Honestly, If you are just trying to get into it, avoid some of the cheaper ender 3 clones, you'll spend more time fixing and tinkering than printing.
Elegoos Neptune line is cheap, effective, and they have very good customer service
this post was submitted on 09 Jul 2023
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Yeah, 3d printing suffers from the same problem a lot of hardware-heavy hobbies suffer, where there is an entire tier of "entry level" models that are absolutely trash and only exist to disappoint and frustrate beginners until they upgrade or give up.
Fish keeping is also chronic for this as well - small, cheap "beginner" tanks are harder to maintain than larger ones
I just watched some review videos on the Neptune 3 Pro and it looks very primising. The Neptune 4 Pro looks better but I guess the 3 Pro is a better starting point to see if I will use it frequently or not.
Fully up to you, I use the 2S, and 3 pro. The 3 pro is great, but if you have budget, might as well go 4 pro
Thank you, but I have two friends who have printers collecting dust, so I think I will go for the lower cost option and see how it goes.
They are most likely collecting dust because they're cheap crap. It's like buying a $200 "mountain bike" from Walmart to try it out. Sorry, but you can't buy a mountain bike for $200, there's nothing to try out.
Your cheapest option is to buy Ender 3 S1 and upgrade it with SonicPad.
Thats the best option Id say. Frustrations and failed prints are kinda normal for beginners on even more expensive printers. It will help you decide what to buy more than any comment here. I agree with aux, they are probably cheap crap, but dont expect much more from a new ender. Cheap printers are thinkering machines for people that like to sink some time and money in a hoby. But with knowledge and experience (and some $$) any printer can produce quality prints
I’d go Prusa Mini if I were you, a little more money but a very solid printer. I highly encourage getting the kit as the process of assembly is a great combo of teaching aid and confidence for fixing later problems that are bound to eventually come up.
I just bought a Elegoo Neptune 3 Pro. Thank you all for your advise.
Ender 3 S1 - should be able to get for equivalent of $299 USD
Very simple to use, easy setup, works out of the box, Cura defaults work well, and good quality