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What Printer Should I Get

There is a Purchase Advice button on r/3Dprinting. 

In a browser on a computer on the right side of the page there is an area community bookmarks. In that area is a button Purchase Advice.

That is a great place to start when you are looking for a 3D printer.

You have a far better idea of what you want in a printer than I do. You also know how you rank the things you want. For example you might say you do not want to fiddle with the printer and you want an inexpensive one. I have no idea how much you value your time. Would you spend $50 to have a printer be easier to use?

The printer that I think would be best for me as a new maker is probably not the printer that would be best for you.

I would need to know a LOT more about you to begin to recommend a printer.

The “best” printer for you depends on what you want to do, and I do not know enough about you to recommend a printer.

If you already picked out a printer and are looking for someone to agree with you the subreddit for the printer is where a bunch of people who have the printer hang out and most of them will recommend the printer they have.

My advice is to figure out what you want, I want to 3D print is not enough. When you have figured that out look at the printers available and see which one matches what you want. You can not always get everything you want. For example there is no big, fast, inexpensive printer. There is no old printer for sale that has the latest features.

For your first printer I would recommend a new one. If you MUST get used please read this.

Do I want FDM or resin? Well, you looked at printers and your needs. Do you want a resin printer?

Now, summer 2024, if you want to open the box, plug it in, print stuff, and you don’t want to tinker, I would get a Bambu printer. If you are more interested in the process of 3D printing and want to tinker, I would get one of the Ender clones. Creality has a bad reputation for QA and design. They do have a huge bunch of people who have them, but I would get one of the clones.

You know, or should, how big a thing you want to print and all the manufacturers will tell you the print volume a printer can do so you can eliminate a bunch that are too small. Ged stiff paper or cardboard, cut one piece the size of the bed, cut others the length and height of the build volume, tape them together. You now have a box the size of the print area. If it fits in the box you can print it.

PLA prints better on an open printer. TPU works well too. The temperature for the bed is not high so I think any printer can get that hot.

If you have a specific question, please ask. Does printer X do A, for example will the Ender-3 V2 print ABS? No and you could answer that question since ABS likes an enclosure and the Ender-3 V2 is not enclosed.