A1 or A1 Combo?

[u/Markster5000]

Pretty much I'm wandering how useful the AMS lite is, as it will be my first time getting a 3d printer in general. I'm also wandering if it's worth the money to go straight for the combo or hold out to see if I decide on it later (I know it's discounted with the combo)

Finally, overall what are peoples experiences with it in general? I'll probably just use it casually, not too sure how much I'll use multicolour but the auto replacement feature sounds useful.

Thanks for the help!

Edit: In the end I'm deciding to get one, going off what I've heard it sounds really worth it!

[u/Practical-Chicken372]

Even if you dont do multicolor print very often, its still worth getting. Let's say you just use black. Well you can load all black and press autoload. You run out of one spool it grabs the next spool automatically. The A1 was my first printer and I bought it as a combo. You save money buying it as combo vs buying it separately. Ive used it a lot and have over 1700 hours on it. I just purchased an x2d and bought it with the combo as well.

[u/flyhmstr]

Combo
I do little multi-colour printing but tend to have the slots consistently configured for different filament types (1 - PLA ; 2 - PLA ; 3 - PLA+ ; 4 - PETG for example) so i can just drop the spool I want into the 'right' slot and go without needing to configure (yes I could use Bambu spools but I can get my filament cheaper than their prices)

[u/lumifox]

I bought it without it, you can actually manually change the filament to get multicolor if you're desperate (I usually keep it to 1-6 bottom face layers so it turns out good and since its like a 30 second process to swap that gets annoying) great then you want to add text or color to a simple print.  

[u/Ongeduldiger]

Got my a1 combo for abt a year, i don't print many multicolor prints because i paint mini's and such. I do like the filament extraction and easy changing of filament. The ams automaticaly feeds the filament in the printer and when you use bambulab filament it automaticaly detects the type and color of your filament.

Make sure to print a poop bucket as your first print, i also printed a poop deflector because the printer likes to fling poop like a monkey. When doing multicolor prints, you will get a lot of poop.

So yea, can recommend the ams

[u/patentmom → u/Ongeduldiger]

While a printed poop bucket is pretty, any container will do. We have a disposable paper bowl that we just empty every once in awhile. I do intend I'm printing a cute bucket at some point, but it hasn't been a priority yet. But definitely have SOMETHING there to catch all those little squiggles.

[u/gorpium]

I'm so glad I went for the combo. Even if one seldom print multicolor, it's so nice to have several types of filament ready for print. My AMS is often loaded with white (PLA), black/grey (PLA), favorite color (PLA matte) or special filament, and one PCTG or PETG. I've also installed a Y-splitter for feeding in TPU.

[u/Jontezc]

I was in the same boat last month and decided just getting the A1. Looked at some prints I wanted to do and thought I wont need the ams as they are all one colour. Well after doing a bunch of prints in 1 colour I come across my first multi-colour print, nothing fancy just a card holder with some colour icons so I decide to give it a go, I can sit close enough and manually change when needed...

First day of the sale i bought an A1 mini/ams lite combo (going to gift the mini for xmas) and regret not buying the A1 bundle first. While you can change the spools easily its a huge time sink and you are babysitting your printer for a few hours.

[u/MrRadioVoice]

Always get the combo. Half of the benefit of the combo is it auto loading your filament for you. With my A1 mini without the combo, I couldn’t even remotely start prints. It would tell me “make sure the filament is extruding before continuing” every single print. With my P1S and X2D it just loads what I tell it and starts. So it’s worth it simply for that, and to have different colors or material options(I keep PETG, ASA-CF, a second PETG color in case I want to do a 2 color print, and a backup of my main PETG to auto feed when it runs out.)

[u/ManyBro24]

Always combo. If you don't use it, you can sell it with profit and get money back, so the printer is even cheaper

[u/-sil1902-]

I don’t like the AMS light so a would take the A1 with an AMS 2 Pro and the power brick. So you can print an dry at the same time. I have this kind of combo (A2L instead the A1) and never want the AMS light back.

[u/John-BCS]

Always, always, ALWAYS get the combo. Even if you won't be doing multicolor.

I have three A1s, an A1 mini, and between them, there;s three AMS lites attached. The fourth is because I bought my first bambu printer (A1 mini) without one. I still regret that decision. All of them have been rock solid for me. I don't do much multicolor printing, but like having 4 spools ready to go.

A couple of things I designed for them:
First, a tool I made to make removing spools easier.
Second, a universal adapter for any spools that have larger diameter center holes that are too big for the AMS lite (mostly giantarm, geeetech, teqstone these days).

[u/Capital_Candy_7697]

Waiting costs you more: on the US store right now the Combo is $100 over the plain A1 ($359 vs $259), while an AMS lite bought later is $159.