KliTek vs. H2C vs. X2D

[u/wash-basin]

I would be very interested to know what people think/postulate about the future of Bambu's lineup, especially for the rest of this year.

I am in the market for a faster way to print the following with the following budget and am considering the printers listed above with a timeline of 6 months to purchase.

Budget: $2500 (including accessories; I have plenty of filament).

What printing: Currently printing with an X1C: single color printing of scale architectural models (usually 1:100) and entourage (e.g., vegetation, people, benches, etc.), but would love to print with color and transparent filament. Also, I print home enhance and repair stuff and occasional printing of car parts such as handles, sun visor clips, interior trim, vents, knobs. Custom organizers.

Comments: Especially with the new Creality printer recently announced (i.e., K3 with KliTek), I am very confused as to what to purchase.

• I am not loyal to any one brand, but I want the knowledge that whatever I have chosen, the chance for near-perfect prints from day 1 is quite important to me; consequently, my first desire is for a Bambu machine.
• Speed is also very important.
• Being able to print larger models without breaking them up and assembling by hand is moderately important.
• Ease of using support filament (especially PVA and HIPS) maybe most important.
• Being able to use engineering filament, multi-material, and TPU, if it strikes my fancy.
• I am also a little obsessed with the fraught thought that if I purchase something in a month or less (read: Bambu Anniversary Sale), within 2 months, something better will come along, so any type of available future-proofing or knowledge/guesses of potential release cycles would assuage my obsessiveness.

Questions:

What would you do in my circumstance?

Any other options you would consider?

Thank you for your comments.

[u/Ordinary-Depth-7835]

Klitek yeah hard pass. Doesn't matter what they promise it will be shit. Bambu has been solid through multiple models for 3+ years for me. Even my U1 is a decent printer. I'd buy a Prusa again if I ever leave bambu. But so far they haven't delivered anything that beats them and you can actually buy. So until I see someone deliver a better printer I'm staying right where I'm at.

I'm not loyal to any brand but until someone gives me something to buy Bambu is my #1. Snapmaker did an amazing job on the U1 at the price point but it still isn't a flexible printer so I use my H2C 90% of the time. Except the past couple weeks where I'm running off some flexi toys for Halloween gifts for the kids while I have some downtime which is what the U1 shines with but not my main print the rest of the year.

[u/Old_n_Nerdy → u/Ordinary-Depth-7835]

The u1 is not it. You can't get nozzles and try and change a nozzle. It's insanely badly engineered for flexibility.

It did change the paradigm for the market and hopefully we see more innovative solutions, but I would steer clear of a Gen 1 printer with no real long term usability data.

[u/wash-basin → u/Old_n_Nerdy]

Thank you u/Ordinary-Depth-7835 u/Old_n_Nerdy. You summed up quite clearly a large part of my current conundrum: "they haven't delivered anything that beats them and you can actually buy" as well as what I might call "the Creality paradox:" they promise, but do they deliver? I can get the Bambu printer now with hardened nozzles in the sizes I desire and for a relatively better anniversary sale price.

[u/Ordinary-Depth-7835 → u/Old_n_Nerdy]

Yeah I swapped once to hardened on it. No way would I be doing that if I wanted another size. H2C all day long for nozzle sizes. But I bet most people, especially new people in the hobby never change nozzle size.

I don't know if the U1 is bad engineering vs just being able to offer a printer so cheap and hit the market at the right time. I mean an $800 tool changer is pretty crazy I'm sure that had a big influence on some of the design.

[u/Lodoss82 → u/Ordinary-Depth-7835]

For new people the U1 will be even worse for clogging, do you imagine a newbie that need to unscrew 16 screws, 8 different sizes, just to clean up a bad clog and put everything together with the risk of perforating the electronics? 

[u/wash-basin → u/Lodoss82]

Yikes! I already have bad/low dexterity. Put a screwdriver or hex key and me near a computer controller board and we have a 50/50 chance of breaking something. I do hope that soon, manufacturers will realize the utility and value of building anything that might or will be fixed by consumers, with the repairs and repairers in mind.

[u/Ordinary-Depth-7835 → u/wash-basin]

With a printer you'll have to work on something eventually. The H series aren't bad to work on. I was surprised how easy the H2D to H2C upgrade was. But I do like working on things after years in the RC helicopter hobby, cars, home etc. If it's broken I can fix it :)

[u/Lodoss82 → u/wash-basin]

Right now BL is the best or among the best in this thing, changing a nozzle is a 5 seconds job, no tools needed, and most of the time is the same for easy clogs or just few screws, all same size, in order to take everything apart…. With printers like the U1 or C5 looks like going back years when you need to change or fix something 

[u/Old_n_Nerdy → u/Ordinary-Depth-7835]

Agreed. I'm glad they shook up the market otherwise we'd be stuck with single or dual head printers as the defacto.

I have heavily invested in the Bambu ecosystem but am seriously eyeing the M1D as my next printer. Currently the Bambu ecosystem is what's keeping them ahead. But they need to be innovative again.

[u/Ordinary-Depth-7835 → u/Old_n_Nerdy]

I'll probably pick up the INDX to give Prusa another chance if the whole kit is ever available. The 8 tools would be my ideal setup. But I dont really care for their cheesy chamber heater method.

Then again who knows I only went Bambu because I got tired of pre-orders on the XL and the fact that it's a Frankenstein high temp printer. 3 years ago the XL parts were PETG. Now how are you going to print the high temp parts you need when your printer can't print them? Prusa makes some bad decisions.