Hello, I’m a total beginner in 3d printing and I want to get into 3d printing for the sake of building small engineering projects. Considering this I probably won’t need a printer with alot of fine detail like for example small sized textures (I think). So would it make sense for me to just go for the cheapest one that somehow prints ok (I thought of an ender 3 or something like that) or should I spend some more money on a Presa mini (+) or a somewhat similar model. What experiences do you have with low budget printers (250€-400€) for my specific although not very unique use case? I’m very thankful for every answer I get.
I’ve had an Ender v2 Pro for a little over a year now. I feel like it’s the Honda Civic of 3d printers in the sense that it’s relatively cheap and reliable, and everyone has one. As a result, it’s really easy to get small upgrades for and get help in troubleshooting. You could probably spend more money right away and get something nicer, but then if you want to make a specific tweak later on, it might be harder if you have a more niche printer.
Agree 100% as a e3v2 owner. Regardless of what printer you get, it WILL break/lose calibration/dumbfound you at some point, at which point you will either be throwing time or money at it, or both. My suggestion would be to get the best reviewed and most popular printer that fits your expected maximum build volume, as there will be a larger user base to help you when something does go wrong, and despite what several people here have said, I’d avoid used at all costs until you have some experience under your belt and know what you’re looking for. As another commenter said, if you truly are o ly going to break it out occasionally, there really isn’t a need to drop a ton of money on one, you can get acceptable quality relatively cheap nowadays.