Would be so kind as to suggest a printer for me? I have no experience at all with 3D printers or 3D modeling. But I am super interested and have electronics and coding knowledge. I would like to print things like brackets, enclosures for custom circuit boards, organizers, keyboard plates, etc. Ideally I would like to spend around $300USD, but I am open to going as high as $500USD if it would save me headaches and make the experience more enjoyable and streamlined.
Please suggest something for me and let me know if I didn’t provide enough information. One final note, I live in range of a microcenter if that is a factor.
Most will work right out of the box (after assembly) but the cheaper printers like the Ender will require periodic tinkering and upgrades to keep it working and make it perform better. I just retired my Artillery Sidewinder X2 (which is similar to the Ender CR10) for the Bambu X1C and don’t regret it one bit. Prints just work all the time now and I haven’t had to tinker with anything. My X2 has been upgraded quite a bit and yet still frequently gave me (solvable) issues that would be so frustrating when I just wanted to get something printed out.
I would also recommend the A1 mini if you’re not looking to tinker and can deal with the bed size. Bambu Labs has done a great job on their lineup, MakerWorld, and by offering filament as well. They’ve really simplified the whole process.
I second Bambu printers. My P1S was as simple as taking it out of the box, pulling out the included accessories, take out three screws that keep the bed from moving during shipping, plug in cord. During setup it will run a self-calibration routine and you’re all set. I thought I liked tinkering with my Ender 3v2, but when I needed to print, a failure would cost me time, effort and money. Stick with the better printers if you can afford it.
The P1S/P1P would definitely be worth it over the A1 mini as the CoreXY construction is a complete game changer. I don’t think I’ll ever buy another bed slinger printer. The whole design just doesn’t make sense outside of being economical, which was fantastic 5+ years ago in order to get everyone into the hobby, but is really limiting now.
Bambu has really changed the landscape and elevated the hobby as a whole, which will be awesome for everyone once some competitors start trying to copy what they’ve done.
Totally agree on the core xy printers, I think OP was trying to keep cost under $500, so that would limit to P1P, but still a great printer, you can add the enclosure kit later if you want. I’m interested in the Sovol SV08, basically a Voron clone for $579 USD. I just don’t want to be the 1st on to try it 🤣