Anything highly advertised is always some sort of scam and/or shitty, overpriced product.
Anything you see advertised more than once is a product to avoid. Especially if you see those advertisements on youtube.
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Anything highly advertised is always some sort of scam and/or shitty, overpriced product.
Anything you see advertised more than once is a product to avoid. Especially if you see those advertisements on youtube.
100% - this goes with VPNs, why would I buy that is posted everywhere, such a giant target for an attack.
I'll do my own research and come to a conclusion on how i spend my money.
This is why I'll never use NordVPN. Their ads are everywhere, which makes me not trust their product.
Besides, the most popular products are the most targeted by malware, hacking, adware/spyware, etc. Lesser known security tools are generally better, as long as the product itself is quality.
I didn't even know they advertised so much because of my adblocker at the time.
I block ads too, but a bunch of YouTube channels I follow slip in their own custom-made ads in their vids, and like 70% of them were NordVPN. I couldn't escape it for a while.
Oh no, mullvad started advertising a bit 😱
Only print ads though IIRC
At the very least when the brand is sponsoring Youtubers to the degree Bambu did. It‘s a huge red flag.
In this case though, I don't think it's "shitty and overpriced" given the pricepoint. Of course that's subjective, I'm speaking more from an average person's viewpoint. I know people who started with the A1 and it was fine. The company is just garbage.
I have an A1 mini. I had no idea it was being pushed by influencers.
I genuinely thought it was the "Brother laser" of 3D printing.
Bambu are the hp printers of 3d printing
The Prusa printers are the „Brother Laser“ of 3d printing
Prusa gang rise
I'm pretty excited about blowing all my money on INDX soon :-)
I reaalllly want to upgrade my MK4s but the prices are still fucked by tariffs. That INDX system looks amazing.
Soon? You don't have your order in already?
No, for practical reasons. I wasn't able to secure the preorder for Founder's Edition, and the current delivery estimates would have it arrive when I'm traveling. I'd rather not have a $1000 investment sitting on my porch while I'm not home.
Printed a fidget gun for a guest's kid with the heating block replacement a just bought. It feels great to print again 😎
I’m in the corner with my Ender 3 that barely works and is a pain in the ass but hasn’t had a recent controversy because it’s old.
You shouldn't give a fuck of your choice of 3D printer's manufacturer is controversial.
HP and Dell suck a fat one, but I don't give it a moments thought when I'm printing out hollow Earth leaflets to hand out at the mall food court.
At least you're not a flat earther. Etidorpha, am I right?
Get that bitch a direct drive upgrade and print a dual blower mount for it and it’ll never let you down again
I love/hate my fucking Ender 3. I love it cause I got it for free and it's my first printer. But boy have I just wanted to take a hammer to it at times. Though, I can use any software I want, no internet connection, and it's been forcing me to actually understand how that dang printer works. And fuck, when I'm ready to go down that rabbit hole, I can mod it out. I can't beat that flexibility.
You might want to try those total conversion projects. There are a few that take parts from one or two Ender 3 and turn the machine into a modern CoreXY machine.
It's the A1 going to flame. Not the mini. Or I missed something ?
https://consumerrights.wiki/w/Bambu_Lab_A1_NTC_thermistor_fire_and_meltdown_hazard
both I think?
But it seems to only affect low voltage grid countries if I understand it correctly
As much as I'm distressed to see the current situation with Bambu Lab I wouldn't consider it "falling for relentless marketing". They are/were genuinely ahead of the curve.
I've owned 3 different 3D printers before my P1S in the nearly decade I've been 3D printing (I got my first in 2017) and Bambu was the first to actually deliver on being "plug and play" when compared to the competition.
I'm hopeful the situation when my P1S kicks the bucket has changed (it may already have but I'm not in the market so I haven't checked). But for now I'm just not updating the firmware.
Both of my Qidi machines have been plug in, load filament, and print. My current X-Max 3 also provided a rather polished out of the box experience with an on-screen guide and everything. I would much rather have a Qidi than any Bambu machine at this point.
I'm a little disappointed that they've apparently recently abandoned their homegrown fork of Prusa Slicer in favor of a home grown fork of Bambu's slicer, but here's hoping Bambu's current litigious fuckery will cause them to rethink that strategy. Still, their stuff is open source enough that there's nothing stopping me from using any other slicer with it if I felt like it. Or, indeed, any other firmware.
That's a little hopeful to hear. When I was researching my purchase I had considered a Qidi machine but the reviews were inconsistent at the time. This was back early '24 though. I think my Microcenter warranty on the P1S is running out soon.
Love my Prusa :)
Ok, how am I to enter the 3d printing
Avoid
Recommend
These are my personal opinions and what I heard over the years.
I follow a lot of 3d printing news and I agree with these recommendations.
I just received the A1 for a birthday gift. I’m hoping it was manufactured after Q3 2025:
Bambu Lab stated: After reviewing field data, we determined the benefits of NTC-based inrush protection were outweighed by potential downsides under rare surge conditions. As a result, we implemented a design change in Q3 2025 to remove the PTC from the circuit.
Fuck, I have one from 2024 that's been sitting in a box until I had the time to get into 3d printing (like yours, it was a gift). Guess I need to buy a fire fighting ball thing for it when I finally get it set up.
Don’t set it up, not worth your house, your life or the life of your love ones. Fire is no joke.
Breakin the law
Breakin the law
Breakin the law

Not as much relentless marketing as it was just the cheapest and easiest enter to 3D printing for me TwT
Too bad I already used it and it's outside return time anyways
Just be safe, alright? There should be info out there if it's an A1 about removing the dangerous part (seems to be optional). And make sure to take those devices offline via LAN-mode and blocking their internet access in the router.
I guess I wouldn't recommend it to anyone, I wouldn't by it again (or anything from the company), but at the time (just before the company went completely haywire) the A1 was the right machine ("just works" with decent print quality) at the right price (on sale + discount) that got me into 3D printing ... so, I "fell" for the YT marketing for sure, but I don't regret it one second ... now that I know that it's a both use- and joyful technology for me I would gladly pay for a Prusa but at the time I wouldn't have ... and I would have missed out for sure ... learned 3D modeling, manufacturing, design, skills that I wouldn't want to miss.
I guess after well over 1000h of printing I don't have to expect it to go up in flames, either ...
For completeness I should also say that I never updated the firmware and transfer data using the SD card exclusively, it's not connected to any network ... but that was my expectation to begin with, I didn't know much about 3D printing before and I thought that's how they work anyway.