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.
The P1S does seem like a good value overall.
I’ve heard the screen is quite primitive with the P1 printers, and I expect that will become your primary interface with the printer if you are not using the cloud print functionality.
You will also not get the benefit of the automatic calibration features.
For myself that makes it less desirable. However, there is also some value in understanding the manual filament tuning and printer calibration process as it helps you troubleshoot when things go wrong.
If the P1S existed when I was getting into 3D printing, I likely would have purchased it. It’s at a similar price point without the AMS to the Ender 3 S1 Pro (which is what I learned on) and the P1 has many more capabilities.
You are talking about the lidar? It can still auto-bed-level without internet right?
Yes, and you will still get automatic bed leveling on the P1 series. I do not believe that requires any cloud connection.
Alright, thank you!