What 3D Printer should I buy as my first? (piefed.social)

submitted 22 hours ago by Ek-Hou-Van-Braai@piefed.social to c/3dprinting@lemmy.ml

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So the Bambu labs A1 looks like the perfect starting point.

One problem, it uses proprietary firmware and software, I'm a big advocate for owning the things you buy, and not supporting companies that don't allow you to do that as much as I reasonably can. So yea I can't buy Bambu.

The Creality SparkX i7 seems nice, it looks like a straight up clone of the A1
https://store.creality.com/eu/products/sparkx-i7-3d-printer

I've heard a lot of people complain about Creality though, so unsure. I'm a bit stuck and getting decision fatigue.

My budget is ~500 Euro.

Help.

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[-] umbrella@lemmy.ml 1 points 7 hours ago* (last edited 7 hours ago)

bed leveling

easy to install bed leveling on it, after you figure out you need it.

filament sensing, network connectivity

a bit superfluous for a first printer to learn on.

figuring out what modeling to slicing pipeline

that's a positive not a negative, especially considering OP wants to learn.

basic simplicity and reliability are actually big pluses. ender 3s are fine as a first printer for good quality prints at rock bottom price for what you get.

this post was submitted on 24 Feb 2026

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