Several years ago I leapt enthusiastically into the realm of 3D printing by buying a massive, expensive delta-type printer. I had to put it together myself, which was fun, but after that I struggled to get it to print well. Even simply trying to get the prints to stick to the bed were difficult, leading me to add huge brims to all my parts which were a pain to cut off afterward. Eventually I gave up fiddling with it and it’s been gathering dust ever since.
I know that a lot of you treat the hobby as an opportunity for endless tinkering and optimization, which is great, but I think I’ve realized that what I’d prefer is something that just works out of the box with a minimum of adjustment.
Low-cost and no-hassle kind of work against each other here. Which is more important?
I’d say no-hassle is more important, in that case. I just don’t want to go spending $1000 on a printer again
I think my experience is roughly parallel to yours. I bit the bullet and got an X1C and with a couple of exceptions (mostly my own mistakes) it has been largely hassle-free. Having a reliable printer is actually allowing me to tackle the project of rebuilding my Anycubic Predator into the machine I always wished it was. That massive build volume will be great, but I have something I don’t have to fiddle with to make the parts.
As for the Bambu/Chinese paranoia, I think it’s overstated considering most people here are probably typing their replies on a device thoroughly infiltrated by Apple or Google or both. Do a few prints to make sure everything works properly and switch to Orca Slicer and local network mode if you’re concerned.
YM (and your fear of China) MV
What kind of printing (material, use-case etc.) do you think you’ll be doing, and what size do you want to be able to print?
Mostly little gadgets, mechanical things, or small figures or terrain pieces for wargaming, so I’d like a high level of detail (I’m fully aware that it won’t be nearly as good as a resin printer). I’d like to be able to print with PLA, ABS, ASA, and PETG, and envelope doesn’t need to be huge, probably about 10” at most.
QIDI tech? I mean there will be minor issues but the printers seem perfectly usable with the flaw mostly being with perfection hopping. It’s a 3D printer and will print those fine and the Q1 pro is $400
Otherwise the P1S which is slightly more expensive and closed but slightly better.
Or you go for a bed slinger and give up on some of the complex filaments without tinkering again.
I will say for bed adhesion you should be getting a bed magnet and a textured PEI sheet which will fix a lot of issues. Even TPU can be printed on it and removed easily enough without the need for glue or release agent past isopropyl alcohol.