You'd have to do a little research to figure out your requirements for things like max printing dimensions and materials. I bought a Creality Ender 3 so I could print reasonably sized items (around 8x8x9 inches) with PLA filament (I didn't want to deal with potentially hazardous plastics - even PLA really should be ventilated so you're not breathing in the ultra-fine particles it produces).

What are you trying to use it for?

Ender 3 pro is the best bang for your buck, A new model is coming out you may want to wait for.

I’ve been running a CR-10 myself.

OMG are you out of your mind at that $$$$

Buy a Chinese printer from Reality. Fantastic printers with larger volume then those . Get an Ender3 in a standard version , no need for the pro as in real world tests no advantage except better power supply. I actually got mine for 160 shipped at Christmas I have and Ender 2 also and they have them for 149 now. Been running that one for two years already with zero problems .

https://www.creality3d.shop/products/creality-ender-3-3d-printer-economic-ender-diy-kits-with-resume-printing-function-v-slot-prusa-i3-220x220x250mm?gclid=CjwKCAjwkPX0BRBKEiwA7THxiORIL5ppLxFNjcC_wQLmg6hlrYe-bC5_vgVwBNuAdQcXskK0mfuD2RoC4_4QAvD_BwE

Way overpriced. I bought an Ender 5 pro, but I could have gotten away with the Ender 3 just as well I think. Mine took some fiddling to get to run right, and I replaced the main board with an aftermarket one. Getting the firmware programmed was a bit tricky for me, but since then it has been running very well. Just make sure you get the one with a silent board, so you don't have to hear the thing running all the time. I can't hear mine running 5 feet away.

Join one of the facebook groups for whichever model machine you buy. The Enders are hugely popular, and you will find a wealth of information and folks willing to share tech support instantly. You won't find this with the more obscure printers.

If you want to do big prints, beware that the Ender 5 Plus usually requires a fair amount of TLC to get it running reliably. Ask yourself if you need that big of a printer, or can you make your prints in multiple parts and join them together after the fact.

Also get yourself a cheap security camera (like a Yi home camera) and a smart outlet. Get in the habit of checking on your prints while you are away. If you have a print fail and start printing spaghetti, you can just kill the outlet remotely and not waste half a spool of filament.

Enter 3. CR10-S if you need something bigger.

Don’t spend more than $500.

If you are going to spend $1k, buy a Prusa MK3s, but don’t do that.

I also have an Ender 3 that I get great results from. Modding and adjusting the thing has become a hobby in itself. It was not great straight out of the box, are those higher end printers totally plug and play? I don't think I could recommend the Ender to someone that doesn't want to mess with it on both hardware and software.

Ask 10 people and you will get 10 different answers. If you're a maker/builder type getting into this to tinker and learn how a 3D printer works then get a sub $500 one and prepare to rebuild every part that fails until it becomes reliable. As with most things you get what you pay for. This applies even more so with 3D printers. If you want something accurate, reliable, and with support from a real person then you need to pay more.

Creality Ender 3 or Creality CR-10 for large print area. I do all of my printing on Creality printers and have never had an issue I can’t fix with a little tweaking. Also the community around these printers is huge and if you have a question, you can almost always find an answer!

I have a several year old Stratasys machine at work that was close to $50k when we bought it, and costs $750 to fill with the minimum 2000ml of build/support material. We have had just about every part on that thing replaced due to failure in the first 2 years, with minimal use. My Ender runs like an 80's volvo compared to that thing. 5 years ago, the cheaper machines were pretty much crap....but today? We may wind up sending the Objet down the road and getting a cheap FDM machine going forward. I can consistently print light press fit bearing pockets with my Ender, which is a fairly good judge of quality in its own right. Yes, modern expensive machines can do great things, but the gains are lost on the average hobbyist. IMO, cut your teeth on a $189 Ender 3, then step up to something else if you want to take it further.

This thing would have cost over $100 to print on the SLA machine...and murder to clean the support out of. It cost ~$5-$8 on the cheap FDM machine with pretty much zero support to clean out.

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Last one...a friend of mine is finishing up his 3d printed Jeep rc car crawler with his son as a STEM project. 4 weeks of pretty much nonstop printing on an Ender 3. 300+ parts, with print times ranging from 12-42 hours. Really cool project!

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I know some people find them over-priced, but I run a pair of Prusa Mk3's almost non-stop for days on end, and almost never have an issue with them. I couldn't even tell you how many spools of filament have gone through them. They've just been rock solid from day one.

-Hans

Have been using an Ender 3 pro (the pro has thermal protect) for quite a while now without issues. 100s of prints. They are cheap ($229 shipped), easy to fix or mod. We have several other way more expensive printers at work, but everyone is getting the ender 3

they are in short supply because people are buying them to produce medical supplies.

Yes. Well worth the extra money. I could not be happier with my mk3s.

Only suggestion, in 3D printers you get what you pay for. If it’s under $500 don’t expect much. 1 have 8 now and some I love more then others. The Prusa is popular but for me the only fun part was putting it together. (Like LEGO’s) Sold it after 2 prints. Strongly suggest something with a US parts/support network. Just my opinion, just pushed 75,000 hours run time on our lab and very happy overall.

Incidentally, I use Prusa's slicer exclusively over Cura....I get far smoother prints with the Prusa slicer.

Same here, however I do use Cura for the MonoPrice I have.

I move to Simply 3D for slicing. Supports works sooo much better than the do with Cura.

Simplify3D is the Only slicing software but as said before you get what you pay for. Simplify works perfect.

I got a Creality Ender 3 Pro 2 weeks ago. I'm no pro at this, but it does print nice. I had a Mbot and it was ok but quality was not good on" the prints. The only thing I have been making on mine has been ear savers for masks to give to the local health care workers and family.
Learning how to do 3d models, but it is a little above my pay grade.

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Those look great! I've been doing the same. I went down to draft quality and doubled the print speed. they don't look as good as those, but these are throw aways and perfection isn't important here. I've also managed to get 9 on the bed. I've probably printed a few hundred at this point.

Glad you guys are getting good results with an Ender 3 - I can get maybe 1 successful print out of 10, and spend endless hours re-leveling the bed constantly. I'm about done with it. Yesterday I printed a flat plate with a design on it for my kid, and I went to print a second one after letting it cool, and the second one - with NO physical or slicer changes, failed. I'm pretty sick of messing with it.

Spend the money and get a Prusa MK3S. This printer is awesome in so many ways, and delivers a perfect print nearly every time. Low maintenance, easy setup, auto-leveling, just about every feature you could want. I've had mine going on two years now, and I've received nothing but complements on the mods I produce with it.

Also, my slicer of choice is the Prusa Slic3r. I started with Cura, but once I switched I never looked back.

You would be surprised what you can accomplish in Tinkercad. I've designed nearly all of my mods in that tool, as it just takes some creativity. I'm trying to learn Fusion 360, but that's like jumping to calculus after just learning basic algebra (just not very intuitive at all and what seems like it should be simple and basic is not). I know that F360 is ultimately the way to go, but there is indeed a learning curve I haven't ascended yet.

Well, it depends on infill and size of models. Most typical spools are 1kg (I primarily use 3D Solutech and Prusament filaments). Your slicer will provide details on the weight and estimated length of filament a model will require. On average a spool of quality filament costs around $20. A very large model with good infill might use 20-25% of that spool and cost about $4-$5. Your smaller to medium models use significantly less filament and might cost only a few cents to produce. Again, your slicer will provide all of this information to you, and you'll soon develop a sense of what a model takes and costs to produce.

The main cost is building your color collection as you soon get tired of the one or two colors you initially purchase. I currently have about 20 spools on hand (a few of those are PETG and ABS, but the majority are different colors of PLA).

For example, this model when printed a 100% size, 15% infill, and .2mm resolution on my Prusa i3 MK3S would take 27.5 hours to print and would use 84.23 meters of filament or 251.21 grams. Therefore, I could come close to printing 4 of these from a single spool with the settings listed, and each would cost about $5 to produce.

This one for sure! https://www.prusa3d.com/original-prusa-i3-mk3

or

They now have a mini that is a good entry point into 3D printing with machine that still has a ton of features: https://www.prusa3d.com/original-prusa-mini

Prusa support is excellent as they truly back their products (I have firsthand experience with such). They are constantly improving their slicer (free), and they regularly update their firmware to support new features. There flex steel heated beds are second to none, and completely eliminate the hassle and frustration with adhesion and release (I've worked with printers using traditional heated beds and even glass, but neither come close to the ease of use of the flex steel Prusa solution).

That's cool. Did he actually print the tires with flex or are those store bought? I've only done a little flex material (Prusa handles it quite well).

I know they are all closed right now, but your local library likely has a 3-d printer you can use for the cost of materials. It's a great way to dork around with the technology without committing to buying a machine.

I was having the same first layer issues with prints randomly releasing, and upgraded to this build plate instead. Best $20 you can spend.

You'll need to adjust your Z stop, but once dialed in it's really night and day vs the stock plate. It holds with no tape/glue/hairspray needed, and once it cools below 30c you can lift the print off like it was never even attached.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07DS2LZF1/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o09_s00

I really appreciate the suggestion - I do already have that build plate. my issues seem to be related to the leveling for the most part. The plate just will NOT stay level. Yesterday I discovered yet another thing that has to be dialed in - the wheels that keep the bed retained to the structural arm underneath are not tight enough. So the bed will tilt up at just the slightest touch - which is what appears to happen during any print.

I've printed the spool holder, added dampers to quiet the thing (I wish I'd added fans, as it still sounds like a jet engine), printed the belt tensioners, printed shock absorbing feet to minimize ringing, and yet I still have issues with the first layer not sticking to the bed. Like I said, I am about done

It certainly can get frustrating! If you haven't chucked it out the window yet, you might want to upgrade your springs to these.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07FY47BX7/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00

Thanks! I ordered those in March actually. They’ve been um, delayed..

I think they bought the tires and of course electronics and screws/bearings...everything else was printed with PLA. They found the gears to be too weak, so they are having them printed by someone else in a more durable material...I think the stock hot end isn't hot enough to print CoPA.

Prusa MK3S = auto bed leveling

This works incredibly well. Leveling was a constant nightmare on the previous printer I had, but Prusa is set it once and forget it.

At first, the price difference set me off from looking at the MK3, but with all this frustration, I am definitely willing to pony up $500 more. with the time and additions I've made to the Ender 3, and with almost NO results to show for it, I'm willing to take the next step here...

Like everybody else said - Ender 3D. Use that to get your feet wet.

One side note, they disabled the overheating in the firmware. Might want to turn that on.

I was one of the first people to get the Ender 5 with the new 800 steps per revolution Z screw. Problem is...Creality never told anyone they made the change. Took me a solid week to get it figured out after updating the firmware. And at that time, I had to do it using an Arduino. Huge learning curve for me. Thankfully it's been dead solid ever since.

I was in a similar spot when I bought it. I went through two different 3D printers as I was really frustrated with the results I was getting and how much effort it took. I decided to buy the kit to save a little money (took me about 5 hours to assemble), and I've never looked back or regretted it for a moment.

Prusa ships over 6,000 printers a month, and has the world's largest printer farm operating 24-7 making parts for their printers (well, I think they are making tons of masks at the moment).

Here's a cool tour of the Prusa facility from about a year ago:

Sorry have to disagree. They do not ship 6k machines a month. I work with Joel (in Seattle) and that is not the case. The print farm is to make the parts for this printer which in My opinion one of the reasons I really don't like it. They do have Amazing marketing but having a somewhat industrial tool made from 3D printed parts does not make for long term quality. Not saying in any way they are bad but certainly a bit over hyped. The fun part is Lego building the kit. From that point its a fairly primitive system actually especially the interface. Any traditional nozzle clog is a test of patience dismantling every fragile 3D printed part just to get to the old style internal Bowden tube. Just not a fan but everyone has a preference which is fine.

https://www.prusa3d.com/about-us | "And now? Now, there are more than 300 people working in Prusa Research and we ship over 6000 printers worldwide directly from our HQ in Prague every month!"

Secondly, I'm not speaking from marketing hype but from first-hand experience for a printer that I have run non-stop for nearly 2 years. It is rock solid, and performs flawlessly. It's quality is superb, and I have multiple people ask me what printer I use because they've never seen 3D printer quality like some of my models before. Not saying you can't achieve similar or even better results with other printers, but I do nothing special to deliver high quality results every time.

As far as nozzle issues, I've had to nearly fully disassemble and perform surgery on two other brands multiple times due to nozzle clogs. I've had one issue on my Prusa, stuck a wire up the nozzle and the problem was solved.

Additionally, nearly every credible 3rd party review online rates the Prusa as one of the best on the market. As far as Joel goes, I've watched a multitude of his videos and find the quite informative. From my recollection he's had nothing but positive things to say about the Prusa i3 series.

For anyone first getting into 3D printing, they may not want to spend the money on a MK3S right out of the gate. I cut my teeth on two other brands/models before I make the leap. In my personal experience, the Prusa is by far the simpler machine to operate while delivering excellent results.

Whatever you get, head over to thingiverse.com and search for pinball. Some useful stuff there.