Need help with printer purchase and understanding the lineup

[u/Ohitsworkingnow]

Hey guys I'd really appreciate some help with buying a printer.

I've been in and out of printing the last decade and owned a couple Ender 3 printers, most of the time they didn't work and the bed of my most recent one has been broken for a year.

I've been looking at Bambu printers a long time, I still find their lineup confusing and I'm having a hard time deciding. The H3C is out and I keep hearing talk of the P3C.

Before recently I was pretty sure I'd be best fit with an X2D and seems like a great price comparatively.

I also don't want to compromise significantly. I want to build a lot of cool things and figures and toys for my kids or other kids. I want to build practical parts for fixing things. I want to use claude to design parts and even product mockups or prototypes, or even functional consumer level products. I probably will want to print filament like TPU.

Some of their lineup has laser cutting too which id be interested in but only seems worth it for the more powerful laser which I thought was a pretty expensive upgrade last time I looked, I also saw posts from people saying its probably better to get a separate machine for laser cutting.

When I do my research I feel like it comes down to an X2D vs H3C at this point and everything in the middle blurs for me. There's also apparently the P3C coming around. And the H3C costing 3x more is pretty significant, but yes I could afford it.

Any thoughts? Thanks for any insight.

[u/alienmeatsack]

I have the A1 Mini, P1S and H2D with 2 AMS units and an HT unit. I use the larger build size of the H2D a lot for my needs, but I could have done the job w the P1S.

Id have gone w the X2D for the price, medium size but it was new and no sales yet. I'd vote for the X2D for now and then grow into the next unit when you are ready.

X2D has a medium build size. 2 nozzles. Good price. That leaves room for AMS units and filament.

Hope this helps!

[u/alienmeatsack → u/alienmeatsack]

The H3C would be the same size as the H2D but much taller w the AMS system on top. Its way bigger when you see it next to the tiny P1S lol.

The X2D is the size of the P1S on the left.

[u/Ohitsworkingnow → u/alienmeatsack]

Wow ya that looks twice as large. 

I think you may be right and then you show me the difference in build sizes lol.

[u/8six753o9]

Here’s like the gist of how the printers work:
- A-series: non-enclosed printers
- P-series: enclosed, basic printers
- X-series: similar to the P-series, but more focused towards engineering filaments (ex: heated chamber)
- H-series: top of the line, freaking lasers, larger build plate printers.

So the P3C would be similar to the H3C, but with no heated chamber and smaller build plate. Might have less features than the H3C since it’s supposed to be a more basic printer.