I see a Creality Ender 3 V3 (not SE or KE) for $130 refurbished, and also a Creality CR-10 SE for $103 refurbished on ebay. Are either or these a good choice to get into the hobby, or am I making a mistake? Should I rather buy a Bambu? My budget is around $100-$200 max. Please advise.

  • squaresinger@lemmy.worldEnglish
    13·
    3 days ago

    If its your first printer I would not go for a second-hand one. There are so many ways you can subtly mess up a printer and if you don’t know your way around printers yet, then it’s quite hard to fix all that.

    Considering you can get a Bambulab A1 mini which does everything out of the box and works better out of the box than an Ender 3 after months of upgrades.

    • nieceandtows@programming.devOPEnglish
      2·
      2 days ago

      I’m seeing FLASHFORGE 3D Printer Adventurer 5M new for $200 after coupons. Would you recommend the A1 mini or the 5M?

      • Spaceballstheusername@lemmy.worldEnglish
        3·
        2 days ago

        I haven’t used the flashforge but my brother who never did any 3d printing before got it and loves it. He says it just works. I just got the elagoo centauri carbon for 300 and it’s so great but might be out of your price range. If your just printing with pla flashforge is probably the way to go. I never liked bedslingers since tall prints tend to tip over or delaminate and I keep my printers in my garage where temperatures can swim and change the prints drastically.

    • SpikesOtherDog@ani.socialEnglish
      6·
      3 days ago

      I have to agree. My ender 3 has been through hell over the past 5 years, but since I am familiar with it, I can usually dial it in.

      If I was just starting out I would be overwhelmed with trying to understand it AND troubleshooting.

      If you have an electromechanical background, such as bench repair and/or having repaired lots of truly broken printers, then it is less of a risk imo. I know that refurbish items are usually okay, but there are bad items that make it out of any shop.

      • QuarterSwede@lemmy.worldEnglish
        3·
        3 days ago

        The Ender 3 is like an old Jeep Willy’s. Teaches you a ton about how it operated but it does so poorly.

        I went from a highly modded Ender 3 to a stock K1. The difference in consistent quality and speed is staggering.

        OP, save up your money for an enclosed printer. It makes such a big difference it’s well worth it.

        • SpikesOtherDog@ani.socialEnglish
          2·
          3 days ago

          The max is pretty, but the SE is more in my price range.

          My use is for making little plastic bits cheaply, and I’m not concerned about time. If my kid wants to upgrade to something better, I will probably “buy” it off him.

          • QuarterSwede@lemmy.worldEnglish
            4·
            3 days ago

            I never got the Ender 3 to be consistent. If anything it wasted time, filament, and money because it might finish a print and it might not. Great teaching tool. Awful printer these days.

    • nieceandtows@programming.devOPEnglish
      2·
      3 days ago

      Thanks for the advice. I hadn’t considered that refurbished printers are technically used ones with inspection. Is it that important to avoid used printers for a first printer? I had no idea.

      • squaresinger@lemmy.worldEnglish
        3·
        3 days ago

        “refurbished” is a word that might not mean anything either.

        When buying your first printer you should first choose what you want: Do you want to print or do you want to tinker?

        If you want to print, get a printer like the Bambulab a1 mini. If you want to tinker, an Ender 3 is ok.

        If you want to really tinker a lot, get an used one.

        But I really wouldn’t recommend getting an used printer for your first one since you don’t know how they have been treated and messed up.