6 mo. ago • 93%

Best options for entry level 3D printing available these days?

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

EDIT: okay I left out way too much detail for this to be answerable.

I've been printing for a year, so im not absolute beginner tier, and can benefit from some of the fancy gizmos like auto leveling, multi filament, etc. but i dont really venture beyond PETG and PLA. I mostly use 3D printing in other maker/diy projects; creating custom fixtures, quick tools and jigs, attachments for sewing machines, table saws, tool organization etc. You get the idea. Im not a mechanical engineer or prototyping medical equipment. I just really enjoy the power of being able to model something i need, print it, and immediate use it to complete a project. I dont do any figurines.

My budget is a maximum of 300 canadian dollars, including filaments, replacement parts, and add-ons. I am impartial to any brands or companies, i actually would perfer something that doesnt have proprietary bullshit, but the printers my roommate have are a (GEETECH) Ender 3 Clone and a TwoTree SP-5. The two tree is really awesome, but also over kill for what i need personally.

Other considerations are that It should be relatively compact, not mini/micro or anything, I would rather print twice or rearrange the models on the print bed some times and have more space than the other way around.

51 comments

I think it would be better to say what your budget is since entry level is subjective.

22
- Doesn't entry level basically mean "what's the cheapest you can get, while still being worth getting"?
  
  14
  
  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.
  
  9
  
  There isn't THE entry-level:
  
  20x20cm Desktop FFF under $200
  
  50x50cm desktop FFF $500
  
  Toolchanger: roughly $1k
  
  entry level plastic SLS: $10k
  
  metal SLS: $50k
  
  nano/micro structure 3d-printer: contact us
  
  3
  
  Well, that’s the key… “still being worth getting”. The $100 special Ender 3 at monoprice probably isn’t worth getting for many people because of the frustration involved.
  
  And so in reality the best answer for the question depends on each individual’s time-money tradeoffs.
  
  3
- Agreed, budget, and what are you trying to print?
  
  7
- Hey! Thanks for the reply! The fact that this is subjective is extremely true.
  
  My budget is roughly 200$ for the machine alone, with a max of 300$ with filament, extras, etc.
  
  2
  
  Well then if you are not afraid of tinkering creality printers are great to dip a toe at that price point and also serve to give you a solid foundation of the hobby. I started with a standard ender3 and then upgraded for a while as I learned more and finally have settled for now with a bambulab.
  
  2
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.

12
- Fuck creality. They have issues all the time, no customer support, no auto bed leveling out of the box, the firmware out of the box isn't even good. I would go for Elegoo Neptune printers. They work perfectly out of the box, have amazing support, good firmware, auto bed leveling, and prints faster than the enders.
  
  3
  
  Hmm ive dont know much about the players in the 3D printer market, nor the drama, but from the site Elegoo has reasonable prices for something that looks pretty decent
  
  2
  
  I've never had occasion to need to contact Creality customer support, and aside from bed adhesion with my Ender 3 Pro before I added a CR-Touch, I haven't had any issues with my Creality printers. "No auto bed leveling out of the box" isn't the case for most of Creality's printers. (I didn't mean to imply by "I would pay extra for autoleveling" that Creality makes you pay extra for that. Their bottom-of-the-line printers have autoleveling now-a-days.) And my experience with my two Creality printers was that they "work perfectly out of the box."
  
  I don't have any experience with Elegoo printers.
  
  2
- I'm waiting for the creality k1 max to go on sale again. My manager picked one up for under 500 and he says it's fantastic. Corexy with enclosure and bed leveling
  
  2
- Hey! Thanks for the reply! Auto-leveling is something my roommate has never had so i've never experienced what youre describing, but I do see how that would get rid of lots of faff.
  
  I, like others have mentioned, would love to know how "locked down" a company/brand makes they products. I know there are a lot of Ender 3 clones, and I wonder if going with something like that would keep it really diy while also being based on a tried and tested product.
  
  2
  
  Yeah, good call. I'd definitely say Creality is good about being open. I've flashed the firmware on one of my two Creality printers. And upgraded it a couple of times, though admittedly only with official Creality parts.
  
  I have a friend who had a printer that I believe didn't have an SD card slot and the Wifi died on it, so it became roughly-speaking useless. I like to lean toward fewer moving parts even if it makes for some inconveniences like having to actually load it onto an SD card and put it in the machine.
  
  If I did really care about wifi connectivity, I'd probably still buy a machine without Wifi built-in and attach a Raspberry Pi running Octoprint to the side.
  
  1
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.

8
- With the prices I saw, just a few prints costs like buying an ender 3 but without the fun of maintenance
  
  9
  
  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.
  
  4
- I definitely am not a power user like others, but after practicing with 3d modelling for the last little while, it has become an integral part of my workflow on most of my projects from household repairs, woodworking, electronics, etc. Its also something I am looking to increase my proficiency in so i dont thinkn the ordering online route is for me.
  
  Thanks for the reply!
  
  1
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

6
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

4
- I am not in the US but near-by to something that is equivalent to a microcenter! My budget is 200 for the printer, and 300$ is my max for including filament and extras. My roomate has two printers, a ender 3 clone and a TwoTree SP-5. I've been really liking the SP-5, but 400-500$ is a little much for what im doing.
  
  Ideally it could be something that is brand locked little as possible
  
  2
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

4
- 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.
  
  4
  
  Very fair, I'm concerned about it as well but got one anyways. One of the reasons I got p1s instead of the carbon was none of it's real functionality is cloud based, I can leave it offline and print via sd card and not worry. To me, the convenience has been worth it, one of the biggest things holding me back from getting stuff done is having to fiddle with stuff multiplies the effort in my head and puts me off. Having it be so plug and play makes me so much happier because I can just do stuff. Not a fan of all the proprietary cloud stuff but here, for me, it's worth it.
  
  2
- Bambu came out of nowhere that’s for sure. I sold my Prusa for an X1C with AMS. I am hoping Prusa makes a come back I will even spend a little bit more for them just to have the open source and all around good company
  
  1
  
  Yeah I hope as well, but I don't think that will happen honestly. The thing is about low price of bambu (and other chinese brands)...it's just too cheap IMO. Self sourcing parts would cost much more and on top of that bambu comes assembled and tuned. I know many people nowdays think 1k printer is expensive, but it just makes no sense having smartphone prices in the same range as 3D printers (with touch screen, wifi, camera,...). Just my 2c
  
  1
- P1s is nowhere near entry level lol, it's like $700
  
  1
  
  For many people it is entry level. But ofc depends on the budget
  
  1
  
  As opposed to buying a cheap printer, screwing around with it for weeks and buying $500 in parts, calibrating constantly with annoying tricks and hacks, and getting frustrated because a new hobby is more effort than it's worth?
  
  1
Do you want resin or filament?

4
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.

3
- Neptune 3 is listed for $99 on their website. Seems like a good deal!
  
  3
- I can second the Elegoo Neptune 3. It's what I started on. You can get printing with basically no experience.
  
  1
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.

2
Hey I'm not OP but I was wondering too, budget is 1K and would mostly want it to make tabletop figures.

1
- 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
  
  7
  
  thanks! Haven't looked into it at all just a passing fancy and toxic things sound less fun. Is there anything that would do this with wood, some CNC machine? Much more experience carving stuff but I'm still curious.
  
  1
- I'd recommend the Elegoo Mars 4 Ultra, along with the Mercury XS wash and cure station. You can get that off Amazon for under $400. You'd still need resin and ppe, and other consumables, but you'd be well under 1k and the quality is amazing.
  
  3
- You probably want resin printer for figures, but I cant recommmend any
  
  2
Posts in a forum asking for advice, doesn't respond to a single comment asking for more info for 2 days. Nice

1
- sorry i was kicking rocks
  
  2
  
  Fair enough. Haha.
  
  Since you're here now, I got a lot of use out of my Neptune 3, which you can get for like $100 from their site now that the 4 series is out. That being said, you can look at my post history and determine if that's the printer for you. Though for a hundred bucks it's a pretty solid grab.
  
  1

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