Datahopa

I am not affiliated with any manufacture of 3D printers and this is just my opinion from the 3 years I've been printing.

I own a Creality Ender 3 Neo which is still going strong but is no longer available as the technology has moved on considerably in the 3 years.

I will cover FDM printers first. There are 2 main variations being X-Y axis and bed slingers. Most X-Y axis printers come with enclosures and are more expensive. The print head moves in the X an Y axis and there are 1 or 2 screw rods to move in the Z axis. A bed slinger moves the print head in the X axis and the bed in the Y axis and the same-ish with the screw rod(s).

FDM printers

For a cheap beginners printer for those who are not sure what they want, starting with an Ender 3 (lots of variants) is no bad thing.

As of today 20/07/2025 the Ender 3 V3 SE (https://store.creality.com/uk/products/ender-3-v3-se-3d-printer) is only £169, I have seen it for as little as £129.
Pros cheap, easy to fix
Cons slow (180mm/s is still reasonable), 220x220x250 print area, no WiFi

Or the Ender 3 V3 KE (https://store.creality.com/uk/products/ender-3-v3-ke-3d-printer) at £239 which is very similar but can print at 300mm/s

My lowly Ender 3 Neo can only print at 50-60mm/s but having a print take 3 hours instead of 1 hour is no great hardship for me at the moment as I do not print loads. It does limit me on what I project I will take on as 24 hour+ I tend to steer away from.

For those with a bigger budget there are plenty of other Creality options (https://store.creality.com/uk/collections/3d-printers) but Elegoo is worth considering.

The Elegoo Centauri Carbon (https://uk.elegoo.com/collections/3d-printing/products/centauri-carbon) at £300 has a bigger print area at 256x256x256 and a print speed of 500mm/s. It come with an enclosure and is an X-Y axis printer as opposed to a "bed slinger" like the Enders.
My only concern is I can only find them as Pre-order where as the Ender can be with you next day.

If you want a 3D printing tool, that works out of the box with the minimal of fuss then the Bambu Carbon X1 (https://uk.store.bambulab.com/products/x1-carbon?id=578721666386128907) is next on the price scale at £869 that goes up to £1089 & £1189 with the AMS 1 or AMS 2. These are quite the big but have all you want 256x256x256, 500mm/s, camera, lidar levelling. And if you want a bigger print area Bambu's H2D (https://uk.store.bambulab.com/products/h2d?form=navigation) at 350x320x325 and £1600 is a beast and comes with AMS 2 and laser cutter options.

There are many, many others out there including build it yourself "Frankenstein" variations. These are just what I've been keeping my eye on if space/time/money/wife were not limiting my options.

Good info Snowy  :thumbsup:

I know very little about 3D printing, hopefully I should get some education from your posts.