Which printer to get?

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Stevefury
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Posts: 8
Joined: December 15th, 2019, 11:22 am
3D Printer(s): Makerbot Mini

Which printer to get?

Post by Stevefury »

I am not new to 3d printing.
I've had a Makerbot Mini that I got as a fathers day gift ($700 @ SAMS club) in 2015.

I build a ton of custom robotic parts and the printer gets a lot of almost daily use.

My Makerbot have proven to be reasonably trouble-free and a very reliable printer.
Just load the model int the software and click PRINT.
Almost without exception, the printer completed the jobs without any fuss or muss (What ever those are).

My Makerbot suffered a major break down yesterday amid print. Probably a bad power supply.

I thought there were a lot of printer options back in 2015, really a big forest of multitude models across many manufacturers.
OMGosh the field of printer options and manufacturers is HUGE today which is a two sided sword. The huge variety is great but really confusing.

I look at places like Amazon and they have a TON of printers for under $400, which is about the length of my budget.

I am hoping that someone here can give some suggestions.
Can I get a good reliable printer for $400 or under these days?
Maybe with a bigger print volume than my Makerbot Mini's 4x4x5 inches?
Thanks for your input.
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GrueMaster
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Posts: 522
Joined: March 15th, 2017, 8:46 pm
Location: Oregon
3D Printer(s): Hictop 3DP-17, Hictop CR-10S

Re: Which printer to get?

Post by GrueMaster »

I have a CR-10S (Hictop branded), and have had very little issues with it that I couldn't resolve (had a couple of hotend choke blobs, but Hictop makes a cheap replacement kit that is as simple as 4 screws and 2 cable plugs). There are a LOT of users out there, so getting help shouldn't be a problem. You can find them on Amazon.
Lez0
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Posts: 400
Joined: October 8th, 2017, 10:21 am
Location: Spain
3D Printer(s): JGAurora A5S, Anycubic Photon, Saturn 2

Re: Which printer to get?

Post by Lez0 »

One thing I have found through reading various post is that it is the luck of the draw.
You may get a printer that works no problem and someone else gets the exact same printer and has loads of problems.
Look for a printer that is well supported.
Mine is a JGaurora A5s and apart from a cable coming loose from the LCD screen it has done 100's of prints, other people haven't been so lucky with this printer. At least this has a good support if there is any problems.
These are my thoughts.
Lez
Stevefury
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Posts: 8
Joined: December 15th, 2019, 11:22 am
3D Printer(s): Makerbot Mini

Re: Which printer to get?

Post by Stevefury »

Thanks for the replies.
I ended up ordering the Artillery Sidewinder X1 which I believe to be similar to the CR-10.
It's due to arrive in 6 days. Can't hardly wait. The huge build space is going to be great!
Hope I get a good one.
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