Prusa MK4 kit

Not criticizing your decision, but I went the opposite way, deciding that I was ok spending a certain extra amount initially in order to encourage a non-Chinese manufacturer. But I understand not everyone has this luxury. I bought the Core One kit to understand better how the machine works, which reduced the price delta somewhat. It remains to be seen over the long term which way is actually better financially, as Prusas have historically had long lives, while there is only limited data on the Bambu Lab side yet. So far, I am quite happy with my decision. But competition is on. I am excited about the upcoming INDX system for the Core One: if it delivers on its promise, it will be fantastic!

I just finished assembling my Core One. I definitely understand how the printer works better than if I bought it assembled. It'll definitely save me time troubleshooting/maintaining/repairing it later. But I spent more time building it than I could ever save during teardown/rebuilds. I bought a kit because I like building stuff, the Core One kit had the same appeal as a Lego model or a model car. If that's not appealing to you, do yourself a favor and buy the completed printer. If you do get the kit, get a couple of ice cube trays to use to organize fasteners; keeping them organized in the bags Prusa sends was a battle I wasn't interested in fighting.

Prusa grew up with the market. Their printers sold very well, that I had to wait for quite awhile for my (MK4) kit to get delivered.

If you're looking to get into 3d printing for the first time, go with a bambu. If you think you'll enjoy the experience of putting together a printer, get a prusa mk4 kit. I got the MK3s kit, and spent a week of evenings putting it together. And I understood a lot about the printer, and was able to debug it. Both have a modding community if that's your thing, but the reality is that both the bambu and the prusa mk4s will work out of the box, and have similar quality.

I'm also a customer (mk4 kit just arrived - I'm excited to build it!) and I have mixed feelings about the accusation of "coasting". Prusa seems to keep making the classic mendel design and making it better and better. Bambu does look like a pretty impressive product, but it's a major departure from what excites me about 3d printing - the devices include the user in the process. Building a kit is part of the fun, and the device's design files being available used to be a big part of Prusa's appeal to me. Bambu seems more like a consumer product, even if it's a pretty impressive one. For people who just want no-hassle printed parts, I think the Bambu looks very compelling, but it just doesn't have that reprap spirit. I've been very happy with my Prusa mk3s for the past few years, and excited to get the new one going. I'm worried about the company, though. Seems like Prusa might be on the path of becoming one of my favorite company and then running into trouble: Pebble - no explanation required. Sparkfun - New CEO took over, company stopped doing ALL the things I loved about it. Printrbot - not sure what happened there? Prusa - hopefully different!

You can buy Prusa MK3 kits from Aliexpress for half the price of the original. I bought a kit from Prusa and one knockoff from Aliexpress. Parts wise they are 100% the same and perform the exact same way. Do I feel bad about it? Kind of. The Chinese seller certainly did not put R&D into any of it. And being in China makes sourcing much easier.

> I am ok assembling the machine and learning how to dial it in. Get a Prusa Core One kit, or build a Voron. Bambulab should be off the table for their bait and switch behaviour. AMS is not particularly impressive and very wasteful. Get a Bondtech INDX down the road if you want true multi material printing.

The Prusa MK4S Kit is $669 right now. Best time ever to buy.