I think it’s finally time to upgrade from my Ender 3, and the market has… grown substantially. I’m a bit out of my depth.
Definitely looking at a coreXY, and definitely prefer a multi-color system (multi-material really). My budget is around $600, but that’s a bit flexible.
The Elegoo Centurion Carbon 2 looks attractive, and it’s on sale. But I’ve heard good things about multi-head systems, particularly when it comes to waste from purging. Granted, that stretches my budget a bit.
What’s the move? It seems like so many of the options (coughcoughBambu) have pretty gross anti-consumer practices. Are there any good options out there?
Update: Alright, I pulled the trigger on a Snapmaker U1. It seems like it’s going to be the Ender 3 of tool changers: the open source darling that becomes the de facto standard for the mod community.
My wife preordered the new Flashforge printer (Creator 5). Still waiting for it to come in, but early reviews look interesting.
4 head tool changer design. It’s a little over your budget, ($699 USD currently) and they don’t seem very linux friendly, but it does seem to be compatible with orca slicer. Don’t seem to be as bad as Bamboo though.
Downside is you have to wait for it to ship. They seem to have had some sort of shipping snafu and preorders have gotten delayed. Looks like we’ll be getting ours sometime end of June. Not sure when regular orders will ship.
A couple of years ago, I had an Ender 5. Can’t recommend it. Went through 3 main boards before I decided to start modding it. Never did get it truly reliable.
The Flashforge Creator 5 caught my eye, it’s only a bit outside my budget. Right now it seems like either that or springing for the $899 Snapmaker U1. Downside of the Flashforge is that it’s newer, seems to have some bugs, and like you said the shipping issues.
Definitely an option.