Ek-Hou-Van-BraaiFeb 24

What 3D Printer should I buy as my first?

So the Bambu labs A1 looks like the perfect starting point.

One problem, it uses proprietary firmware and software, I’m a big advocate for owning the things you buy, and not supporting companies that don’t allow you to do that as much as I reasonably can. So yea I can’t buy Bambu.

The Creality SparkX i7 seems nice, it looks like a straight up clone of the A1
https://store.creality.com/eu/products/sparkx-i7-3d-printer

I’ve heard a lot of people complain about Creality though, so unsure. I’m a bit stuck and getting decision fatigue.

My budget is ~500 Euro.

Help.

SparkX i7 3D Printer | Fast, Precise, AI-Enhanced 3D Printing

The SparkX i7 3D printer delivers high-speed performance, precise prints, smart auto calibration, and AI-assisted monitoring. Ready to use out of the bo...

Show threadgeneva_convenience
Qidi Q2 can offer magnificent value if you want something slightly bigger. It runs on open-source Klipper.
Feb 24 at 1:38pmWeb
Show threadKrackalotFeb 24
That’s the one on my list. I’ve been looking at the snapmaker U1, the Sovol SV08, and the Q2/Q2C. For a replacement for bambu, I think the Q2 fits that profile best.
Show threadgeneva_convenienceFeb 24

SV08 is atractive for large prints but it’s huge and doesn’t have an enclosure. The large size can become cumbersome in a smaller house and it’s very rarely needed.

Snapmaker is attractive for multi-color or multi-material prints but those aren’t that common and it’s also much more expensive.

For a first printer the Q2 is probably good. You can run it fully locally without the Qidi cloud as well which is a big plus. Though accessing it outside of your home network would require a reverse proxy or something like Tailscale to connect to your home network first. (But you can use Qidi cloud if you wish)