Thanks for replying! I like your suggestions.

In addition

• They have filed some controversial/anti-innovative patents.

• Their printers phone home with encrypted information. Last I checked, there were speculated security and privacy issues with it, though someone should correct me if this was resolved.

• They only open source their slicer because of the GPL licence, but they don't open source anything else (firmware, hardware, etc).

Again, I just recommend people look into these things before they buy a printer. Do your own research and come to your own conclusions :)

As other people have mentioned, Prusa and Bambu make the most reliable printers on the market. The plus side to Bambu is the price. They are definitely cheaper than prusa printers.

However, I would make sure to be aware of the controversies surrounding Bambu. This is not a deal breaker for many people, but it wouldn't be right not to at least take a glance at them. Especially considering you are on Lemmy.

This is where Prusa shines. They have not had nearly the same amount of controversies. Their hardware, firmware, and software are all open source. They also have amazing customer support. As others said, a used Prusa can be found within your price range.

This is just something to know of. I know a lot of people who are happy with both brands, and you can't really go wrong either way. I just think this is another thing to consider.

Admittedly, I bought it used. However, it had very little use and was a prebuilt model. I'd be surprised if that has much to do with the issues I've had since I didn't have any issues the first month or so.

The issues I've had have been all over the place from fans breaking, to having to reflash the RasPi I put in it, to it digging the nozzle into the build plate and ruining it. At one point, the print lifted off the build plate and clumped up to the point I had to replace most of the hotend, although that could happen on any printer I guess.

I think I'm leaning towards a Voron kit. Self-sourcing sounds awful.

I didn't realize they have that big of a sale going on. However, I still don't want to spend that kind of money with Creality until it's been in many peoples hands for a while. I haven't heard the best things about them as a brand overall.

I'm curious to hear if you find a solution to this as you play with it more. I think some people are able to make it work with some setups, so I'm curious if something makes the Prusa different. If there isn't a way to make it work, I think this has to be crossed off my list of options.

I like to do a large variety of prints. Small, big, batch, even using separate filament for support. So yes, I expect to use lots of purged filament, but I don't think that is really avoidable.

I agree that tool changers are probably the endgame. However, given that the Prusa XL is the only one on the market, and no other brand has even announced anything, I think its going to be at least two years before an affordable high-quality tool changer hits the market. I think these are my options in the mean time.

I do know about the DAKSH, but given that it's an early community project, don't think that will be ready any sooner.

My current printer is a MK3S+, and I love that Prusa is still pushing firmware updates for it. However, my personal experience with the machine has been pretty lackluster with multiple parts breaking and sub-par print quality. In fact, something else just broke yesterday (I have yet to diagnose exactly what) which is making me more eager to upgrade. I do wonder if I just got unlucky considering their reputation, but I can't say I'm rushing back to then with enthusiasm.

I do agree with your general point about open source. For that reason, the Prusa, Voron, and Ratrig are the most intriguing options. However, if one of the other two are likely to provide a better experience, I think it's silly to not even consider them.