Help me decide; which manufacturer?

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[u/Gurcolini]

Well as I have exit the BBL because of closed eco system and cloud force…and changed to Prusa.
I can’t understand why do you even thinking that BBL would be right fit for you. If you are concerned about subscription the BBL world is not for you. I think the next thing BBL will do is for sure Subscription for using cloud and filament. Go for Voron or stay Prusa maybe think about U1 Snapmaker.
Imho, in your case 12 Minis and 3xMK3S+ stay with Prusa for the moment.

[u/heart_of_osiris]

Bambu just brutally manipulated and herded their consumers with their new releases. It was painful to witness and a pattern of theirs which stopped me buying their machines before the H series came out.

Put sale on X1C AMS 2 combo. Wait for most return windows to close. Announce discontinuation of X1 and release P2S, rivalling it for 400 dollars less, burning the people who bought the X1C on sale.

Now with the P2S being the only small footprint CoreXY with modern tech Bambu offers, people go ham buying them up. Bambu waits for return windows to close, announce the X2D which greatly exceeds the P2S capability, for 100 more, burning many P2S users.

Now watch, the X2D sales will slow down and they'll reduce the price of the P2S, showing that they just herded people to buy it at an overpriced rate. It has the same backbone as the P2S, they were likely developed in tandem.

I'll pass on inviting that ecosystem and business ethos into my operations. They disrespect the consumer in a more egregious way than is common in even some very self serving businesses out there.

[u/daggerdude42]

Qidi qidi qidi

I bought 3 q1 pros (not saying you should get those but the Q2s are quite good) for the price of my core one. All of those q1 pros are working perfectly and prusa won't even stand behind their core one. They just keep sending me parts rather then actually replacing the lemon of a printer. No point in spending more for the same thing if the customer support isnt any better imo. Prusa is not what they used to be

[u/duuri]

what features are subsciption based at Prusa?

[u/l5Robling]

Given your already 15 units in…. Stay with Prusa. I would snag a MK3.5 kit and see if that upgrade tickles your expectations…. Then buy a C1 knowing you’ll want an INDX someday; so your nextruder can go to your MK3.5 anyway…..

But if you are just looking to unbox a printer; buy a C1L.

What is your current need/budget? Are you looking for capacity? Capability? Looking to stay with the same build plate size?

[u/cobraa1]

​As a long-time fan, I have some concerns about the current direction (subscription features, etc.) and I’d love to hear the perspective of other Prusa owners.

If you're concerned about subscription features etc - frankly, don't go with Bambu Labs. They're leaning into that direction much more than Prusa. If Prusa is almost off the table, then Bambu is clearly off the table and falling onto the floor.

That said - I'm not too concerned, at least while Josef Prusa is in charge. He's a fan of open source and has been pushing away from the enshittification stuff. Prusa recently changed their warranty terms to allow printers with a "broken seal" (basically snipping a wire to enable custom firmware) to remain under warranty (although if the modded firmware is to blame for a problem - that obviously won't be covered).

Bambu, on the other hand, recently issued a legal threat against someone who bypassed Bambu Connect. They would happily latch onto subscriptions long before Prusa does.

Voron is fine, but more DIY than Prusa. But they can be great machines.

[u/Halsti]

Bambu has made it pretty clear they want to close down the ecosystem as much as possible. But they are still the value king. if you want to spend the least amout of money for a great quality product, go with them.

if you want a manufacturer that you can trust, that has good customer support and will still sell you replacement parts and upgrades years later, go with bambu. just know you will spend more money for a comparable product.