I’m a 3D printing wanna-be, not even an amateur. Have seen a few printers, helped assemble one long time ago, played with the software a little, though I have never actually printed anything myself yet. I decided to spend some saved money on a printer for myself.
My goals are getting hands-on experience with printing and being able to use it as a tool in projects/everyday life. I’m considering an FFF one rather than SLA one, mostly due to the toxicity of resin (and costs). Printing speed is unimportant. Print quality matters, but only to some satisfactory degree and it’s not paramount. I imagine I might buy another one in a few years, so I don’t need a printer for life, but it needs to serve sufficiently for this period. I’m open to the possibility of repairing/upgrading it, if it can be done reliably by an amateur.
I’m strongly considering Prusa MINI+, but it’s not a final decision and I’ll be happy to hear your feedback. I’m posting this here in hopes that if I’m making a mistake, people more competent than me will stop me. If there’s anything else you think I should know, I’ll be happy to hear it.
20x20x20 cm part can take a day to print. Speed matters ofc, but its not just about acceleration and max speed. Bigger nozzle can move slower and still print faster. Working printer prints faster than non working lol. Prusa is amazing, but be aware mini + is bed slinger with only one side of X gantry supported. I dont like that, but its still much better than ender like machines just because its built better and you get better support instead of faulty parts and design flaws. But if you are more into moding and debugging, enders are so cheap and they will make sure you know where is your allen key screwdriver. Both ways you can achieve amazing prints and have loads of fun. Even if you go for more expensive machine be prepared for begginer failures which can be quite frustrating.