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
I think it would be better to say what your budget is since entry level is subjective.
Doesn’t entry level basically mean “what’s the cheapest you can get, while still being worth getting”?
Depends, some people see it as what is the most accessible (eg. Prusa) while others want affordability (eg. Ender 3 and clones) and most want a mix of both.
The Bambu printers are also great “entry level” as they work so well with a lot of features right out of the box. They aren’t cheap though.
Agreed, budget, and what are you trying to print?
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.
If you’re only doing one project every once in a while, consider just ordering parts from people online. They do the work, and mail you a finished part.
With the prices I saw, just a few prints costs like buying an ender 3 but without the fun of maintenance
The printing services are good if you need metal prints or if you need resin prints and can’t deal with the fumes and mess.
If you just need filament prints, it’s better to buy a printer. It really sucks to wait a week or more for the part to show up only to find that you made a mistake and it doesn’t fit.
Depends on your budget. Elegoo and creality have both done very well for me. Bamboo labs has really good products. Can’t go wrong with prusa. My favorite right now is my troodon 2.0
Do you want resin or filament?
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
You know, I’m sure it is great. But looking around at the absolute bullshit I see with 2D printers, I’m never buying a closed source machine for 3D. People are even complaining about Brother these days, seems like only a matter of time that proprietary machines go to shit.
P1s is nowhere near entry level lol, it’s like $700
I coach a robotics team and we were sponsored by Elegoo (so grain of salt). They gave us a Neptune 4 that’s pretty incredible. It printed a flawless benchy in 38 minutes. It’s a bit picky and takes some finessing, but it’s a great printer. You can get the predecessor, the Neptune 3, for about 210USD. It’s highly rated by several sites for a beginner printer, and I would definitely recommend it.
Neptune 3 is listed for $99 on their website. Seems like a good deal!
I can second the Elegoo Neptune 3. It’s what I started on. You can get printing with basically no experience.
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
Hey I’m not OP but I was wondering too, budget is 1K and would mostly want it to make tabletop figures.
For minis and other things where you want lots of small details you want a resin/SLA printer.
- Keep in mind that as well as the printer itself, you also need equipment to wash and cure the resin after it comes out of the printer
- Resin is extremely toxic, accumulates in the body (ie, lots of small exposures over time is just as bad as one big exposure), and you can develop immune sensitivities to it where your body freaks out with even small amounts leading blisters, burns and breathing difficulties. Do not screw around with resin. Use proper PPE. Dispose of waste resin properly
You probably want resin printer for figures, but I cant recommmend any
Geeetech Alkaid. It’s a $99 resin printer and the reviews I’ve seen say that it’s pretty good especially at that price point. Though you’d probably be spending $300 if you buy a curing and washing station and a bottle of resin as well.
