Bambu Labs competition

[Tony4597]

Based solely on what I have seen, admittedly on Youtube reviews only, it seems to me that up until fairly recently Bambu Labs has had no real competition for its X1C and P1S. Yes, there are a number of manufacturers that quickly produced ‘me too’ core xy devices but Bambu labs still appear to be the yardstick against which others will be measured.

Admittedly I am somewhat biased having purchased a Bambu lab P1S with AMS. A machine that I am delighted with for speed and print quality straight out of the box. Compared to my old Creality copy from Geetech and the Simplifi3D slicer Bambu P1S with either Bambu Studio slicer or Orca are streets ahead in ease of use and finish quality. To be fair though it should be expected that the newer generations of software and printers should be showing improvements. If there is something I missed in the change it would be the print volume. Bambu limits are a shade under 256 cubed, whereas the Geetech had a print volume of 320*320*420mm. That would have been handy recently for some corner shelves I designed which came in over the Bambu limits forcing me to split the print in two, an easy task in the software.

Finally my point! It looks like there is finally a new kid on the block set to at least rock Bambu’s lead position, the Elegoo Centauri Carbon! From what I have seen this machine looks to be a real winner at a fantastic price point. Most reviews however compare it to the Bambu X1C which I think is not the best comparison as feature wise it is closer to the less expensive P1S. It does however make the Elegoo appear even better value for money than the X1C which in turn makes me wonder about the motivation of some reviewers.

Having said that compared to a Bambu lab P1S @ £510 the Elegoo Centauri Carbon @ £300 appears to be a real bargain and a definite contender for serious consideration in the current market.

So has anyone purchased this yet and what are your thoughts on quality and reliability?

 

[Epatcola]

So has anyone purchased this yet and what are your thoughts on quality and reliability?

The £300 price is for delivery some time in July (if you are lucky) so I very much doubt anyone has purchased a retail version.

This chart indicates the price dropped 40% in the last 7 days. I find that a worry. Was the original price silly or are they having a fire sale 4 months before shipping anything?

The more competition the better, but, I would wait and see what they actually deliver at what price. Bambu previous sale offers show they can also cut prices if they need to.

 

[Tony4597]

The £300 price is for delivery some time in July (if you are lucky) so I very much doubt anyone has purchased a retail version.

This chart indicates the price dropped 40% in the last 7 days. I find that a worry. Was the original price silly or are they having a fire sale 4 months before shipping anything?

The more competition the better, but, I would wait and see what they actually deliver at what price. Bambu previous sale offers show they can also cut prices if they need to.

Ahh, thanks had missed the delivery time scale assuming it would be available now

The price drop chart is interesting and I agree a little worrying. I do seem to remember seeing an early price quoted as $499 which normally translate to the same figure in GBP. At that time my thoughts were that they were just coming in a little lower than Bambu P1S price which may be an issue for them initially on sales with an unproven product. Any comparisons I have seen to Bambu were against the much more expensive XC1 and did not really make sense to me

 

[Nifty]

Yup, while there are a LOT of Bambu clones/copies, it seems that very few (any?) are as solid and reliable?

There's been a lot of buzz about the Elegoo Centauri Carbon... especially the price.

I'm a big fan of https://auroratechchannel.com/ and her detailed reviews that seem very unbiased (compared to a lot of other youtubers that seem to mostly say positive stuff about the companies that give them free printers and/or money).

She has this in her list: "#8 The Best Value fully-enclosed High-Speed 3D Printer (Regular Size)
Elegoo Centauri Carbon $299 "

... which is pretty cool.

That said, I'm surprised she has it listed in her "top printers" list when it's a pre-order only?

I've also heard good things about the Qidi PLUS 4.

I'm always tempted to get a coreXY printer, but my Ender3 V3 SE (printing in the background as I type) has been a great printer, and I'm just not feeling a real big motivation to "upgrade".

 

[Tony4597]

....

I'm always tempted to get a coreXY printer, but my Ender3 V3 SE (printing in the background as I type) has been a great printer, and I'm just not feeling a real big motivation to "upgrade".

I entirely agree, I would see no reason to upgrade as long as you are happy with what you are producing and there is no 'must have' feature or real benefit perceived in making a change. Unless PAS strikes hard (Printer Aquisition Syndrome)

 

[Nifty]

I entirely agree, I would see no reason to upgrade as long as you are happy with what you are producing and there is no 'must have' feature or real benefit perceived in making a change. Unless PAS strikes hard (Printer Aquisition Syndrome)

Yup... no "must have" items yet.

... I wouldn't "mind" an enclosed faster printer that prints higher-temps.

That said, I just looked up the specs for my Ender 3 V3 SE and forgot that it *should* be able to print PETG and ABS without modification?

 

[Tony4597]

Yup... no "must have" items yet.

... I wouldn't "mind" an enclosed faster printer that prints higher-temps.

That said, I just looked up the specs for my Ender 3 V3 SE and forgot that it *should* be able to print PETG and ABS without modification?

I have been mainly printing PLA and PETG where I thought the better chemical, UV resistance and pliability may benefit.

If I understand correctly PETG is OK without an enclosure but ABS and ASA benefit greatly, although I have read claims that it is not absolutely necessary if you can eliminate draughts and keep a reasonable steady temp.

You have probably already considered this but an enclosure for your Ender 3 for 'more exotic filament' may be worth either fabricating or purchasing ready made. I remember seeing some in the past and being a cheapskate I usually look for alternatives and end up in China? Savings to be made potentially from Aliexpress if you are prepared to wait, such as:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005627454883.html?src=google&pdp_npi=4@dis!GBP!33.64!17.39!!!!!@!12000036484137541!ppc!!!&src=google&albch=shopping&acnt=494-037-6276&isdl=y&slnk=&plac=&mtctp=&albbt=Google_7_shopping&aff_platform=google&aff_short_key=UneMJZVf&gclsrc=aw.ds&&albagn=888888&&ds_e_adid=&ds_e_matchtype=&ds_e_device=c&ds_e_network=x&ds_e_product_group_id=&ds_e_product_id=en1005005627454883&ds_e_product_merchant_id=747323493&ds_e_product_country=GB&ds_e_product_language=en&ds_e_product_channel=online&ds_e_product_store_id=&ds_url_v=2&albcp=17859500389&albag=&isSmbAutoCall=false&needSmbHouyi=false&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjw4cS-BhDGARIsABg4_J3OxnhrTh2_danihSxZs2jKmXkH9FaY14ro6F7oejyjUMOe4I-FM3gaAqp6EALw_wcB

Cost for this less than half cost in the UK. Is it original, I do not know but I think a high probability that it is from the same manufacturer factory line.

 

[x64]

That said, I just looked up the specs for my Ender 3 V3 SE and forgot that it *should* be able to print PETG and ABS without modification?

I can confirm that the stock Ender3 KE (same extrusion and hotend) does print PETG great. I've never used ABS myself but I know it can be tricky without an enclosure, both for health and warping reasons.

I eventually upgraded both the extruder housing & wheels to allow for more aggressive retraction in an experimental attempt to reduce stringing without part cooling, but that's more of an experiment than a requirement.

A different story however was getting the thing level to get a first layer to stick. Out of the box I got some insane deviation readings on my display from the auto bed leveling.

I grabbed my clocks and found that just about everything was skewed; the aluminum Z axis was tilted, the lead screws were not synced correctly (resulting in a tilted X axis), the Y bed in relation to the frame just to name a few.

Because I disassembled just about every part I also noticed how terribly some parts were finished, I found many burrs that caused parts to not fit snug.

After much modification I clocked the machine just about perfect and the auto bed leveling reflected that, with a largest deviation of 0.02 on screen (whatever that value means).