Hi there,
I’m considering upgrading my old ender 3 and it looks like the prusa MK4 or bambu labs p1s are the current best options out there.
I like the bambu labs for the fast print speed and x/y print bed. I also love the idea of the AMS - it would be awesome to print in colour! But being closed source puts me off a bit as I currently use octopeint and obico to monitor my ender 3 which, as far as I can tell, Is not possible to use with bambu labs. Also having to upload gcode to the cloud is not ideal.
The prusa however is great because of the open source nature. However the slinger bed and slower prints are putting me off. I have also read that the mmu can be temperamental at best, so printing colour may not be an option?
Any thoughts/recommendations?
Thanks
I cancelled my mk4 order after a long wait that didn’t seem likely to end soon and got a P1S instead.
I was upgrading from a MK3S that I’d had for a couple of years, and I was all in on Prusa.
After using the P1S for a while now, it’s clear to me that Prusa sat on its hands for too long. The P1S is fantastic, involves virtually no setup, and gives me out-of-the-box prints better than my MK3S ever gave me even after months of fine tuning. I can’t imagine a world where Bambu doesn’t significantly erode Prusa’s market share.
Core-XY is the way to go, and I think to really compete Prusa is going to have to finally retire the i3 bed-slinger design and step into the future.
I want to support Prusa in principle, but they’re going to have to really step it up to get me away from my Bambu.
Doesn’t it need to be online to print or something? What firmware is it using?
Edit: Yes it has to be online to print. There go any fosscad ideas you might have. Personaly if your sending people your gcode you already lost. Good luck claiming you’re the creator of files against a company.
Firmware is proprietary. IMO not worth at all. I’ll probably be picking up a Voron kit here soon.
https://3dprinting.com/news/bambu-labs-3d-printer-glitch-results-in-unwanted-nocturnal-creations/
A bunch of them started printing spontaneously not that long ago.
You can print offline from an SD card, online is only required if you want to start prints from the slicer or monitor the print via the phone app.
I want to add a second to everything this person said, I have both a Mk3s that has some upgrades and an X1C and the difference in speed and quality is astounding. They are not kidding either, the quality out of the box is excellent. I basically only change strength related parameters anymore, the automatic flow calibration is incredible. The recent addition of the ability to skip failed parts mid print from my phone is awesome as well. I have also printed the same part with the same layer height and filament and the X1 is almost 3x as fast in “standard” preset.
Also for what it’s worth, I am probably going to replace my Mk3 with the A1 in the next few months as well.
If you’re feeling adventurous, there’s always Vorons as an option. Note that even if you’re building a BOM in a box you’re still going to be in for a long build. I’m pretty happy with mine.
+1 for Voron. I just finished up mine and am pleased with the results. Totally open source, modifiable, and unlike Prusa machines not based on a 5-year old design. (This is coming from somebody who loves the MK3S+ but was very disappointed with the MK4’s marginal improvement and botch-job of a lunch)
I was in the same position, doubting between a mk4 and a p1s. Decided to build a Voron instead, no regrets.
The thing that gets me is that the P1s is SIGNIFICANTLY louder than the MK4 according to everyone who has a prusa and got a p1s.
That is definitely a big concern for me personally. I don’t know if a voron can be built to be very quiet, but it is always something that prusa did very well.
My 2.4 voron’s motors and drivers are pretty quiet. The electronics bay fans I initially built it with not so much. Those fans are now noctuas, which move more than enough air for this type of application and are very quiet. I recently added bed fans (well, really an under bed filter) and they’re a little louder but still not that bad. I work from home 3-4 days a week with the printer about 12 feet behind me. I spend most of my days on meetings and no one has ever mentioned printer noise, but someone will occasionally comment on the print head moving around.
I’ve never owned a Prusa, but my old i3 clone was way louder.
Trinamic silent stepper drivers make a world of difference. On my printer I swapped the main board for one with silent drivers. Identical hardware as before, 1/10th the noise.
I never believed people before when I read how much of a difference it made. But I’m so glad I did it now.
Noctua fans are also a world of difference.
I think it depends how much you care about the FOSS credentials of Prusa - in terms of printer ease of use, quality, features, I think you’d have to go PS2. AMS by itself is real deal winner, even if you don’t do mmu printing.
