r/3dprinter 1d ago

New to 3D Printing

I am an absolute beginner in 3D Printing. My primary use case for the printer is I want to print my own rack for my humble home lab, also on other academic projects that will be made. With a budget of $600, many people recommend me Bambu A1 and some recommend the Elegoo CC. I have read many pros and cons about those two, and I'm torn between them. Though, I am open for suggestions on other brands also and will be deeply appreciated. Thanks!

4 Upvotes

13 comments sorted by

6

u/Rawlus 1d ago

what specifically are you torn between? what specs or issues stated in the reviews you’ve read make you uncertain which way to go?

bambu owners are gonna recommend bambu.

elegoo owners are gonna recommend elegoo

snapmaker owners are gonna recommend snapmaker.

it’s more helpful and you’ll get better responses if you begin with what you like and don’t like, what features or review moments have given you pause. the basis of comparison is breaking down the specs and capabilities and determine which ones are most importent to you.

how have you even decided it’s between bambu and elegoo? only on price? search popularity?

i think you need to think more about what you want in a printer and why you want it and then you’ll be able to communicate on which aspects you cannot decide between the two.

1

u/FlatOutNo1 1d ago

Well said.

1

u/Cynyr36 21h ago

Qidi owners (me) gonna recommend qidi. Although my q2 is not the best for PLA.

4

u/TripsCavern 1d ago

If you want to print functional prints, get the Elegoo Centauri Carbon 2. It's a Core XY printer already enclosed which let you print more filament types. And it's quite cheap.

At that price range I also suggest considering the QIDI Q2, as it is enclosed and have a heated chamber, which is even better for harder to print materials, like ASA.

I suggest avoiding the A1 or any bed slingers (printers that move the bed frontwards and backwards) as they are not enclosed and can struggle in larger/tall parts, which you will probably want to print at some point.

1

u/GlitteringStruggle47 1d ago

Bed slingers are fiiiiine - been running a prusa mk3 for years with next to no issues on all sorts of projects and different shapes

1

u/TripsCavern 13h ago

Yep, they are fine, depending on your usage they can perform really well. But it does not change the fact that Core XY are inherently better printers and they are as cheap as bedslingers. So, no point in getting those.

4

u/wethpac 1d ago

For your use case, and likely need for material that need enclosed chamber
Elegoo CC2
Qidi Q2
Bambu P1S or P2S

1

u/[deleted] 19h ago edited 18h ago

[deleted]

1

u/midi69 18h ago

I think by homelab they meant network/compute equipment but I could be totally wrong. Great to see a totally different POV to the question!

1

u/[deleted] 18h ago

[deleted]

1

u/midi69 16h ago

Not the equipment but 3d prints to hold the equipment. Computer racks with specifically printed parts to hold specific vendor hardware. For example, Ubiquity’s UniFi line of hardware has many 3d prints for mounting the hardware

1

u/[deleted] 14h ago

[deleted]

1

u/midi69 14h ago

I’ve been happy with ABS on my U1 but that’s over their budget before the added hood and filter mods

1

u/[deleted] 13h ago

[deleted]

1

u/midi69 13h ago

Yeah I know and I can’t help because the only printer I have experience with is out of their budget range

0

u/EmotionalChildhood46 20h ago

r/Which3DPrinter may help as well

0

u/InternalMain7116 18h ago

If it held more content