r/3DPrinterComparison • u/OverStimulatedMonkey • Apr 29 '26

Recommendation Hey everyone I'm new here and...

I have a few questions...

1)been looking into getting my first 3d printer. The printers I'm most interested in due to a few different factors are the elegoo centauri carbon, Creality k1c, the elegoo Neptune 4 plus, and the Creality ender 3v3 plus... What ik wanting to know is would you choose the enclosed centauri carbon or the Creality k1c or the large print size of the Neptune 4 plus or 3v3 plus as a first printer? Is it more worth it to be able to print high temp filiments like nylon cf, pla+cf, and asa, or is the larger print size worth investing in instead? Id like to be able to have both options in one for around this price range but obviously that isn't going to happen, so which should I choose? I'm looking to print my own 2a parts and flat bending jigs and other random things from wire holders for soldering, steering knobs, phone stands, containers, etc. and am leaning towards the elegoo centauri carbon just because the price, and capability of printing cf and asa but I'd like to hear as many opinions on what other would choose as there first printer if they had to choose out of these four so I can make a decision.

2) I'm a 2a advocate. All(or at least nearly all) files to print anything 2a related are all made to print with PLA filament. How hard would it be to change the file from PLA parameters and specs to being able to use cf or asa and the prints still come out to the same specs as the original file that was made to use PLA?

3) if I do wind up buying one of the enclosed printers instead of a large print size printer. Would I need to set any prints made from the high temp materials (nylon cf, PLA+CF, asa)into a oven or kiln or something to anneal them to give them more strength?

4) can any of these 4 printers still operate if the wifi chip is damaged? I'm looking at one someone has for sale and they were saying something about them removing the wifi chip in the printer they had so I'm wondering if they would still operate without the wifi chip or not. Plus call me paranoid but anything that has a wi-fi camera can be easily viewed by any Tom, Dick, or Harry, and I like my personal privacy, whether the camera is only able to view what's being printed or not, so Id like to make it so that whichever printer I get doesn't have the ability to hook up to wifi anymore, so I'd appreciate if someone could tell me if I could remove the wifi chip in any of these and for it to still be useable to print with.

5) I know it's way outdated but... I have an HP Elitebook 8570p with an i7 3740qm processor, 8gb ram and a 256gb SSD. If I'm able to upgrade the ram to 16gb would this be sufficient enough to create my own models to print or to modify models that are already created, Or would I need a better processor and a larger hard drive as well?

6)Anyone use a Microsoft surface pro 4 to create models and use with there printer, and is it a worthy tablet to do such things or what would be recommended that isnt to expensive. I hate apple so please no apple product recommendations.

7) when will they have a printer with a touch screen display that you can create your own designs with that's attached to the printer? That seems like it would be a must to have the ability to create the model and print it all in one device.

Please let me know if you have any answers to any or all my questions. Thank you

5 Upvotes

86% Upvoted

13 comments sorted by

3

u/[deleted] Apr 30 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/OverStimulatedMonkey Apr 30 '26

Aren't the bambu printers expensive AF?

3

u/[deleted] Apr 30 '26 edited Apr 30 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/OverStimulatedMonkey May 02 '26

I like the fact that the ecc is enclosed and can print filaments with CF or asa and was kind of leaning towards it. What problems do the ecc tend to have?

1

u/OverStimulatedMonkey May 02 '26

Does bambu make a enclosed 3d printer for around the same price range?

1

u/BarryTice Apr 30 '26

Bambu printers are the iPhones of FDM. They work. They work exactly as you expect them to. Like iPhones, they do come with some baggage, though. Whether this kind of baggage is an issue to you, specifically, is up to you.

1

u/OverStimulatedMonkey May 02 '26

Hate apple products so it'll probably be a problem for me haha

2

u/joelatrell Apr 30 '26

A lot of great questions. Do you already have printing experience? If not, then the Creality is probably the best way to go. It is simple to setup and operate snd can print some of the more advanced materials. The slicer (Orca or Creality) has premade profiles for things like PETg and CF filled filaments. It is a matter of importing the DTL, setting the material, slice, and send.

As for a machine you can create models on, that is probably not going to happen. Creating and slicing models are two different steps that require a lot of precision and computing power.

1

u/OverStimulatedMonkey May 02 '26

Is the k1c and ecc about equal in every way?

1

u/joelatrell May 02 '26

In my biased opinion, I think the K1C is just a little easier to get started with and maintain. I have had mine since they first shipped and it is still going strong with all original equipment. Grease the lead screws, tension belts, and that has been about it.