Any recommendations for a low-cost, low-hassle printer?
Any recommendations for a low-cost, low-hassle printer?
Several years ago I leapt enthusiastically into the realm of 3D printing by buying a massive, expensive delta-type printer. I had to put it together myself, which was fun, but after that I struggled to get it to print well. Even simply trying to get the prints to stick to the bed were difficult, leading me to add huge brims to all my parts which were a pain to cut off afterward. Eventually I gave up fiddling with it and it’s been gathering dust ever since.
I know that a lot of you treat the hobby as an opportunity for endless tinkering and optimization, which is great, but I think I’ve realized that what I’d prefer is something that just works out of the box with a minimum of adjustment.
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Qidi X-Plus 3. If it's anything like my Max 3, which is the bigger version, it ought to be plug in and use (after running the included calibration). It's on "sale" right now for $500, but it's always on sale. It's also not made by Bambu, and if I were you or anyone else I would not give one rusty penny to Bambu for anything.
The draw with this thing is it comes with a fully enclosed chamber with a heater and PID to control it, and it's the easiest time I've ever had printing ABS and PETG if that's what you want to do. You can slap a 0.2mm nozzle on it easily enough if you want to print tiny stuff.
If you don't care about high temperature materials you can get the X-Smart 3 which is based on the same system but is smaller and minus the heater, and is even cheaper.
What’s wrong with Bambu?
They're slimy. Their machines use proprietary software and parts, and their software has a highly questionable always-online requirement that phones home back to their servers, which is something that really ought not to be happening with anything that may be able to identify what objects people are 3D printing. Even if they've walked back the always-online thing and allowed local only operation on some of their printers, that still demonstrates that they are not to be trusted. There's nothing to say that they can't prevent your slicer from slicing some object the CCP has deemed should not be printed, or remotely brick your printer, or just simply refuse to allow their slicer software to connect to it anymore.
Their company was founded by former DJI employees. That should really say it all.
Bambu's Chinese warrant canary.
This is a very good joke and deserves more upvotes, but I only have one to give.
Qidi is also a Chinese company so what's the difference? Most printers come from Chinese companies outside of companies like Prusa.
Qidi does not have a proprietary slicer that phones home, and they have not been demonstrated to engage in any suspicious behavior.
My issue with Bambu isn't that they're Chinese. My issue is how they conduct themselves.
Orca and local network mode work pretty well for me.🤷🏼♂️
There's nothing to say that they can't prevent your slicer from slicing some object the CCP has deemed should not be printed, or remotely brick your printer, or just simply refuse to allow their slicer software to connect to it anymore.
Seems like it's at least somewhat related to being a Chinese company since you're mentioning the CCP. I won't argue that these aren't things to be conscious of, but I think these fears seem overblown.
I do support open source projects, but I don't feel like they really enabled me to do anything I can't do now with the X1C in the 3.5 years of printing prior to owning this thing and the performance/experience has been so much better.
Even if these are overblown, I personally refuse to tolerate setting the precedent that this kind of thing is ever okay, and once a company tries it they're burned forever as far as I'm concerned. No one needs to be spying on me, for any reason, ever, and I will never do business with anyone who did it even if it was in the past. Trying to force people to use a cloud account just to get functionality of the piece of hardware they already paid for with no technical reason behind it whatsoever is ludicrous. My printer can do everything a Bambu can do without the need to connect to a third party's severs. If Bambu's cloud servers are ever disabled, compromised, or simply shut down then your printer suddenly winds up somewhere on the spectrum between having functionality crippled or simply becoming useless. That's a stupid risk.
Bambu Studio's extremely fishy behavior has been very well documented, and I don't think it's work the risk doing business with its company for any reason when so many viable alternatives exist.
Trying to force people to use a cloud account just to get functionality of the piece of hardware they already paid for with no technical reason behind it whatsoever is ludicrous.
There is a technical reason behind it which is integration with MakerWorld and being able to browse files from there and send them to the printer remotely from your phone or other device along with being able to watch a live feed of your print and control the printer.
Again, I won't argue against the whole privacy aspect as I get it, but I just don't really think it's a big deal or something of consequence if we're simply talking about 3D prints. They do have the option to use them locally now, but apparently this doesn't include all their models (which you may have mentioned already or it was someone else).
They're always online, not all their printers can go offline. And when they find something they don't like in your bambu account they can turn off your printer.
Also, they're being sued for patent infringement
Curious as well
I think I would recommend the q1 pro over the x plus 3 since it's a difference in size by about 2 inches but saves a lot of money for the same components with a few upgrades even for leveling and the processor.
Though I really want the plus 4 but am waiting for the inevitable revisions for that price point.
The first gen 3 series machines definitely had some teething troubles, so waiting on the 4 is probably a wise plan.
Me, I'm mostly interested to see if they backport compatibility for their "Qidi Box" filament changer thingy (which thus far is vaporware in the first place) to also work with the Plus/Max 3. I don't care about multicolor printing that much so I'm not about to buy a new printer just for it, but if I can slap on an add-on I just might.
Oof right?
I'd just love a filament box AMS that also has a dehydrate setting. But them releasing a backwards compatible option would be great. It's wild how far they have come since competing with flashforge.
Second the qidi. Of all my printers it does the best job. My trodon 2 does a great job but isn’t worth the price difference.