I’ve had access to a roommate’s 3D printer, but they’ll be moving away soon :(
Wondering if people have takes on machines that are considered entry level today but may have evolved handy features since, well, when you were an entry level user.
If this isn’t the right place for this please be nice I’m sorry
EDIT: okay I left out way too much detail for this to be answerable.
I’ve been printing for a year, so im not absolute beginner tier, and can benefit from some of the fancy gizmos like auto leveling, multi filament, etc. but i dont really venture beyond PETG and PLA. I mostly use 3D printing in other maker/diy projects; creating custom fixtures, quick tools and jigs, attachments for sewing machines, table saws, tool organization etc. You get the idea. Im not a mechanical engineer or prototyping medical equipment. I just really enjoy the power of being able to model something i need, print it, and immediate use it to complete a project. I dont do any figurines.
My budget is a maximum of 300 canadian dollars, including filaments, replacement parts, and add-ons. I am impartial to any brands or companies, i actually would perfer something that doesnt have proprietary bullshit, but the printers my roommate have are a (GEETECH) Ender 3 Clone and a TwoTree SP-5. The two tree is really awesome, but also over kill for what i need personally.
Other considerations are that It should be relatively compact, not mini/micro or anything, I would rather print twice or rearrange the models on the print bed some times and have more space than the other way around.
I’m a huge fan of Creality printers. If I were starting over today and didn’t have my eye on any specific bell or whistle, I’d probably get a Creality Ender 3 V3 or Ender 3 V3 SE. The Ender 3 Pro and Ender 3 V2 Neo I have now are great. Very reliable and easy to maintain.
One bell/whistle I’d 100% pay extra for is autoleveling. (A z probe rather than a z endstop.) My Ender 3 Pro came with an endstop rather than a probe. As soon as I got the V2 Neo that does have a z-probe I immediately decided to upgrade my Ender 3 Pro with a z-probe. With just the endstop, I had constant issues getting the first layer to adhere, especially if I was printing something that used a significant portion of the bed.
I think it would be better to say what your budget is since entry level is subjective.
Hey! Thanks for the reply! The fact that this is subjective is extremely true.
My budget is roughly 200$ for the machine alone, with a max of 300$ with filament, extras, etc.
Well then if you are not afraid of tinkering creality printers are great to dip a toe at that price point and also serve to give you a solid foundation of the hobby. I started with a standard ender3 and then upgraded for a while as I learned more and finally have settled for now with a bambulab.
Like others said, depends what is your budget. If I was buying a printer now I would consider Bambu lab P1S or Sovol SV08.
I’ve never been a fan of propertary printers but friend of mine got bambu lab p1s and that thing is a beast. Idk how good SV08 is, but its actually cheap Voron v2.4 so deffo promising
P1s is nowhere near entry level lol, it’s like $700
As opposed to buying a cheap printer, screwing around with it for weeks and buying $500 in parts, calibrating constantly with annoying tricks and hacks, and getting frustrated because a new hobby is more effort than it’s worth?
OP asked for an entry level printer. There’s good entry level options besides absolute bottom of the barrel creality ones, although those are also good enough to see if it’s a hobby you want to spend more money on. “Hey anyone have recommendations for a cheap car I can get? I just learned to drive.” “Buy a corvette!”
A p1p is an entry level printer. It’s just one that’s already assembled instead of someone entering the hobby to buy a cheap printer then get discouraged at having to spend as much or more to bring it up to the same standards if they had just bought a good one to begin with. Your Corvette strawman isn’t even accurate. If I was recommending an X1C or the new $3500 prusia one then it would make more sense. As of right now you’re telling OP to buy a junked car and repair it so it can drive smoothly while learning to drive. Someone new to the hobby probably won’t understand all the settings.
Posts in a forum asking for advice, doesn’t respond to a single comment asking for more info for 2 days. Nice
sorry i was kicking rocks
Fair enough. Haha.
Since you’re here now, I got a lot of use out of my Neptune 3, which you can get for like $100 from their site now that the 4 series is out. That being said, you can look at my post history and determine if that’s the printer for you. Though for a hundred bucks it’s a pretty solid grab.
I am very interested in the Neptune 3, especially for 100$, but does it actually hold up?
It took a little bit of tinkering to get it where I wanted it to be, but once it got there I had no complaints (until, see post history). I got it when it was new and I feel I got my money’s worth, for $100 it’s great, but if you want something to perform as good as even Elegoo’s newer entry level printers (like the Neptune 4 series), it’s going to take work.
What is your roommate’s printer Also, what is your budget Going to need to include filament if you don’t have any of your own
If in the US, are you nearish to a Microcenter
I am not in the US but near-by to something that is equivalent to a microcenter! My budget is 200 for the printer, and 300$ is my max for including filament and extras. My roomate has two printers, a ender 3 clone and a TwoTree SP-5. I’ve been really liking the SP-5, but 400-500$ is a little much for what im doing.
Ideally it could be something that is brand locked little as possible
