Comment on Marketing Doesn't Work on Nerds

• grue@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago

  I hesitate to actually make a recommendation other than “not Bambu” because I haven’t done a ton of research myself.

  • Prusa is possibly the best option in terms of ease of use and ethics, but I’m too cheap to stomach their prices (YMMV).
  • Sovol proudly advertises the fact that their stuff is based on Voron open source designs, so that’s good.
  • DIYing a Voron is what I might suggest if you weren’t so new (and what might be my next printer).
  • Creality, Elegoo and Anycubic are sort of the leaders among generic Chinese brands that implement open source designs but don’t really champion it or give back, but also don’t try to screw the community. IMO they’re good options if you’re more price conscious, like I am.
  • I have literally never heard of Qidi until reading your comme

  I personally own a Creality Ender 3 V3 SE (that I got on open-box discount from Microcenter for <$150, BTW) which used to be considered the best entry-level printer but now seems to be getting less recommended as newer competitors come out? I’m not sure what I’m missing out on, TBH, other than obvious higher-end performance features that would move a printer out of that market segment. Any ease-of-use features it lacks can be fixed by hooking a Raspberry Pi running Octoprint to it, but I don’t mind enough to bother. (I also own an old Monoprice Select Mini, but that’s not relevant in 2025 and I only mention it to say that the Ender wasn’t my first printer.)

  I think the Ender V3 SE is a fine choice if you’re just getting started, unless you want to spend a bunch more money (either to get capabilities like large print volume, a heated chamber for exotic filaments, or multi-color, or to pay a premium to support a brand that gives back to the community).

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