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I bought a Prusa and I like it.
I figured I was going to spend a bunch on this hobby anyway, I may as well lay out and cash to start.
If you buy one and it sucks, then have to buy a different one, you may as well just buy I higher entry level to begin with.
Higher price != better printer.
My Qidi Q1 pro has has lots of print quality and reliability problems. I ended up fixing them by disabling lots of printer features, including filament width detection piezo bed height sensor. Despite it being housed I had to do a lot of modifications to duct it properly because it has lots of holes and fans.
My $300AUD bedslinger i3 clone has only ever had two problems, the non-metal hot end having PTFE tube expansion (great since I replaced it) and the gantry getting crooked (once I knew this it became 1000x easier to use). Not as fast acceleration as the Qidi but much more reliable.
I borrowed a Mk3 Prusa from work a few years ago. If I had to pay for it I would have been really pissed, out of the box it was really slow.
My old boss spend thousands on an even slower printer... lets not go there :D
I've heard that even the Enders are much better out of the box these days. Maybe try one of those?
I like my hand built voron 2.4. I'm very proud I sourced the parts myself and used it to bootstrap itself.
Now if only I could learn to stop fucking with it and letting it work instead of the months of downtime when I need to fix or upgrade something 😅
My voron2.4 is a real workhorse. Once i changed my head to use a orbiter v2, 99% of my problems disapeared.
I am in the Prusa cult. I can leave at any time, I just choose not to, because Prusa is the best.
I have some Prusa, I have some not Prusa. Prusa is better.
Avoid Bambu printers, they are locking down everything and a firmware update blocked the use of third-party software (e.g. OrcaSlicer) and hardware (e.g. the Panda Touch display for the P1 series). I have an A1 myself, and I wouldn't recommend it anymore. There are also better value options from other brands nowadays! I believe Creality is also a brand to avoid based on what I've heard online
I know the Elegoo Centauri Carbon is a very good value, even better than the A1 since it is CoreXY w/ an enclosure. You also have the version without an enclosure for even cheaper. Sovol makes some excellent options, as does Qidi (in particular, they're known for making very good value printers that work well with engineering-type filaments).
And of course, if you want the best reliability, support, and repairability, you should look at the Prusa. Their Core One is their flagship and is CoreXY, has an enclosure, and will later support an multi-toolhead upgrade (the INDX)! You also have their older MK4S+ (which is a bedslinger) as well as their Mini (which has a smaller bed size and is a bedslinger), as well as the XL if you need a huge bed area w/ 6 toolheads (very expensive though)
If you already have a 3D printer, you might be interested in printing some of the parts of a Voron kit!
I don't "like" any of them, but I rescued an HP color LaserJet MFP from recycling and it hasn't given me any shit. LaserJet is the way to go if you dont print often. Ink always clogged up on me, despite running the head cleaner (which was also wasteful)
Sir, this is a Wendy's eehhrrr a 3D printing sub
Oh shit, I'm lost and need an adult
That's okay, we'll print you one!
Don't worry, i was about to espouse the virtues of my Brother laser printer before I skimmed the comments to see if it was already mentioned
Recently picked up a Flash forge AD5X. I been using a qidi x-pro since before auto leveling was a normal thing and I just wanted an easy and reliable machine.
Do the z-mod to get full control and honestly the thing is a work horse. Back to back prints all week without a single fail. It does Multi-Color, resonance calibration, self loads, the works. Flash forge gets some flack for not being innovative enough, but you don't buy a prototype car for your daily driver. This thing is a reliable Toyota Camry of printers.
It was a pita to assemble but I'm liking my Voron Trident. The Sovol SV08 was way easier to assemble and I think a little cheaper, their customer support is top notch.
Snapmaker U1 is incredible, not cheap but not expensive either and prints better and faster than almost everything out there.
I had a Neptune 4 plus and recently the x belt got ripped in half, I'm still not sure how that happened.
Anyway that's all the advice I can offer for recommendations.
I love my Ender 3 V3 SE, haven't had any major issues, print quality is incredible once you get a few slicer settings tuned, and you can get it for under $200.
Its not the best at anything, but its pretty good for the price and great for tinkering and learning
I feel that the "Enders are good for tinkering" is the Stockholm syndrome of 3D printing.
Mostly because Enders (I used to have a v2) need tinkering to give their best. Once you've upgraded the hotbed, replaced the molten PTFE Bowden, printed low friction filament holder and filament guide, upgraded to a PEI build plate, added a lot of accessories, calibrated the shit out of it and learned its quirks, they're very good.
Ender's get a bad rap from the older models, the new stuff is solid, and only invite the tinkering, instead of requiring it like the older ones.
I had mine printing very acceptable parts within about 10 minutes of opening the box, and I haven't had a single problem with it in 2 years that couldn't be solved by clearing a clog or tightening a belt.
I like my Voxelab Aquilla.