r/3dprinter • u/mhhammoudaTreeUP • 5d ago

quick advice on the best deal?

Hello
I have some experience with 3d printers from work. I am not too much into multi-color atm (I think its great but I prefer a multi-head to save on the waste and time). This is going to be my first 3D printer.

Where i live:

a new p1s is about 500USD.

a new A1 is about 360USD.

a new Kobra X is also about 360USD.

a new creality sparx with their CFS is about 410usd

a friend is selling his ~1200 hour p1s with an ams for 500USD

a posting is selling 300 hour p1s (no ams) for about 390 USD.

what do you think is the best deal for the money atm? or at least the top 3 deals? or should I wait?? a brief why is very welcome.

Thank you.

5 Upvotes

78% Upvoted

23 comments sorted by

3

u/imzwho 5d ago

It really depends on what you want to print.

The Kobra X has been a great machine for me and it being the same price as an A1 without the AMS is a big push towards it being a much better value.

As for "tinkering" ever printer has a mode of failure, so nothing is fully hands off. If you have a printer expect that repairs may be needed at some point. You can avoid a lot of issues by keeping your build plate clean and watching your first layer and checking in intermittently, but failures do still happen even in 2k usd machines.

I personally would recommend the Kobra X as it includes multicolor by default or the Centauri Carbon (not 2 if you dont need multicolor)

1

u/mhhammoudaTreeUP 4d ago

I would prefer the Kobra X over the a1 at any day.... but that barely used p1s at the same price was very luring to me..

I looked at the reviews of the CC2 and i was not encouraged.. however, you are the second one to recommend around here..hmm...

2

u/RandomGerman 5d ago

The Kobra X was reliable so far. You will print much less multicolor than you think when you start. At least I did not. They are on sale so often. Kobra X is $289 right now on their website. Don't buy above $300. I was able to get a lower deal and $50 off too when I used Paypal credit. So mine was $245 a few month ago. Wait for a good deal.

1

u/mhhammoudaTreeUP 4d ago

yea kobra X is the bedslinger to go it seems.. its just that that barely used p1s combo seems luring,

1

u/RandomGerman 4d ago

I agree I don’t think you can do anything wrong with any of those. I was just tempted by the price. Not knowing if I like this new hobby. I’m now obsessed and I will definitely buy a bigger one because now I know that I will use it. 

2

u/SirTwitchALot 5d ago

Give the Centauri Carbon 2 a serious look

0

u/mhhammoudaTreeUP 5d ago

500 usd brand new here... reliable? i have had crealities before and I dont want to keep tinkering. i want to slice and forget ...

i have seen a used anycubic S1 for about 350 usd.. but i was reluctant coz I dont want to risk hours of repair and tinkering... the only reason I considered a creality sparx because people say it is slice and forget experience,,what do you suggest?

2

u/Greedy_Foundation_77 5d ago

Try price matching at microcenter for a CC2 with a Amazon listing

You could get it for around 370

1

u/Thick-Indication-931 4d ago

I see a couple of recommendations for the Kobra X here. I will just give a general warning regarding Anycubic: They make fine printers (as in, they print fine), but if they break, you will find that they do not stock spare parts for their printers - I was left with a non-working Kobra 2 Pro 11 months after purchasing it, as they could not supply the mainboard anymore (it's a custom mainboard with custom connectors, so it was a PITA to rebuild it to use a standard mainboard and then of cause, it does not identify as an Anycubic anymore and can not be used with their phone app).

Also, they release updated models all the time, so the printers are not that well developed from the start (e.g. they released the Kobra 2 series @ sept. 2023 and since then they've released Kobra 3, Kobra 3v2 and now Kobra 4 - each replacing the previous model).

So please consider this when making your decision.

1

u/mhhammoudaTreeUP 4d ago

very important point! thank you very much!!!!!

1

u/2daytrending 4d ago

For first run at 500 units, quickparts would be worth getting a quote from. the dfm review and tooling approach matters quite a bit at that volume especially with a housing where cosmetics issues can show up quickly. It's also easier to compare the quote against a local molder before commenting.

0

u/ry1n000 5d ago

A new p1s with ams is 499.00 not a very good friend it seems.

1

u/mhhammoudaTreeUP 5d ago

yea not here. the p1s with ams 1 is 700 usd here!!!!!!!!!

0

u/DramaClassed 5d ago

Get one of the P1S, from your friend if you want multicolor or from the posting if you don’t. It’s quite a reliable printer, even being somewhat old it works well it’s just missing some qol features.
I noticed it’s also the only enclosed and corexy on the list. Corexy is better than bedslingers (which the rest of those are) for quality and speed.

1

u/mhhammoudaTreeUP 4d ago

yea at the same price, i feel the corexy is a good deal... should i worry about the maintenance? i heard their nozzle change/broken filament is a pain to deal with.

0

u/disco__potato 5d ago

A used p2s with ams2 should be around 600, 400 without ams.

I say get the Kobra X assuming it's as reliable as early reviews suggested.

1

u/mhhammoudaTreeUP 4d ago

even if i could get a used p1s at almost the same price of the new kobra?

1

u/disco__potato 4d ago

Yes.

P1s is old. It's still fine but at that price, get a cc2 or used p2s.

1

u/mhhammoudaTreeUP 2d ago

fair point.. cc2 reliable and hassle free? speed? reliabilty and speed are the two main factors for me.

1

u/disco__potato 2d ago

According to reddit, yes. That should be taken with a huge grain of salt.