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Considering Prusa Mini as First Printer
(lemmy.world)
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this post was submitted on 18 Jun 2023
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I have no experience with the Prusa mini, but as a first timer, I found the Ender 3 (pro, I think) perfectly good quality. It might be due to lack of experience with anything else, so if definitely defer to folks who have experience with a few different models, but I've found it good for all of my printing needs (Cases, utility objects, and the occasional figurine/trinket). If that success is anything out of the ordinary, I think I'd attribute it to a few things...
I was generally in the same boat as you; Liked to tinker, and wanted the best quality but didn't want to pay out the ass for it. I typically tend to "overspend" when getting into a new hobby out of the fear I won't stick with it if I struggle with low quality gear, bit also have an aversion to parting with my cash. These upgrades seemed to be the consensus reached at the time for how to get good consistent results out of the Ender 3.
I find the Ender 3 to be occasionally too small for things I want to print, but generally a good size, and look forward to being able to tinker further with an upgraded/quieter main board.
So, all in all, I can't help with anything specific to the Prusa mini, but can vouch for the Ender 3 as fitting my needs when I think I had the same general quality/cost criteria as you. Hope you found this helpful! Good luck in your printer search!
The Ender 3 Neo comes out of the box with a bed leveler - that's pretty much my go-to recommendation for someone getting started.
A couple of months ago I bought an ender 3 neo as my first printer. I haven't been disappointed with it.
I spent ~200€ on my neo. I didn't go for the v2 neo, as I didn't feel like the extra features were worth it. Tensioning the belts by hand is not difficult and the glass bed has super good adhesion so far. If the prints are stuck to the bed, I usually put the glass into a freezer for 15min and the prints pop off easily.
The setup before printing was like 1h of assembly and 20 minutes to level the bed and set z offset.
Yeah, if you actively like to tinker, the Ender 3 series will give you every opportunity. And sometimes will require it. xD (My 3V2 hasn't really required it, but holy shit is it not stock anymore and I have learned a lot making it that way.)
Seriously though, the Ender 3 community and mods availability is unsurpassed. These things are truly the Model T of printers for both better and worse, and I'm glad I started here, it's been educational as hell and that's part of what I wanted. And it's a bit of a hotrod at this point! Because I made it so. :D