5 ms·

The A1 mini was my first printer and it just works. Is there another brand that is idiot proof?

by adenta 2y ago

bdcravens 2y ago
Not yet, but other brands are stepping up their quality. I just bought a Creality K2 Plus, and it's almost on par with my X1C (and has some features I prefer, like the CFS, their version of the AMS)
0_____0 2y ago
I've been using a Prusa Mk2 for years no with no real issues. Doesn't have the bells and whistles but it does, like, consistently work. Eventually I'll get a used FormLabs setup. Once I have a shop space set up.
sho_hn 2y ago
If you buy a Prusa in non-kit form, it's not any harder to unbox or operate, and more reliable, while generally achieving somewhat better results. Without phoning home and while maintaining the software Bambu forked theirs from. A recent review coming to a similar conclusion was Maker Muse' review of bedslingers. It's a channel I respect a lot, because he has over the years relentlessly disclosed emails of companies trying to bribe or lean on him, or threaten him, and refused to play along. Most other 3D printing content is essentially paid advertising -- including, I suspect, the carefully constructed brand narrative of Bambu as the first "fire and forget" printers, as if they somehow elevated the art form, when really the user experience is not substantially different. You do not need to tinker or problem-solve with other modern well-reviewing printers, nor do they fail more prints. My MK4 hasn't failed a single print in a year (i.e. since I bought it), and I haven't had to do any sort of maintenance.
- MindSpunk 2y ago
  And they cost 3x as much. Which is a pretty tough sell IMO.
  - hatsunearu 2y ago
    Conveniently left out that the Prusa definitely cannot do a lot of things that the popular Bambu models can do quite well, like filaments beyond PETG and PLA, multimaterial printing, etc.
    - djaykay 2y ago
      Most Prusa models can print a wide range of filaments. I regularly print ABS and PC on mine. And there is a MMU add-on for Prusa.
      - esskay 2y ago
        The MMU isn't remotely comparable to the AMS though, it's finnicky, regularly breaks and needs a heck of a lot of tinkering for most people to get right. One slightly different filament and you have to start over. Not to mention its just a messy product. Heck the new Core One doesn't even have support for it at launch which is pretty unforgivable.
  - phito 2y ago
    Maybe bamboo printers were too cheap which lead them towards their subscription based model. Everyone complains about enshittification (YouTube ads, subscription models etc..), but then refuse to pay the real price premium goods and services cost. You get what you pay for.
    - MindSpunk 2y ago
      What subscription? They're restricting remote access APIs in new firmware because they pose a security threat.
      - K0balt 2y ago
        …for now…. But yeah, the enshitification economy has made people justifiably paranoid that if a product starts exhibiting new capabilities or features that would seem to support or enable a move towards subscriptions, it’s a good bet that that is in fact the trajectory of the platform. But afaik Bambu has neither confirmed nor denied that this is in the works.
- zanderwohl 2y ago
  > it's not any harder to unbox or operate I agree with this > and more reliable I emphatically disagree with this. > while generally achieving somewhat better results I agree with this. I'd also like to add that my Prusa Mk3s+ is significantly slower than my P1S. Also, without the MMU it still cost more than my P1S with AMS. Choosing a Prusa is making a philosophical choice, because it's certainly not about convenience, speed, versatility (considering you need to buy a separate enclosure and pricey MMU), bed size, or price. It's a choice you make because you're okay with spending a lot more to support an open platform where you can flash your own firmware without voiding your warranty, not because you want a better experience.
  - luma 2y ago
    The mk4 and mk3 are vastly different machines. If you want to compare the P1S, do it against a contemporary machine. Of course a machine released several years after the mk3 is faster.
  - ErneX 2y ago
    What are your thoughts on the upcoming Prusa Core One? I was thinking about getting a P1S but with this rug pull I’m not sure anymore.
    - esskay 2y ago
      I wouldn't buy any new Prusa printer until it's been in the wild at least a year, they tend to be very buggy at launch. They also have no multimaterial support at launch, the MMU3 will not work with the Core One until they release an update, which they've not yet given a timeline for.
      - ErneX 2y ago
        Thank you.
        d1str0 2y ago
        I got a MK4 at launch and it worked out of the box with no issues, no bugs, and also was my first 3d printer. I found it perfectly easy to operate. Prusa’s online documentation (and printed docs for that matter) are excellent.
- esskay 2y ago
  You pay more and lose reliable multicolour printing this way though - the MMU is NOT a solution.
rqtwteye 2y ago
I bought an A1 after years of fiddling with an Ender. It made 3D printing fun again. The whole situation reminds me of drones. DJI is (maybe) questionable but their products are without competition when you look at price and quality. Bambu products are also fantastic. On second thought TP-Link fits too. My TP-Link mesh network just works perfectly. So do their smart plugs.
- EmmEff 2y ago
  I did the same- replaced an Ender with an A1. Unfortunately, I’ve had it 10 days and have yet to be able to print anything. Won’t calibrate and cannot update firmware. Seems like a commonly reported issue but tech support is still bumbling around with no useful suggestions. I foresee it going back.
mitthrowaway2 2y ago
I am an idiot, and my Prusa MK3S+ (bought assembled, not as a kit) has been me-proof for years, and delivered fantastic print quality all along. My wife is not a techie and she gets good use out of it too. Their newer printers seem to be even better.
- zitsarethecure 2y ago
  Out of ignorance and curiosity about 3d printing I bought a Prusa Mini a few years ago. My 10 year old (at the time) son took to using it immediately and figured out how to use it almost entirely on his own. It has been a great experience. I was thinking of upgrading to something larger and this drama has made the decision an easy one for me.
Polizeiposaune 2y ago
Based on recommendations here a couple years ago I built a Prusa Mk3 from a kit (right before the mk4 came out). Building it took a while but I think was a worthwhile investment of my time and I think of it as a system I can understand rather than as a black box. I had a little bit of trouble with it maybe six months ago (repeatedly tripped offline during prints from a thermal issue) but Prusa's online support talked me through recalibrating it and it's been trouble-free since then.
- zanderwohl 2y ago
  One thing to be said for Prusa is that their support is actually knowledgeable and experienced. You're not going to get a tier 1 support person who has never touched a printer and is just reading from a script.
  - Polizeiposaune 2y ago
    Yep, my one support chat with Prusa was probably the best tech support experience I've had in at least a decade -- possibly longer.
nicman23 2y ago
flashforge is pretty good and by design easy to root. it is running klipper internally and there are mods to run a completely open source stack (with blobs)
DrBenCarson 2y ago
If you’re looking for a CoreXY machine that can handle more industrial filaments for reasonable money, check out QIDI

The A1 mini was my first printer and it just works. Is there another brand that is idiot proof?

by adenta 2y ago

The A1 mini was my first printer and it just works. Is there another brand that is idiot proof?

Not yet, but other brands are stepping up their quality. I just bought a Creality K2 Plus, and it's almost on par with my X1C (and has some features I prefer, like the CFS, their version of the AMS)

0_____0 2y ago

I've been using a Prusa Mk2 for years no with no real issues. Doesn't have the bells and whistles but it does, like, consistently work. Eventually I'll get a used FormLabs setup. Once I have a shop space set up.

sho_hn 2y ago

If you buy a Prusa in non-kit form, it's not any harder to unbox or operate, and more reliable, while generally achieving somewhat better results. Without phoning home and while maintaining the software Bambu forked theirs from. A recent review coming to a similar conclusion was Maker Muse' review of bedslingers. It's a channel I respect a lot, because he has over the years relentlessly disclosed emails of companies trying to bribe or lean on him, or threaten him, and refused to play along. Most other 3D printing content is essentially paid advertising -- including, I suspect, the carefully constructed brand narrative of Bambu as the first "fire and forget" printers, as if they somehow elevated the art form, when really the user experience is not substantially different. You do not need to tinker or problem-solve with other modern well-reviewing printers, nor do they fail more prints. My MK4 hasn't failed a single print in a year (i.e. since I bought it), and I haven't had to do any sort of maintenance.

MindSpunk 2y ago
And they cost 3x as much. Which is a pretty tough sell IMO.
- hatsunearu 2y ago
  Conveniently left out that the Prusa definitely cannot do a lot of things that the popular Bambu models can do quite well, like filaments beyond PETG and PLA, multimaterial printing, etc.
  - djaykay 2y ago
    Most Prusa models can print a wide range of filaments. I regularly print ABS and PC on mine. And there is a MMU add-on for Prusa.
    - esskay 2y ago
      The MMU isn't remotely comparable to the AMS though, it's finnicky, regularly breaks and needs a heck of a lot of tinkering for most people to get right. One slightly different filament and you have to start over. Not to mention its just a messy product. Heck the new Core One doesn't even have support for it at launch which is pretty unforgivable.
- phito 2y ago
  Maybe bamboo printers were too cheap which lead them towards their subscription based model. Everyone complains about enshittification (YouTube ads, subscription models etc..), but then refuse to pay the real price premium goods and services cost. You get what you pay for.
  - MindSpunk 2y ago
    What subscription? They're restricting remote access APIs in new firmware because they pose a security threat.
    - K0balt 2y ago
      …for now…. But yeah, the enshitification economy has made people justifiably paranoid that if a product starts exhibiting new capabilities or features that would seem to support or enable a move towards subscriptions, it’s a good bet that that is in fact the trajectory of the platform. But afaik Bambu has neither confirmed nor denied that this is in the works.
zanderwohl 2y ago
> it's not any harder to unbox or operate I agree with this > and more reliable I emphatically disagree with this. > while generally achieving somewhat better results I agree with this. I'd also like to add that my Prusa Mk3s+ is significantly slower than my P1S. Also, without the MMU it still cost more than my P1S with AMS. Choosing a Prusa is making a philosophical choice, because it's certainly not about convenience, speed, versatility (considering you need to buy a separate enclosure and pricey MMU), bed size, or price. It's a choice you make because you're okay with spending a lot more to support an open platform where you can flash your own firmware without voiding your warranty, not because you want a better experience.
- luma 2y ago
  The mk4 and mk3 are vastly different machines. If you want to compare the P1S, do it against a contemporary machine. Of course a machine released several years after the mk3 is faster.
- ErneX 2y ago
  What are your thoughts on the upcoming Prusa Core One? I was thinking about getting a P1S but with this rug pull I’m not sure anymore.
  - esskay 2y ago
    I wouldn't buy any new Prusa printer until it's been in the wild at least a year, they tend to be very buggy at launch. They also have no multimaterial support at launch, the MMU3 will not work with the Core One until they release an update, which they've not yet given a timeline for.
    - ErneX 2y ago
      Thank you.
      - d1str0 2y ago
        I got a MK4 at launch and it worked out of the box with no issues, no bugs, and also was my first 3d printer. I found it perfectly easy to operate. Prusa’s online documentation (and printed docs for that matter) are excellent.
esskay 2y ago
You pay more and lose reliable multicolour printing this way though - the MMU is NOT a solution.

rqtwteye 2y ago

I bought an A1 after years of fiddling with an Ender. It made 3D printing fun again. The whole situation reminds me of drones. DJI is (maybe) questionable but their products are without competition when you look at price and quality. Bambu products are also fantastic. On second thought TP-Link fits too. My TP-Link mesh network just works perfectly. So do their smart plugs.

EmmEff 2y ago
I did the same- replaced an Ender with an A1. Unfortunately, I’ve had it 10 days and have yet to be able to print anything. Won’t calibrate and cannot update firmware. Seems like a commonly reported issue but tech support is still bumbling around with no useful suggestions. I foresee it going back.

mitthrowaway2 2y ago

I am an idiot, and my Prusa MK3S+ (bought assembled, not as a kit) has been me-proof for years, and delivered fantastic print quality all along. My wife is not a techie and she gets good use out of it too. Their newer printers seem to be even better.

zitsarethecure 2y ago
Out of ignorance and curiosity about 3d printing I bought a Prusa Mini a few years ago. My 10 year old (at the time) son took to using it immediately and figured out how to use it almost entirely on his own. It has been a great experience. I was thinking of upgrading to something larger and this drama has made the decision an easy one for me.

Polizeiposaune 2y ago

Based on recommendations here a couple years ago I built a Prusa Mk3 from a kit (right before the mk4 came out). Building it took a while but I think was a worthwhile investment of my time and I think of it as a system I can understand rather than as a black box. I had a little bit of trouble with it maybe six months ago (repeatedly tripped offline during prints from a thermal issue) but Prusa's online support talked me through recalibrating it and it's been trouble-free since then.

zanderwohl 2y ago
One thing to be said for Prusa is that their support is actually knowledgeable and experienced. You're not going to get a tier 1 support person who has never touched a printer and is just reading from a script.
- Polizeiposaune 2y ago
  Yep, my one support chat with Prusa was probably the best tech support experience I've had in at least a decade -- possibly longer.

nicman23 2y ago

flashforge is pretty good and by design easy to root. it is running klipper internally and there are mods to run a completely open source stack (with blobs)

DrBenCarson 2y ago

If you’re looking for a CoreXY machine that can handle more industrial filaments for reasonable money, check out QIDI