I can get one for a couple hundred. Is it worth it?
I don’t think so. It looks like it lacks ABL, and the time savings from a core XY with ABL or auto first layer are MASSIVE. Also your print quality increases exponentially.
Take a look at the FlashForge 5M if you want a budget auto first layer printer, or the Qidi line for a slightly more robust printer (but needs more manual intervention).
And if you’d like to focus on printing and not tinkering forever, get a Bambu. Any of them.
Avoid creality.
Obligatory anti-Bambu pro Prusa comment here for achieving goal of printing without constantly boring around with printer. With Lemmy generally being so conscious of data privacy concerns, I’m surprised to see so much pro-bambu talk here.
I like Prusa as a company but their products are nowhere near as competitive as they were 2 years ago when every printer was a bed slinger. The fact that they still want $1,000 for a fairly basic bed slinger is pretty ridiculous.
I chalk it up to not being able to drop prices to the level of the Asian market with a European work force. As long as they continue to innovate, build quality products, and have great customer support, I’ll consider it a cost and not a loss.
Bambu has community firmware.
I second the Qidi recommendation. Both of mine have been champions thus far.
3D40 at couple hundred bucks? Absolutely not. 3D40 for $50? No. 3D40 for free? Yeah. Just don’t expect much out of it.