Hey guys, I’ve got little to no knowledge on 3D printing and even less experience, so go easy on me. I will most likely be using words I don’t understand.
I live in a hot and humid country in the EU, and given my circumstances and the aforementioned lack of knowledge, I’m considering a closed enclosure model from the company everyone hates because it’s cheap, available, and famed for its ease of use.
I’m no stranger to tinkering with everything, but I do want to get started with something that’s just plug and play (or close enough to it). And even after I jailbreak it (which I assume is possible?), I really don’t want the tinkering to be part of the hobby itself.
My questions are: Size: Would I regret getting a 256x256x256 mm^3 sized one? Most prints I’ve seen fit easily, but there are a few that require more space.
Filaments: Where to buy, how to store, are all of them compatible with extruder-type printers? How do I check?
Accessories: I’ve seen nozzles and accessory packs being sold but I have no idea what they’re for. Can I print upgrades? Also what the heck does the Combo printer add-on do?
Alternatives: I’m not married to the P2S. Feel free to suggest alternatives. Thanks!
I have the a1 and love it. Its terminally online nonsense the hate for them. Its affordable and works great. Go for it.
If anything is terminally online it’s the Bambu itself lmao
My sleepy brain thought that “its terminally online nonsense” literally was referring to the printer.
An apostrophe would have made that clearer in the original comment.
Oh. Just flip the switch on the back, it’s a power button. Turns it off completely. When printing it’s nice for it to be connected though so I can watch a livestream of my plate/print when I’m at the store.
AFAIK, you can’t use the printer without an internet connection unless you put it in “developer mode”, which is fucking insane.
Yeah, I don’t have to. I’d only be able to print like the factory test things or things I have saved to a folder without it, but it’s possible.
Idk it’s a nice fun toy to me.
You don’t see the issue that you can’t use your own printer to print what you want if your internet goes down? Wow…OK then, I will never understand that way of thinking.
How often does your internet go out?
Does it really matter? The point is it puts control of the printer in Bambu labs hands, should they decide to they can just stop your printer from working and brick it.
Why are you OK with someone else owning and controlling the things you bought?
My xbox would be the same.
And so would my phone.
Heck, I have a first Gen Oculus Vr headset. Its been shut off of updates and can’t do anything really so it’s the same.
That’s not a me problem, thats companies being absolute dicks.
Frequently.
I know because my self-hosted systems alert me when it happens.
I have an A1 and I hate it. It’s so stupid that they are locking down on their ecosystem, and I fervantly despise that they are trying to take down that fork of OrcaSlicer (despite their own software being a fork of a fork!)
Elegoo’s Centauri Carbon has an enclosure and is CoreXY, so objectively much better value than the A1
Until it doesn’t. The nozzle of my A1 has clogged, and it is difficult to fix. The Prusa Core One is more reliable and repairable for a similar price and performance to the equivalent Bambu machine (edit: to higher end Bambu machines, obviously it doesn’t compete with the A1’s price bracket. My point still stands that Bambu machines are not the end all be all for reliability).
The Prusa Core One is $1,000-$1300 USD what do you mean its the same price as a $359 A1? I think Prusa’s days are numbered as they didn’t bother to innovate and instead thought selling $1000 bed slingers would tide them over until the end of eternity. Now they’re scrambling to stay relevant but refuse to bring down their insane pricing.
The Prusa Core One competes with the higher end Bambu Lab machines, mate! And you have ignored that Prusa machines are way more repairable and reliable. Also, the Core One is a COREXY machine, what are you on about with bedslingers. The A1 is also a bedsligner but I don’t see you complaining.
Also, you seemed to have ignored the Elegoo Centauri Carbon (which is similarly priced, CoreXY, enclosure, super awesome in general)
I did not say Prusa was super competitve in the low end, that’s why the Elegoo Centauri Carbon was mentioned!
It doesn’t compete with those higher end machines because it’s twice the price for the same feature set.
More repairable and reliable based on what, your feelings? I can completely understand your dislike for Bambu, but their printers are fantastic for the price. What specific “difficult issues” are you referring to exactly?
I realize the Core One is CoreXY. Maybe you’re new to the scene, but Prusa didnt have a CoreXY machine until years after Bambu had changed the game and every other Chinese company had already cloned them. They were still relying on their MK line selling everyone $300 printers for $1000 back then. Now they’re behind the ball and keep running into delays and issues with their new crop of printers and multi-matetial systems all while continuing to charge premium prices.
I didnt ignore the Elegoo. Your comment directly stated that the Core One was comparable to the A1. The Elegoo printer is actually a better value than both Bambu and Prusa (assuming that its also reliable).
Specific issues? I’ve already mentioned my printer is out of commision due to a bad clog, filament has spewed out to cover the whole nozzle. I can’t get the nozzle out since it’s trapped in a solid chunk of plastic.
The Prusa Core One does not have “twice the price for the same features”, it’s about a couple hundred dollars more than the equivalent Bambu for: European manufacturing, immense repairability (not based on “feelings”, they have the option to ship the printer as a DIY kit so that you can know each part inside and out, and time and time again Prusa has allowed users of upgrade to the next version), reputation for reliability (I know friends who have been using a Prusa for the past decade that are still going strong!), and an awesome attitude to the community.
And yes, Elegoo has a better value printer! So why position Bambu as the “affordable” option, if it has less features (no enclosure, no CoreXY) compared to the Elegoo CC (and others, you have Qidi doing heated bed chamber for a great value), while not being as reliable/repairable as a Prusa? Plus them being awful to FOSS projects and closing down on their software is generally bad. Obviously, don’t contribute to e-waste and bin your printer, I haven’t, but for newbies, I would strongly advise against Bambu.
Yes, Prusa has made bedslingers for long time, but the Core One has been out for a while now, and it’s recently received the optional INDX upgrade for multi-toolhead. Prusa isn’t falling behind, they are still doing very cool stuff and innovating, not to mention everything is STILL upgradeable despite becoming CoreXY, and that is an achievement! (e.g. you can upgrade a MK4S to a Core One + INDX if you wanted too)
It’s a lie to say that Prusa is not innovating, because they really are :D
They have also contributed a lot to the community, the opposite of which is true for Bambu.
You have not addressed the main points against Bambu:
And instead, you are focusing on the higher prices of Prusa machines (while ignoring that higher end Bambu printers are also very expensive, if not more so for their dual nozzle thing compared to, say, the Snapmaker U1 others have already mentioned), are ignorant that Prusa Core One is CoreXY, assumed I was positioning the Core One as a competitor to the A1 (any sane person would immediately see that’s just wrong, I did word it a bit weirdly and that’s been edited to be more clear, but it doesn’t change my point that Bambu Lab machines are not super reliable like you suggest)
This guy only buys name brands!
Yanno, I couldn’t tell what to get because of the toxic attitudes on 3d printer forums. Very elitist, mean, and loud bunch of people really.
I mean, how could I tell the difference between what actually sucks in real life or what was being pushed by manipulative “brand management accounts?”
So I went into best buy with a pocket of cash and picked myself. No regrets, it’s great really.
You didn’t need to explain that you were just a basic consumer with no interest in corps destroying things like privacy and ownership. Trust me, we know.
Loving the toxic attitude, super cool stuff. I bet your heart health is shit.
Supporting companies without considering the impact of that support is worse than getting your balls busted on a public forum. You do you though.
Cringe.
Yeah caring about one’s impact and long-view thinking isn’t cool…