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this post was submitted on 05 Nov 2023
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3DPrinting
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The Ender 3 v3 SE is going to be y our best bet. I run a 3D printer repair shop, and unless you are already experienced and good with assembling kit machines and highly technical of a person - you will have a terrible time with an Ender 3, 3 Pro, or 3 v2.
The Ender 3 v3 SE can be had for $200-ish at various places, comes with auto leveling which even handles all the Z-probe offset stuff, so there's no need to get yourself confused with terminology, it already has a direct drive, and PEI build surface, all the things you'll end up spending another $200 on to put on an Ender 3 of a previous generation.
Don't start your 3D printing journey for $100 unless you have a highly technical acumen or you will have a terrible time. I know the others are trying to be helpful by suggesting machines to you that fit within your budget, and it's certainly possible to start out that low -- but the better advice is just to get something slightly better. It'll make the difference between you hating 3D printing, and loving it.
Just adding onto this as someone who got an ender 3 V2. This comment rings so true because I tried and tried to get the printer to work how I wanted for months before I just gave up. Flash forward almost 2 years and I got a much nicer but not crazy (~$400 if I recall) and it's such a night and day difference. I actually quite enjoy printing now, whereas I just kinda thought it wasn't for me with my first printer. Turns out cheap tools really do give cheap results
Adding onto this as someone who bought an ender 3 pro years ago and got it printing beautifully within about 6 months.
Yes, you have to have some knowledge and skills, but it is quite possible to get those printers working nicely and reliably. Of course, between the cost of upgrades and the time spent it's only worth it if you want to learn or practice.
I had a 3 V2 and sold it. Spent so much time and money and still hated it. Will I like that one better?
Yes, even the v2 required a lot of assembly and you have to deal with eccentric nuts and delrin V wheels and crap in order to make it print right. The v3 has proper linear rods on the Y axis, no wheels to adjust the bed, everything assembled with like 6 screws. It's leagues ahead of the v2.
Thanks for the response. I'll look into getting one then :)
You're welcome to message me directly if you have any questions about it -- the biggest piece of advice is don't go changing a bunch of crap out of the box as many on the internet will tell you to do. Just download creality slicer, choose the Ender 3 v3 SE, and print. Maybe turn on/off supports as needed. Use the "Level" option when you first turn on the machine, and then print your file. I've had complete technophobes able to run this machine with little to no problem.
Look at Sovol or Anycubic in that price range. I don't have direct experience with either. A good friend of mine had two Anycubics at one point last year and he said they were easier than his Creality.
I'll tell you right now that the Anycubics are garbage. They have electrical/wiring issues, and their touch probe solution is flaky. They are violating open source licenses as well, by not releasing the source code for their firmware on their machines. Stay far away from Anycubic.
I can vouche for Sovol's SV06 and 06+ - they're good machines - but their communities online are misguided. (A lot of them mistakenly believe their machines are suffering from "X-Twist")