If it's something you use - or plan to use - relatively regularly, I very much doubt you'll regret it. Back in March 2016, I bought a 'HICTOP 3DP-11' 3D printer kit - 'kit', as in, 'entirely self-assembled'. Took me ages to get the build itself right before I even started, you had to make sure that all structural and mechanical/moving components were perfectly aligned or it'd throw off the whole mechanism. I spent £299 on the kit at the time and over the next year and a half I spent another £120 or so in parts, upgrades, replacements, etc (not counting filament) I eventually parted with it. I spent more time tinkering, upgrading, debugging, flashing/customising firmware, etc, than I ever did actually printing. I wouldn't say I regret it per se, I learned a hell of a lot about the fundamentals of FDM 3D printer operation & design. In the end I realised that what I'd wanted was A Thing That Makes Stuff; what I'd bought was not A Thing That Makes Stuff because I'd tried to do it on the cheap (cheap for the time), so what I'd actually bought was a hobby. £420 of today's money gets you a hell of a lot: Bambu Labs A1 with AMS: £419 Bambu Labs A1 mini with AMS: £300 If was being generous and accounting for inflation, that £420 I spent 7 years ago is now worth around £530 - the P1S (without AMS) is £510. Even the A1 Mini is infinitely more capable than my 'kit' printer ever was. EDIT: Aaaaand now I'm talking myself into buying a 3D printer again... god damn it...
So… I might be back in the market for a 3D printer… maybe. My previous recommendation would have been for Creality, but Bambu blows them out of the water when it comes to print quality. However… Bambu Labs’ recent firmware horseplop shenanigans have really put me off buying one of their printers. As far as I can see, the only other printers that come close to the “out of the box” quality you’d get from Bambu are Prusa. But Prusa machines are rather spendy… My budget is about £500-£700ish, which only just stretches to a Prusa MK4S kit… So, besides Creality, Prusa, and Bambu, am I overlooking anyone?
I'm waiting for Bambu to see reason before making a decision. Ordinarily, I'd be pretty confident in someone developing a simple hack to bypass the offline limitations, but the added issue of locking out the Panda Touch really pisses me off.
Yeah, I finally caved and bought a Bambu P1S last year - I can't fault it, it prints amazingly and doesn't balk at filaments like ABS or ASA. This whole firmware issue has me worried, especially because I've got a Panda Touch as well - hopefully they will see the light and backtrack on their plans, otherwise I won't be upgrading the firmware any time soon. As for other printers, the Creality K1C or the Qidi Plus 4 are probably the best Bambu-like printers (coreXY, enclosures, good OOB experience) for about the same price as a Bambu.
I did find a couple of others that sound promising, although they’re all apparently still under NDA when it comes to reviews or showing off the machines… Creality Hi Combo - A1+AMS clone, reportedly performs pretty well, priced very competitively, but Creality have a reputation for doing a rubbish job and then fixing it with a new model Anycubic Kobra S1 - P1S+AMS clone, competitively priced, but performance sounds “meh” and their reputation for FDM printers is a bit naff Elegoo Centauri Carbon - P1S+AMS clone, no idea on pricing, but reportedly performs extremely well Supposedly the Creality and Elegoo models are releasing in Feb/March and the Anycubic ships in April - only the Elegoo is not yet priced or available for order.
Hold off, apparently Bamboo are releasing a new flagship soon! Thats what I'm waiting for, as it will likely be the best on the market!
That's been rumoured for over a year now. Then there's Bambu's recent firmware lockdown that @Flibblebot mentioned above.
It’s going to be the end of the month before I have the money for a printer, so I’m holding out to see if there’s any news on the Elegoo Centauri Carbon. They’re better known for resin printers, but of all the Bambu alternatives I’ve found recently that’s the most promising IMO. I’m definitely leaning towards a coreXY machine instead of a bed-slinger, if for no other reason than print speed.
I have a couple of Elegoo's resin printers (Mars 1 & Saturn 2) and kickstarted their laser cutter, so when it lands I have no doubt I'll get an email about it.
I've discussed this with people at work, and we all think it's massively over blown! The company that would do this, Ultimaker, and could even remotely justify it, hasn't, so it's all fearmongering and speculation. The 3D print community hates anything plug and play, they this everything should be open-source, which just isn't realistic. I'm still very much planning on getting a Bamboo labs product some time this year! The tech community thrives on drama these days, due to one specific YouTube channel I think...
Should have our 3d printer turning up soon. Just need to learn fusion now so I can design my own case.
I do think it's important, and I do think there should be pushback against it. They're altering what you can and can't do with the product after you've already purchased it, and using vaguely-worded threats about blocking functionality should you refuse the firmware update. I don't necessarily think it needs to be about all open source all the time either; a company can be friendly towards software/hardware modifications, or make it easier for third party tools to interact with their products, without being open source (with the usual caveat that if you break something then don't expect support for it). It's a question of fundamental rights: the changes Bambu are making in their firmware are altering how you can use a product that you own. Having said that... If I buy another 3D printer then I want a tool to do a job, I don't want a project. I don't mind going in and tweaking stuff, adding modifications, etc, but I don't want that to be a necessity in order to get good results. If I look at it purely in terms of my requirements then a Bambu printer absolutely makes sense. But I'm acquainted with someone who uses a farm of Prusa machines to print products for sale; a Bambu printer wouldn't work for them because these firmware changes would break their automation workflow. All the debates around rights of ownership, the freedom to do what you want with the products you purchase, etc, are important... but it won't be me leading the charge. I came to the realisation nearly a year ago that I need to be a lot more selective about how I spend my time and energy. I don't need a 3D printer now (or at all really, but that's another story ), so I can afford to hold off and see how the competition responds. If the competition can deliver products that are as good as Bambu at a similar or lower price and - don't restrict user freedoms - then I'll go with a competitor; if not, then I'll work within the constraints of Bambu products.
I watched a couple of these yesterday (can’t tell which as I’m on mobile). The TL;DR I took away: Good quality prints Some firmware niggles like unexplained print failures, difficulty in sending print jobs via network, and camera not working on web UI Ability to print tougher carbon fibre materials out of the box, unlike P1S which requires a hotend upgrade Massively let down by lack of AMS-a-like multi-spool unit Definitely not a competitor to the X1C, but CC and X1C are vastly different price classes Price is going to be key, I can live with a few niggles here and there if the price is right. AFAIU, all we know now is “under $500” and full pricing will be revealed later this week. If you take the usual rough “back of a cigarette packet spreadsheet” logic of “USD to GBP then add VAT”: P1S is currently £509 and £699 with AMS; AMS is a very nice feature, but it does bump the price. My pure gut feeling right now is that the Centauri Carbon, with no multi-filament feeder unit, will need to be more like $450 to convince me.
Honestly, since my S5 Pro at work has an AMS, I don't think I could live without one! It broke about 8 months into having the system (judt the AMS, it was the first one, so was always going to have issues, PVA fracturing and jamming it was a big issue), and printing without it was a massive faff! Its just the default option in my brain! I really hope the new bamboo is a dual nozzle, its what the S5 has, and for engineering parts being able to print water soluble support is a game changer! That new Elgoo one seems ok, but nothing special, so complete against the market leaders it'd have to be really cheap! I'm still torn between 3D printer, rowing machine, QD-OLED monitor, or VR and HOTAS setup! When actually I just need to focus on finishing the DIY in my house But I want new toooooys!
Honestly I think a P1S is as far as I'd take it if I ended up getting a Bambu printer. The Elegoo printer does have a few things going for it over the P1S - like hardened steel nozzle and higher bed/extruder temps out of the box - but price is going to be key. Anything will be better than the printer I used to have...! TBF it wasn't too bad once fully assembled, but it was unreliable as hell. Trying to optimise/improve it just led to more and more things to deal with - see the many follow-up posts about that thing...! When/if I get a new printer, it'll be a Tool To Do Things - I have no desire to buy another "3D printing hobby"... But at the same time, I don't need/want to pay "pro" prices for machines like the X1C
