Hi, I am totally new to 3D printing and want to have a printer. Budget is 400€. My background is computer science and programming and I want to be able to hack the device if I want but it should work fine OOTB (or with minimal effort). Which device would you guys suggest to me?
Prusa is top of the line for open source and very much falls into “works out of the box”. The other bed-slinger style printers like Ender are cheap but tend to have issues and are a money-sink for upgrades to get them working (lots of mods there). If you’re into hacking and modding stuff though, look into Voron printers. I’m not sure if any of the Voron versions fall into your budget, but you can buy a kit or do open-source. They’re self-built, extremely fast, customizable, and really meant for the people in the printing community who like to program and mod things.
You can get a Voron 0.2 kit from formbot for like $400 USD fyi. If I didn’t already have some of the parts I need for a 0.2 I’d probably just get a kit from them. As it stands I plan on self sourcing mine at some point.
I got a Prusa (MK2s) six years ago and it’s been really, really great. Unfortunately, your budget restriction rules out the current model.
If you can get access to a printer at a friend’s house, a library, a school, a workplace, a makerspace, etc., I would suggest not buying a printer while totally new to 3D printing. Do some 3D printing for awhile. Then, on the basis of that experience, decide if you want to commit to having a good printer at a slightly higher price point.
400€ is really very restrictive. Commercial 3D printers are 10,000€ to 100,000€. Prusa’s printers are extremely good for their modest ~900€ price.
If you do decide to get a Prusa, I recommend the kit over the assembled option. It’s cheaper, and the familiarity you get with its components and construction during assembly gives you the power of fearless repair and tinkering – you’ve already assembled it once, so disassembling it and reassembling it for repair or upgrade is no big deal.
I was in a similar position recently, but also valued OpenSource (see meel being here ;) )
I went with the Prusa Mini+ semi assembled kit.
it’s been chugging through filament for a few months.€400 and under, you’re in creality’s bread and butter zone. I will say that if you go with creality that half of your hobby will be tinkering and not necessarily the things you are printing–but maybe that’s a positive?
I recently went from creality to a bambu lab x1c (way above your budget) and the difference is astounding. It’s the closest thing to set it and forget it I’ve seen so far. Also the first time I’ve felt like I’m truly living in the future lol.
I’ve heard positive things about Bambu’s P1P–their current entry level printer (roughly $600 plus tax and shipping). However, hacking and tinkering is out of the question as the firmware is closed source.
I picked up an Ender 3 S1 Pro a month ago for what would be about 350 Euros. I hear about all the problems people have with Enders (now that I bought it) but so far it’s been a good unit. Been using it most days since I put it together, with no real issues with the unit itself. Any problems I have dealt with are just me learning to use it properly or figuring out settings for the slicer software. The Pro comes with all the upgrades already installed that people with earlier versions seem to be trying to add onto theirs. It lacks WiFi, but I started running Octoprint off an old cell phone about 2 weeks in. Can upload gcode files, start prints, and monitor the system using the phone’s camera from my pc upstairs. In time I may start running into issues, but for now I’m happy with this printer.
There is the Sovol SV07 for about 300€-ish. It comes with Klipper and should check all your boxes. I bought the SV06 Plus two months ago it works OK. You have to tighten all the screws and actually read the manual, but that’s it. If you want a guaranteed problem free OOTB experience, you have to buy Prusa (top quality control and software) or Bambulab (not really hackable but runs well) for 600-800€.
If you want something that just works out of the box, consider increasing your budget and look at the Bambu P1P.
I recently picked up its big brother, the X1C, as my first foray into 3D Printing, and I’m very glad I spent the extra money after first looking at the offerings in the $300 range.
Edit: I see you want to hack it. Bambu probably isn’t for you, then - it’s closed-source, and commonly compared to the Apple of 3D printing. But it also “just works.” 🤷♂️
