An OzBargain favourite is back on sale on Amazon, looks to be part of the Black Friday sales.
Camels price history has this the best Amazon yet.
It's worth checking back through the comments on previous deals for some good pointers and info about this machine.
CamelCamelCamel.
thanks!
you're welcome.
I don't get it jv
I didn't send it to you.
Oh I didn't check revisions mb
If you don't care about Amazon, the Ender 3 V2 is currently USD$199 on their official site. Depending on exchange rate, could come out $5 cheaper than the Amazon deal.
Is the s1 pro posted earlier today worth it over this?
I am new to 3d printing and the s1 pro is probably in the upper limit of my budget but realistically i dont have as much time to tinker with upgrades as i used to and it seems like its quite good out of the box.
Im definitely happy to pay less if I can get away with it, but i'd also hate to feel like i should have just gone for a higher model to begin with (yes, i know i can upgrade it be the same, but don't think i'll have the time).
I may have answered my own question here, but im cutious to get some more input…
The S1 Pro is a full metal direct drive extruder, which is a step up from the Bowden extruder on the Ender 3 V2, and also comes with an auto bed levelling sensor pre-installed. Both of those things make the S1 Pro an arguably better printer, however I don't think it's really worth the $250 price difference.
If all you want to do is print every day things, then the Ender 3 V2 is a great printer, and a bed levelling sensor can be installed DIY for less than $20 and 5 minutes of your time. If you want to print flexible filaments, filaments that require much higher temperatures (ie 260° or higher), or don't really want to tinker with the printer at all, then the S1 Pro may be worth it to you for the direct drive extruder.
If it was me? I'd buy the Ender 3 V2, and DIY upgrade it to direct drive extrusion and add a bed levelling sensor myself, for less than the $250 price difference between the two printers. Depends how willing to mess around with it you aare.
Have you got any opinions on going Elegoo? Not much presence locally but the neptune 3 or 3 pro looks pretty damn good for AUD300/330 for ender S1 features.
I don't personally own one, but I've only heard good things about them. I would probably take the Ender 3 V2 over the Neptune 3, purely because of the massive community behind the Ender 3 series, and the huge amount of after market parts available for that printer should you ever want to upgrade or tinker with it.
The Pro 3 vs the S1 Pro is a harder line up though, price wise the Neptune 3 Pro is hard to beat, but it is missing a number of features the S1 Pro has that makes the S1 Pro better than the plain Ender 3 V2, like filament run out sensor and automatic bed levelling (both of which the Neptune 3 Pro does not have). If you're happy to DIY those things onto the Neptune 3 Pro, then it may make sense given it costs about $200 less than the S1 Pro.
EDIT: Turns out the Neptune 3 Pro does have auto bed levelling, my bad.
@joshau: I think it also has a runout sensor. I have no experience so the parts availability issue was my main concern. I think I'll go the elegoo. Setup time is 15 mins too. That alone is enough reason for me after reading 1-2 hr setup times from ender.
@mit: If parts availability is your main concern, I wouldn't worry too much. It may not seem like it, but 3D printers are quite simple machines, only have a few main components, most of which are interchangeable with little effort. You could very easily replace the entire extruder assembly on the Elegoo printers if you needed to, which is where 99% of the problems are likely to occur anyway.
@joshau: So the the neptune pro pretty much exactly same specs as s1 just cheaper? Are the hit end extruder compatible?
@Wayne7497: The entire extruder assembly won't be drop in compatible, but assuming you don't completely blow it up, you can easily buy replacement heater blocks, nozzles, thermistors, heat breaks (etc) that would drop into the existing extruder. Often times, people design 3D printable adapters that let you completely replace the extruder assembly as well, but that may take time after the printer has released.
@Wayne7497: Pretty much, in terms of printing capability. Both seem to be full metal extruders, which is main requirement for printing filaments that require higher temperatures.
@joshau: On Amazon, it gives you 'frequently bought together' options with discount:
Creality Ender-3 V2 3D Printer $305.83
Creality CR-Touch Auto-Leveling Kit for 32-Bit Mainbaord 3D Printer Bed Leveling, Compatible with Ender 3 Series CR-10 Series $63.80
Creality Upgrade Extruder, All Metal MK-8 Extruder Feeder Drive Aluminum 1.75mm for Ender 3 Ender3 Pro/3V2 Ender 5 CR-10S Gray $16.80
All up $378.37 (small discount included for bundling them up together)
Seem reasonable?
@BlueyDad: Yea, man, that sounds like a decent deal! The CR Touch is a bit overpriced (can be had for $20 elsewhere), but the all Metal Extruder kit seems like a good price for that.
Thanks for that input.
What about the dual drive motors, are those a reccomended upgrade?
It's not a significant change, at least not as significant as the direct drive extruder or auto bed levelling. Yes, it's objectively better, but I have printers with both dual Z-axis drive, and single Z-axis drive and I wouldn't say it contributes noticeably to better print quality. If you want to print fast then the dual drive is worth it, but if you're happy with the stock speed settings, I'd say it's neither here nor there.
I agree joshau but the price difference is pretty reasonable considering the hotend is also upgraded (sprite) which is about 120-150. So add to that the bed levelling sensor (20), pei sheet (25) and colour touch screen (dunno but would cost something) then you do get close to the difference.
Having said all that, you could spend less on each (trianglelabs on AliExpress), and learn so much along the way - which I've personally enjoyed. Infact, I wouldn't necessarily appreciate these upgrades had I not started on the stock ender 3 V2.
Also, giovannip, if you don't have time to tinker / upgrade, then 3d printing isn't for you - it's a big part of getting the print right, there is heaps of ongoing calibration and you'll want to get better performance over time (e.g. higher quality, using flexible materials, getting finer details, printing at higher speeds) - all of these take time and often, money to upgrade (albeit it's not much relative to say upgrading PC parts).
There are even motherboard upgrades, and where you can offload the print file processing to a dedicated machine (often a raspberry pi) to increase control and performance of the print!
I understand where the price difference comes from, just personally from my experience, I wouldn't say that you are getting $250 worth of additional value. I have an Ender 3 that I replaced the entire extruder assembly on to a full metal Micro Swiss hot end with BMG extruder for about $100. The PEI Sheet, in my opinion, is not an upgrade , and I would keep the existing glass bed and use a G10 surface rather than pay extra for the PEI bed. Color touch screen is neither here nor there, given you interact with it for about 10 seconds to start a print. Really, the only true additional value is in the extruder and bed leveller. I think if you wanted both of those things, the Elegoo Neptune 3 Pro that mit posted about is much better value.
Also, giovannip, if you don't have time to tinker / upgrade, then 3d printing isn't for you - it's a big part of getting the print right
I 100% agree with this. For your first few prints, you'll spend hours trying to get everything right… bed level, good adhesion, correct filament settings, etc etc. If what you want is set and forget, then I could really only recommend a Prusa i3 MK3S, for a lot more money.
I think I'd find the time for calibrating/printing. If probbaly struggle with the whole scour ebay/amazon/aliexpress for the best bang for buck part (once i start, i can't help it, doen the rabbit hole i go!).
There are a lot of things I want to print already. Rack mount ears/brackets, hdd mounts and all sorts of eleceteonics related stuff so I think I'd give it a fair go :)
Inevatably i'll end up thinkering for sure. I'm just trying to minimise the initial time outlay so i don't turn myself off because it's overwhelming and i have wayyyyy too many hobbies atm :P
The Neptune 3 pro is about $350AUD shipped if I am not wrong. So a full $200 cheaper than the S1 pro, so maybe that's the way to go…
@giovannip: Keep in mind the Neptune 3 Pro is brand new, has very little public reviews, and is considerably less upgradable due to no using standard aluminium extrusion. I'd probably wait for proper reviews for the Neptune 3 Pro before going all in on it, although it does seem very good value if there are no major issues.
Also, it seems the Neptune 3 Pro makes use of an inductive bed levelling sensor, which means you'll be locked to metal based beds (no G10 or glass). If that's not an issue, I can't find a reason not to get it (pending reviews).
@joshau: I didnt realise the difference about the beds.
Also good point about the upgradability.
Gahhh… i was set on the Neptune but now im decond guessing myself.
Maybe the $200 more for the S1 is worth it in the long run especially if support and upgreadability are going to be better.
@giovannip: Id go ender 3 v2 - honestly, I understand the concern about going down a rabbit hole and trying to find stuff amongst endless options on ebay/aliexpress - the reality is that if you buy from Aliexpress, it should be trianglelabs branded for quality for hot end and extruder upgrades, there are other specific brands like bigtreetech as well for the raspberry pi/klipper upgrade. That narrows down things considerably and makes it easier to pick up the upgraded parts.
it'll also help you understand how the printer works, e.g. you will get a failed print that eventually clogs up the nozzle. You're going to need to be comfortable dissassembling the shroud, removing the nozzle, clearing up an spillover up and around the hot end and put it all back again.
@anthman: You might be right, but i did end up pulling the trigger on th S1 pro about 20 minutes ago in the end. I was overthinking it and just had to nake a choice.
I'm sure ill still end up doing some upgrades :P
Klipper being one of them…
@giovannip: youll be happy with that too. now to source filament!
id suggest to keep an eye out for eSun PLA+ @ ~$26/kg delivered is the norm, but actually cubic tech is doing a blackfriday deal - even cheaper (if you buy enough to hit the free shipping threshold): https://cubictech.com.au/products/pla-filament-1-75
highly postively reviewed, very reliable, local shipping - id get a few spools. Maybe a one or two PETG (for more durable prints - e.g. functional prints)
@anthman: I currently have some rolls from overture sitting in my amazon cart. I like the fact that they work out at similar price delivered but dont need to buy as many. What are your thoughts on one brand vs the other?
@giovannip: I have the Neptune 3 Pro and it's been working just fine so far, the community is much smaller than Creality of course - but before this printer I had an Anet A8… So this is a huge upgrade for me from that haha. But the Anet I built from the DIY kit and did a hell of a lot of custom modifications (MKS board, TMC drivers, upgraded bed, circuit upgrades with mosfets, auto bed levelling etc), but the acrylic frame of the Anet just wore me down.
Man I am so happy with the Neptune 3 Pro, the value for money is just next level on it, I just could not get myself to a buy a Creality because the value wasn't quite there for my comfort level with the components and circuitry at its core. Also, my mate bought a Creality Ender 3 V1 and is struggling to get aftermarket auto bed levelling working on it properly at the moment (issues with the bed levelling results not being applied properly which seems to be an issue not many people have). So there is still definitely tinkering involved either way.
The Elegoo Nepture 3 Pro is just like any other Prusa clone ultimately to be honest, there'll be tinkering involved when things eventually stop working - which they will for sure haha… At the core all of these Prusa clones can run on Marlin anyway (if they don't come with a custom Marlin build to begin with anyway) so the software side of things is super easy to modify/upgrade etc yourself, and the hardware side is easy enough if you are comfortable with a bit of custom work yourself and not scared of low voltage electrical circuits.
@aaronsd: For bed levelling on the Ender 3 V1, the stock firmware won’t apply the bed mesh at the start of the print automatically. You need to prefix your print with a specific gcode sequence to get the printer to reload the bed mesh from EEPROM, and apply bed levelling:
M420 S1
@joshau: Thanks mate, I'll pass this on to my buddy too but I reckon this is the gcode he couldn't get to work, I think we landed on his settings not saving properly (might be an eeprom issue??). I'll check him with him to see if he's managed to solve it!
I got an Ender 3 v2 about a year ago. I didn't want to spend too much because I was unsure how it would pan out. The idea of 3d printing is great, but what would the reality be like? The printer has totally exceeded my expectations. I have spent a lot of time tuning and upgrading, a lot of it not necessary but its a bit of a hobby and I have learnt heaps. But knowing what I know now I think I would be happy to spend more up front and do less tinkering. If you've got the budget for the s1 pro and are short on time go for the pro.
That's good to know and probably a very similar scenario to mine. What have you ended up printing so far?
Mostly functional stuff - hooks, knobs, brackets - some of them bespoke, some replacements for broken parts, like the knob on my mower for adjusting the height of the cutting deck. The biggest thing was I bought some cheap-ass louvres off ebay, not one of my better purchases, after 5 years the plastic pieces holding the glass in place started to break down. I designed and printed 80 replacement pieces - the printer paid for itself with that job.
I would go another printer these days over this. Either a Aquila Voxelab X2 (clone of this, but significantly cheaper when on special). Or a direct drive printer for comparable/cheaper money eg. Kingroon KP3S
Can you flash this with Marlin? Can the upgrades for the ender 3v2 work on it aswell?
For the Aquila yes, I'm running some custom firmware on mine. Check out 'Alex's firmware aquila' There are some different hardware versions so you'll have to see what you receive etc but there's a good community and I would say almost all Ender 3 V2 mods will fit.
The KP3S is smaller.
Creality Ender 3 S1, Mingda Magician, Artillery Genius, Sovol SV01 Pro etc. would be decent direct drive alternatives. Or a BIQU Hurakan for faster print speeds.
That's cool! Maybe one day we'll be able to create our own fleece jackets with recycled plastic bottles.
It comes up as $356 for me, what am I doing wrong?
Looks like the deal has expired.
Yep looks like it. Pity I didn't pull the trigger..umming too much. All good, still a month away before Xmas, might go on sale again with a lower price.
I got the other deal instead Ender 3 S1 Pro
fixed…