I researched about the best 3D printers for the past few days because I need one for my home projects and hobbies. I read reviews on Tom’s Hardware, PCMag, and All3DP, and they are marking these two as the best options:
However, I am having trouble deciding which one would best suit my needs and need your expert advice. I plan to print small models, prototypes, and functional parts, so I need something reliable, easy to use, and capable of producing high-quality prints with minimal setup.
So which one should I buy? Any recommendation or personal experience with these will be appreciated.
Thanks in advance!
What are your needs? I mean more specifically then “home projects and hobbies”. What isn’t a home or hobby project with 3d printing?..
Those are big and expensive printers… Personally, I think one can do fine with simpler ones as well. I don’t see much value in some features. Auto leveling for example… I don’t get it. It’s easy to level a 3d printer… takes 5 minutes and it works… remote monitoring… It’s fun for first few days, then you stop caring about that(I tried setting up a webcam… That’s just playing in my opinion Of course not everyone might agree)… 600mm/s speed? I print PETG mostly, so, no. That’s 60mm/s Silent printing? If it’s 50dB, that’s not silent, you still don’t want it in the same room… Minimal setup? Yeah right… Maybe my experience is outdated, I have an old Ender 5 only. Enclosure is probably nice to have. But I don’t get printing with materials that need it - that’s ABS or ASA, and why would you print with those?.. they aren’t very useful in my opinion. Personally i think it’s alright to get a cheaper one even. unless you want multi color printing. that might be a thing, if you are into that. Are you into that though?.. Practical stuff doesn’t need that, I wouldn’t even know what to do with it, but hey, if you make artistic stuff, then sure, why not, might be lots of fun.
I don’t know, I never printed a sheet over the whole bed, it seems like a waste of time and plastic to be honest. But I don’t mean no leveling, just that I can do it on my own from time to time when I change something drastically, like the bed glass. Keeping in mind how rarely I have to do it, it doesn’t bother me at all. And the random mirror I cut and use for the pad seems to be pretty flat so it works just fine without auto leveling. I don’t know why I would need it.
Actually, thinking about it, it’s not so rare. I level it pretty much every time I print something new. Like if I don’t print anything for a month, I’ll level it before printing. But it’s fine. It’s like only a few minutes and it’s easy. It’s not like a chore or something. I don’t have a problem with leveling the printer.
If you say so… I’ll use what I want though. I’m not after trends, I just need to 3d print something from time time.
I actually tested it out of curiosity. It took me 2 minutes 8 seconds to level it manually( that’s obviously not repeatable, might take 5 minutes), without any rush and it prints perfectly if I print a single 0.4mm width 0.1mm height line all around the pad that’s 21cm size rectangular shape on 23x23cm pad. No idea what would happen in the middle, but I suspect the mirror is flat and my 2 clips will not deform a 4mm mirror. Mirrors are nice - you can just see it clearly if they are not flat. It’s fine. It will print whatever I want without much trouble.
Silent printing? If it’s 50dB, that’s not silent, you still don’t want it in the same room… Minimal setup? Yeah right…