Need some advice from experienced 3D printer owners. Brand new to the hobby.
I own the AD5M (not the multi color AD5X) and it is pretty easy to use, but not the most unreliable, as it sometimes dies mid-print and is not always able to resume the print after a power recycle. For this reason, I do not recommend this printer. However, having 3D printed since 2013/14 on a DIY 3d printers and having owned multiple printers, this is not the worst printer I've owned (but in the bottom half) and it is still among the 4 printers I use regularly, but it will be the one that goes out of rotation when I get my next printer.
The other 3 printers I have in rotation (in order of how often I use them):
\* Bambu A1 mini Combo - Yes! it is the most intuitive and easy printer to use! Having used P1S and X1C through my workplaces, this is a general treat of the Bambu infrastructure and how well made the machines are. Also, they have (working) flow calibration at the start of each print (but only for the first filament when printing multi color print). When something goes wrong, these is a large wiki on their homepage covering problems for each printer and step-by-step guides to fix them. Then there are the controversies regarding closed cloud and open source, which is a big turn off :-(
\* Anycubic Kobra 3v2 Combo - works pretty well and has some of the auto features of the bambu that kind of works now (flow calibration is kind of okay now, while it was non-working when the printer was delivered). However, when things goes wrong (and even if I print more on the A1 mini, more thing goes wrong on the Kobra 3v2) they are a mess to rectify - I often get to the point, where I have to leave it for an hour or two to not smash it to pieces.
\* Kingroon KLP1 - a core-xy klipper fully enclosed printer, which (with some small updates) just works. It has some annoyances and does not produce the same quality as the A1 mini, so I have it more or less permanently set up with ASA filament, which it handles very well.
The AD5M is used the less of all these printers and only for fairly small prints or PETG, as - for some reason - it seems to crash less often when printing slower PETG objects.
Regarding the BL P2S vs AD5X comparison, the P2S is a (much) newer machine which is capable of making even better prints and it is enclosed for compatibility with more filaments, so a more fair comparison would IMO be with the cheaper BL P1S (compared to P2S), which I would still expect to produce a little better print results, but which is a very reliable printer. The AD5X and P2S, however, has quick change print heads, which the P1S does not.
But of cause, if you spend $400 more on a much newer printer, you should expect better results that from a $215 printer. So the question I would ask myself is: Is it good enough? It it easy enough to use (have you had any problems?). If so, it might be reasonable to save $400 for filaments and other stuff :-)
Happy printing!
Anycubic Kobra 2 Neo vs FLASHFORGE Adventurer 5M | 3D Printer Comparison 🏆
The Flashforge Adventurer 5M is highlighted as a high-speed, versatile, and smart choice for users who desire premium features and are willing to pay a higher price.
Should I avoid a used printer from Amazon?
I didn’t have an elegoo, but Amazon helped me when my flashforge AD5M stopped working after 26 days. I tried to go through flashforge but essentially got told it was a known issue and they would have a way to fix my machine in the future. I would absolutely spend the money to get the return policy.
FLASHFORGE Adventurer 5M Pro Review: This 3D Printer Hits 600mm/s and Still Nails Every Detail.
The Flashforge Adventurer 5M Pro is presented as a high-speed 3D printer capable of 600mm/s without compromising print quality, thanks to its rigid Core XY frame and advanced extruder system. It offers user-friendly features like auto-leveling and remote monitoring, supporting a wide range of materials.
New printer shopping!
either increase your budget or lower your size expectations. The Centauri carbon is a great single color option in your price range. I've tested it as well as some other lower cost options (Kobra S1, AD5X, AD5M)
The CC is the most reliable of the ones I've tried. It consistently produces nice parts without any fuss. The Flashforge machines probably take second. Not as sturdy, stripped down components, but still pretty turnkey and prints look great.
I've only had the Anycubic a week, but it's my least favorite of the lot. The bed is very thin and warps/deforms to a point that autolevel has a hard time compensating. I've been able to get by with liberal glue stick applications, The ACE pro unit seems to be hit and miss as well. It's nice that it's also a dryer, but I had some clogging issues. One of which required me to disassemble the hub to remove some trapped filament bits. When it works the results look great, but I don't feel like I can just send a file and walk away like I can with the others.
Coming from an Ender 3 you'll find any of these models easy to use though
