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Considering the Prusa CORE One as first printer - any reason to reconsider? (lemmy.ml)

submitted 5 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

60 comments fedilink hide all child comments

I've been waiting to finish up with some major life stuff before diving into the world of 3D printers. Now that is finally behind me, and I am currently trying to find out which printer I want so that I can place an order.

So far I've set my eyes on the new Prusa CORE One. It ticks a lot of the boxes that I think I am after, including:

As open as I can get (before going into that Voron-stuff, which I think I'm not ready for). I don't want to be bogged down with having to run proprietary slicers through Wine and things like that. I am not sure how big of an issue that is with e.g. Bambu or Creality (if at all), but I've seen enough rug-pulls and enshittification processes that I don't really want to risk that. I want to be sure that I can use FOSS tools such as Blender and FreeCAD for design, and similarly open slicers, and the whole workflow will work just fine.
As future-proof as I can possibly hope for. I think the upgrade path from the MK4 to CORE One shows that they are serious about sustainability and longevity of their devices, and as far as I can tell, I should have no troubles sourcing replacement parts. I also want to support companies with this philosophy.
Has a decent print volume (I know there are bigger, maybe I will be constrained by this at some point?)
Enclosed - a major reason I did not want the MK4S was that it was not enclosed (but maybe you can get an enclosure?). It will be placed in my study where I spend most of my computer time (which often times is a lot, so I imagine I will be in the room while it is printing). I imagine, with the additional filter, that it will be better with an enclosure. Also, it will be easier to keep good temperature control during prints, as it can get cold here during winter.
Locally produced (I'm EU based).

I understand that other manufacturers provide more "bang for the buck" and that I in that sense will be overpaying feature-wise. I am fine with that given my emphasis on the above criteria.

However, I am a complete newbie to 3D-printing. I am sure there are some limitations I have not thought about, and I was wondering if there are any major things I have not thought about that would actually affect me negatively and should make me reconsider this model?

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 5 months ago (1 children)

My first printer back in 2016 was a FlashForge, which at that time filled a similar role in the market as Bambu is doing now.

Their designs were initially more open than Bambu is now, but went more proprietary over time - I had a Dreamer which still used a lot of "standard" parts. Despite that I ran into several issues that were either a pain to work around, or impossible, due to Flashforges attempts at keeping bits proprietary. I switched to Prusa after that, and have been happy ever since.

For me personally that experience was enough that I'll never by something like Bambu - though for people with less technical abilities who just want a box that works they're perfectly fine.

Currently I have a mk4 upgraded from a mk3s as main printer, in the enclosure, with mmu. I'm considering upgrading it to a core one next year, purely because of the lower footprint of the core one in a case compared to the prusa enclosure, and my limited space. My old flashforge was corexy, and was quite annoying about bed leveling - which lead to me avoiding corexy for a while after that. But as far as I can tell the bed mount on modern corexy are way better than on the old flashforge (which had a tendency to bend forward), plus there's autoleveling now.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago

Their designs were initially more open than Bambu is now, but went more proprietary over time - I had a Dreamer which still used a lot of “standard” parts. Despite that I ran into several issues that were either a pain to work around, or impossible, due to Flashforges attempts at keeping bits proprietary. I switched to Prusa after that, and have been happy ever since.

Yeah, that is the situation I am hoping to avoid. I was very close to buying a Flashforge some years back actually. Glad to hear you are happy with your current setup. :)

[–] [email protected] 4 points 5 months ago (4 children)

I think you have it down pretty well.

It's not perfectly open Source. Upgradeability can be reasonably expected, it's not the cheapest, but a very good option.

One more thing that could be considered is if one believes Prusa may die as a company. That would of course reduce the aspect of upgradeability. Personally I believe they are fine, and just growing slower (more organically? Than Bambu for example).

Also Bambu will bring out another printer in a similar timeframe as Core 1 will come out. Depending on priorities it can make sense to wait to compare the offerings.

But I don't think, given your reasonig you'd be making a mistake if you could buy now.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago (2 children)

Thanks :)

One more thing that could be considered is if one believes Prusa may die as a company. That would of course reduce the aspect of upgradeability. Personally I believe they are fine, and just growing slower (more organically? Than Bambu for example).

Yeah, the thought had crossed my mind. From what I've gathered, Prusa has been playing catch-up in terms of functionality and price competitiveness and for many, the CORE One did not fully meet their expectations. I know nothing of their financial situation, but I can only imagine the general 3D-printing market growing more and more, so hopefully they can maintain a sufficient market share to keep a sustainable business going.

If Prusa went under, I still think I would have a better chance of maintaining a functional printer than if e.g. I had a Bambu printer and they went under (although that does perhaps not seem so likely at the moment?).

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago (1 children)

so hopefully they can maintain a sufficient market share to keep a sustainable business going

When the market grows, one can lose market share and still have a sustainable business ;).
You don't even need a growth in revenue for sustainable businesses either.

If Prusa went under, I still think I would have a better chance of maintaining a functional printer than if e.g. I had a Bambu printer and they went under (although that does perhaps not seem so likely at the moment?).

That seems reasonable. Let's not forget that Bambu only increased their Firmware-Feature update promise from 2 years (march 2025) to 4 years (march 2027) after community outcry.

btw (I do not know either way) did a bambu printer ever get a firmware feature like Input Shaping, Phase Stepping, Crash Detection etc. as an update? For example does their LIDAR now work on textured plates? (I think it didn't in the beginning)

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago (1 children)

For example does their LIDAR now work on textured plates? (I think it didn’t in the beginning)

Yes it works fine now on standard textured plates.

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 5 months ago (4 children)

@cyberwolfie I am happy MK4S owner and would recommend the CORE, but some considerations:

- Print volume IS small. Not having at least 250x250 x/y has been a step back from my previous printer.
- The platform is less open than I wished (or, better said, than they make us believe).
- I'd recommend getting the kit so you will get to know the printer better. However, CORE's build process difficulty is yet to be seen. I built my own MK4S and it was a fun weekend project.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (7 children)

Print volume IS small. Not having at least 250x250 x/y has been a step back from my previous printer.

Hm, I don't think I can quite grasp how much of a difference it would make to have a couple of cm extra in each direction. For my actual planned projects, I know it will be sufficient (except for one, where none of the consumer grade printers would be, and I would need to splice multiple parts somehow). But I also know that the list of planned projects will expand much faster than I am able to plan, design and print...

The platform is less open than I wished (or, better said, than they make us believe).

Hm, in what way have you experienced any problems with this? I understand that it is not fully open source, but as far as I could tell, you can't go much more open without going with a Voron?

I’d recommend getting the kit so you will get to know the printer better. However, CORE’s build process difficulty is yet to be seen. I built my own MK4S and it was a fun weekend project.

I would love to get the kit, both as a learning experience and a fun project. However, they are not shipping the kits until April/May or something like that, while the assembled printers start shipping in January. I don't think I want to wait that long.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago (3 children)

@cyberwolfie

RE: Open-Source

> in what way have you experienced any problems with this?

For example, and I know is very niche, but I wanted to fix an issue with their app (I am an app dev), to discover that it isn't FOSS like the slicer.

Also as a CAD aficionado, I would love to get the actual step files and not just STLs.