I’ve wanted to get into 3d printing for a while now and have been checking out the prusa mk4 and the bambu lab x1.
The bambu looks amazing in all aspects besides repairability and offline printing, with the latter one looking like a real deal breaker. It seems like all the more advanced features need a connection to the cloud, which I really don’t like.
On the other hand we have the prusa which seems to be running really rushed software still missing a lot of features that the hardware should be able to support and the price looks like way worse value compared to the stuff you get with the bambu. At least it’s repairable and no cloud bullshit.
Should I just come back in a year and hope that the mk4 software has gotten better or the bambu doesn’t require internet for all the cool stuff?
Edit: Just woke up and I want to thank everyone in this thread for the quality replies! I’ll look into 3d modeling first and if the prusa doesn’t anymore have janky alpha input shaping 2-3 months from now I’ll go with that, otherwise I’ll have to look for alternatives. Since I’d be running prints throughout the day while I’m not at home, I’d want something more reliable than an ender 3.
Edit 2: I just found out about the Bambu p1s, I might just get that one.
Are you the kind of person who enjoys tinkering with things and learning? Or does that frustrate you and you want something that “just works”?
If you are in the first category, just buy something like an ender 3 or a sovol sv06. They are cheap, open platforms, capable of great prints, and are a fantastic learning platform. If you buy one of the cheaper options to get your feet wet, then you can always spend more on a high end machine later if you decide you need it. The more locked-down systems like the Bambu might be nice for the “just work” crowd, but personally I have no interest in closed ecosystems and vendor lock-in.