
What printer can you recommend for me and what software (windows) can I use to design and print some parts?
If you need any more info please let me know.
Kind regards in anvance
in that price range you can get a bambulabs X1 carbon, which is an extremely high performance and high reliability machine. If you want to save a bit, the P1P is also really good.
I am a hardcore custom printer guy who loves building everything themselves, but even I have to admire this machine.
Don’t listen to people recommending ender 3s or anything creality, but prusas are also a good option, if a bit outdated.
I like the X1 as a printer. But BambuLabs is not a company I’d want to support.
I’m considering getting one for my next printer. What’s wrong with them as a company? I’m out of the loop.
I’ll just list some I remember
Their slicer has a fork called orca which included some nice extra features and calibration tools which work for all machines not just the Bambu ones. In the latest update of their slicer they just copied all the code from the fork but never mentioned the person that did all the work until they were publicly called out on it. Which seems to be a recurring theme.
Also many functions of the printer are locked behind it being always connected to the cloud which has been proven to have multiple vulnerabilities. One of the most annoying is sending files over to the machine over wifi is linked to the printer having acces to the Bambu labs servers which have been experiencing some downtime lately. Meaning a lot of functions of the printer are only there as long as Bambu labs exists.
The X1C has the ability to run in local mode so that their servers are not required.
Yeah, but still need to download their app to set it up and the progress updates trough the app also don’t work without the cloud, even when on the same network. Also no webcam, because that needs to be routed trough Chinese servers to guarantee optimal Image quality and latency.
I think the main issue with them is that everything is proprietary on the machines meaning little aftermarket support or user mods. Traditionally, most printers up til now have used generic parts that anyone can buy from 100’s of different retailers.
Oh god lol I can’t imagine having a part need replacing on the fly and not being able to find a replacement at Micro Center. Big yikes lol.
They do sell all of the components online though and at good prices. It’s not hard to get replacement parts. I’ve even seen Voron and ratrig people making mods to use bambulabs spare parts in their custom machines because they are way more affordable than comperable high performance parts from other sources.
There are also clone parts now. Which atleast should serve the purpose of being available when Bambulabs doesn’t have stock/stops selling them.
I’ve been eyeing the hotend clones without the integrated nozzle as a nice lightweight option for a build that doesn’t require a that high flow hotend.
Haha just be grateful you live within driving distance of a Microcenter. I think I’d need to take a couple hour plane ride to be within driving distance of our closest store.
Haha true that. I moved into my current place about a year and a half ago, and then decided to buy a 4080 a few months in. Imagine the delight on my face when I realized there was a Micro Center less than a mile away! I go there all the time for 3D printing stuff these days.