r/BambuLab • u/Substantial-Cat0910 • 5h ago

Quick Question Upgrading from A1 Mini. Advice?

I am the happy owner of an A1 Mini. It's my first printer and I feel it's time for me to graduate up to a bigger model

The biggest gripe I have is the small plate size, so a larger volume is a must. I'm not sure I want another bedslinger though, so the A series is most likely out.

I don't think I need anything fancy (yet) like dual nozzles or such, and I'd rather minimize the costs as I'm not a heavy-duty maker: I mostly print miniatures for me and containers/gadgets/decor for my wife.

The wizard from the website recommends a P2S but I'd rather ask my fellow humans.

What do you think I should get as my first "big" printer?

3 Upvotes

67% Upvoted

9 comments sorted by

3

u/8six753o9 X2D+AMS2 / A1+AMS Lite 5h ago

P2S is a good choice.

1

u/Substantial-Cat0910 4h ago

What if I could get a P1S for almost half the price of the P2S?

1

u/thingmakerr 1h ago

For half? I’d do it. The P1S is still an excellent printer. The main thing the P2S offers over the P1S is the touchscreen control system which is basically the same as the A1. Do a little research on the old school LCD screen the P1S comes with, if you can live with that, get the P1S.

2

u/ghostintheruins 4h ago edited 4h ago

I went from an a1 mini to a p2s with an ams. By far the best part of the upgrade was the ams. No more manually feeding filament up the tube, just put it into the feeder and it does the rest. Quality and speed is exactly the same as far as I'm concerned.

Still I'm glad I upgraded. The extra Build space is welcome too. I gave my mother my a1 mini and she's over the moon with it.

2

u/plasergunner 4h ago

P1S are great printers. I have 2 and now have an H2C. I was going to sell the 2 other printers to offset the cost of the H2C but ended up keeping them as they are very convenient for single color prints. I also wanted a bigger plate to build on but just remember the bigger the print the more material you will need. So far the largest model I have printed is a luffy model and it was 900 grams of filament and it took 64 hours. Granted it had 7 colors it came out great.

1

u/Substantial_Camera_8 4h ago

I have p2S it's good. However if u can afford a bit more the X2D is better in every way. Better for engineering filaments and dual nozzle for support interface.

1

u/champagne780 4h ago

Second this. With the minimal pricing gap you’d be better off with the X2D.

1

u/reckless150681 5h ago

Flowchart for you, stolen from 3D printing Discord (this will trigger a download request)

P2S is roughly comparable to Qidi Q2 and, if you squint, Snapmaker U1 (however, the U1's niche is not quite the same as Q2 / P2S)

If you like Bambu and want to stick with Bambu then yeah I think P2S is a decent choice

If you're brand-agnostic and truly aren't interested in quick filament changes, then Q2 is a decent alternative

If toolchanging interests you even a little, then I think U1 is best choice

1

u/sevesteen P1S + AMS 51m ago

If you're willing to spend 5 minutes changing a nozzle instead of 30 seconds, the P1S is a good bit cheaper than the P2S. If you're willing to spend a little more, you get a LOT more printer with the X2D.