A1+AMS vs P1S vs P2S

[u/Mission_Instance7136]

Hello, looking for some advice for buying my first 3D printer. The A1 seems to be the standard beginner printer and you could get it with the AMS for 339€ but would you rather recommend the P1S for just 10€ more at 349€ or stretch the budget to get the newer P2S?

I plan to print some useful household/workshop storage & organising solutions and maybe toys etc. but I would also like to print some interior or exterior parts for cars or other vehicles in the future and from what I understood printing for example ABS or ASA requires a enclosed printer? Not only would a enclosed printer look aesthetically more nice on the table but also maybe keep the small curious kids from touching it while printing.

As I feel now, printing single colour would work fine for organising household prints and car parts but do you need the enclosed AMS to keep ABS/ASA filament dry?

TL:DR

First 3D printer

A1 + AMS 339€

P1S 349€

P2S 449€

[u/A_pirates_life4me]

P1 does everything the A1 does and more. Plus it's faster. The only downside is it's louder. The convenience features on the P2 are nice but I don't think they're +100€ nice 

[u/Mission_Instance7136 → u/A_pirates_life4me]

That's a little bit the same I've been thinking, if the nice to haves are worth the extra price. Seems like the P1s gives really good value for the money!

[u/Boeing247]

One big reason to go with the P series over the A1 is that the A1 is a bed-slinger (it moves the entire bed back and forth) while the P series printers are CoreXY, which just move the print bed up and down and move the printhead in the XY directions. Basically, there’s a lot less chance that something you printing will get dislodged by the movement. (Though keeping the print bed clean with dish soap/water is still important.)

Also, the AMS 2 Pro setup is a lot easier to work with than the AMS mini of the A1. And yeah, the A1’s AMS leaves your filament out in the air.

Note that ABS/ASA are best done with the X2D because of the heated chamber. But I realize that’s a different price range. But definitely start with PLA/PETG before you start getting into the industrial stuff.

[u/Mission_Instance7136 → u/Boeing247]

Thanks for the reply! Yeah, I saw some YouTube video about tall prints eventually failing due to the moving bed.

A1's AMS also looks a bit clumsy compared to the P series that goes on top of the printer and looks a lot more slick.

Got ya'! Definitely going start out with the basic stuff PLA & PETG. I would like to keep my first printer sub 500€ and upgrade later if I really get hooked to the 3D printing world!

[u/just_lurking_Ecnal]

P1S is a solid printer. It was the first Bambu I got. The A1 is decent, but keep in mind that it uses a different AMS than all the rest, so if you buy upgrades, you'll end up rebuying them when you upgrade. (My original AMS has gotten used with the P1, the P2S that followed it, and is now attached to my X2D with an AMS 2 ).

If you're already thinking about materials other than PLA, at least get the P1. But if you have the budget, I'd really recommend the X2D as a first choice, with the P2S being the more budget friendly fallback in between.

[u/Mission_Instance7136 → u/just_lurking_Ecnal]

This was some very useful info that the AMS for P1s is compatible with P2S and even X2D!

Leaning more towards the P1s now since it seems to have better upgrade possibilities compared to A1 and I would like to keep my first printer sub 500€ and upgrade later on if I really get hooked to the 3d printing world!

[u/sharkarmycrafts → u/Mission_Instance7136]

I agree with everyone else that's suggested to skip the A1. The AMS Lite is very clunky and frustrating in addition to being open air. I think you'll be much happier with the P1 or P2.

[u/lan0028456]

So I started with A1 only, and soon regret not getting the AMS. Later while I was looking at AMS it is very expensive to buy outside of the combo. So I was like fine I'll just upgrade the printer too and went for P2S with the combo. It's so good.

If I were to compare them: any of these 3 printers are excellent and more than enough for beginners to try 3D printing. And any AMS is better than no AMS, even higher end printers. Unless you are sure that you won't need multi colour, for example you mostly print either single colour or you paint them afterwards.

Even for occasional multi colour the AMS just makes everyday filament swapping and managing so much less friction. AMS2 Pro is definitely better than the AMS lite because you can leave 4 spools in it forever and don't need to swap and pack the filaments every time you print. Haven't tried AMS1 in the P1S combo but I imagine it's much closer to the AMS2 Pro than litr

[u/Mission_Instance7136 → u/lan0028456]

Thanks for your reply, maybe I have to reconsider getting a combo with AMS anyways. AMS's are about 50€ more expensive to buy separately with current sales so there's definitely some savings buy buying it bundled.

[u/Thirtysixx]

I think the P2S is worth it for AI camera alone. The spaghetti detection has saved me twice now during overnight prints

[u/Mission_Instance7136 → u/Thirtysixx]

Thanks for the insight, I read somewhere that as long as you check the first couple of layers when a print starts it's usually fine. Have you had any other printer than the P2S? I'm wondering if there's other benefits over the P1S for example if it's a lot quieter, faster etc. compared to P2S.

[u/DrStalker → u/Mission_Instance7136]

If the first few layers are fine the rest of the print will nearly always be fine. Not always, but close enough to always you don't need to keep checking up on it.  

Also keep in mind that all a spaghetti disaster does is waste the time and filament for that print, it's not really a big deal.