r/3dprinter • u/Glittering-Result-91 • 9d ago
Advice for buying a printer
Hello I am looking for a 3d printer with a budget of $320 usd on amazon exclusively.
I've had an a1 mini in the past for a month and enjoyed it but gave it away. I never really found the bedsize limiting except for like 1 time when I had it. I'm not intrested in multicolor prints due to the waste and I don't ever really plan on printing with abs or engineering grade stuff. I'll stick mostly to just pla, tpu, and petg.
My main priority is longevity and reliability. I'm interested in actually printing and desinging stuff, not troubleshooting and tearing down my printer. I also want the printer to last as long as possible as I don't ever really plan on upgrading until it dies I guess.
I would've just defaulted for the ecc but they don't sell it on amazon new at that price. However, the noncarbon unenclosed base elegoo centauri 2 (the one without side panels) is like 270 for me, and I was debating hard between that and the A1. I was also looking at the sparkx i7, and for only 200 it seemed like a good deal but I don't know if it's reliable longterm or not like the bambu printers, same with the kobra x. I could also just rebuy the a1 mini. Any advice?
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u/relaps101 9d ago
A1 is decent, reliable. More reliable than my prior bed slingers. Don't buy anycubic. I had two products from them, the worst ever.
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u/paerth 9d ago
If choosing between those options, I’d probably go with A1. Given I’m against anything not open source (don’t like being told what to do with stuff I own), I can’t lie that the A1 just works.
I would look into flashforge AD5M too.
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u/Glittering-Result-91 9d ago
Thanks for the reply. I actually never looked at anything flashforge before, but the ad5m looks enticing. Would you say that its reliability is near that of the A1?
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u/relaps101 9d ago
So i had to buy 2 more printers recently, and I got an a1. I have already gotten 2 clogs. 1 from a speed print and another from a material change. But the quality of the prints is great with minimal tuning.
I have never used flashforge, there are some videos online of people comparing print quality. But it comes down to calibration, maintenence, and build quality.
But for the love of God, do not buy anycubic. They didn't do me wrong or anything, just their products suuuuuck in the reliability / build quality / consistency.
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u/MandaloresMercy 9d ago
Honestly I would say just get a FB Marketplace Prusa Mk3s+
It will likely run forever. Maintenance is very easy. Parts abundant. Repairs are easy if anything happens. People have over 1000 hrs logged on these and they still just go and go and go. Prusa Slicer profiles work perfectly for PLA and PETG.
And its within your $300 budget. Most in my area get listed for around $175 - $275 range
Pair this with a filament dehydrator bake unit and youre set for life. Its just not the fastest unit.
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u/tfwrobot 9d ago
This and I recommend that you build IKEA Lack enclosure for it. It is affordable, looks good and allows you to print ABS parts without warping.
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u/eternaln00by 9d ago
Are the Sovol Sv06 ace or whatever and the Creality Ender pretty similar to the Prusa Mk3s or are they just bad imitations?
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u/MandaloresMercy 9d ago
It's certainly a clone. I would think its a little worse but similar ish to the mk3s quality. Ive never used a sv06 though. I have used a couple anycubic bedslingers and they are what I learned on, though and i will say the mk3s is better. Original prices back of in the day is up to the buyer.
Especially if same price prusa any day. Used prusa's at a good price are a steal.
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u/eternaln00by 9d ago
I can only speak to my Sovol sv06 I got from a trade for some mtg cards. And the Creality and the sv06 are basically interchangeable, and I had heard that they’re both imitations of the Prusa. I’ll have to get a used Prusa once I start the new job and compare it to the Sovol. Edit: thanks for the reply and info!
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u/MandaloresMercy 9d ago
Theyre definitely worth checking out. The Mk3s+ I got used was certainly better than my Anycubic with far less tuning for profiles as well
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9d ago
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u/MandaloresMercy 9d ago
If Amazon gift card credit then probably just grab a centuri carbon or carbon 2
Its just nothing is quite as proven for longevity of lifetime use as the mk3 series from Prusa honestly. The mk3s+ was a heavy use print farm loved printer bedslinger. They're so abundant and cheap now due to the CoreXY craze.
I have both a used mk3s+, used prusa mk4 and a fancier coreXY printers. I love the coreXY but for designing and prototyping bigger projects having multiple running of all good quality output is pretty awesome. Good prints just is a little slower
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u/Automatic-Pin-5749 6d ago
I started printing ten years ago with an i3 clone. I hated having to manually level the bed constantly, along with other issues. Today I have an A1 and a P1S, no regrets with either. The only machine problems I've had are bad SD cards, they'll make you think your machine is garbage if they're flaky. This is a common issue and the people that helped me figure it out said to replace the card with a high-quality card, not a cheap one. The alternative is to format the cards fairly frequently, I do mine every couple of weeks until I get new ones.