Prusa MK4 vs Bambu?  

RE: Prusa MK4 vs Bambu?

Th accelerometer is only for calibrating by Prusa.  It is reportedly not needed by end users.  

The time comparison in the slicer does not accurately represent the final print speed of an MK4 because they are still implementing input shaping.  

Posted by: @print_fandango

Unrelated… 

but was looking at printing times between my p1p stock settings for petg and stock mk4 and the mk4 came in 30 min longer print for the same.

 

p1p was 44 min and mk4 1hr 20 min.

just to clarify, this is just by looking at the estimated times off the slicer (I do not own a mk4)

I dont know if I care about thwt difference, I think the biggest deterrent for me is the lack of an enclosure.

the mk4 looks like it ie built as a tank.

another question I had, as I was watching videos online, mk4 does not have an accelerometer. 
how much of a disadvantage this is?

sorry for the basic questions, I am new to 3d Printing

RE: Prusa MK4 vs Bambu?

I am having the same issue.  I have Three Mk3s - one with a Bondtech extruder and Mosquito, and two stock.  I want to keep the Mosquito for now.  I also have one MK3s Bear with a Bondtech extruder and Mosquito.  I will probably go to MK4s on two of them and hold out on the other two for now.  The bear will be a bear to get to an Mk4.  

Posted by: @elfrocampeador

I'm trying to decide whether to upgrade my Mk3s (to either 3.9 or 4, probably 4 for a measure of future upgradability), but there isn't really enough documentation of exactly how they compare.  Input shaping should more or less close the speed gap.  I don't care about enclosures etc.  From what I understand, though, the AMS is far more reliable than the MMU (which has always been a fairly clunky design across iterations.  Mechanically far too complex to be reliable).  I wish prusa would have gone back to the drawing board, I'd have loved an affordable way to add support for just one more filament maybe (reliably).  I'm leaning toward upgrading to the MK4, but I'm not really sure it's worth the expense.

RE: Prusa MK4 vs Bambu?

Both MMU and AMS are gimmicky, that means very wasteful in terms of material and time (basically negates for the Bambulab. The can create cool looking prints though. I don't regret owning an MMU2s but I think I understand its limitations (which are basically the same as for the AMS system).  If printing multicolour is your concern, print speed is not very important as most of the time is spend on colour change anyway. More important is print quality. 

If you want to have a one-fits all printer however, where you use MMU or AMS only occasionally, than of course print speed can matter. On speed and paper specs the X1 looks better but the Prusa is superior on many things you don't find on spec sheets: durability, easy repairability, long term support, broad range of third party replacement parts, high modability, open source, no calling home of the printer or sending to some foreign servers while transferring a print job from the PC to your printer ...

RE: Prusa MK4 vs Bambu?

Posted by: @iftibashir

Fortunately Ive had zero issues with my MK3S+. I hated the first layer calibration stuff, but once done, I've not been back to it and all my models have been fine. However, I have been scared to try PETG even though I have a roll of it, and even though I have the textured sheet, just because I know I have to recalibrate the Z axis all over again, and the way PETG can yield different results while printing - blobs etc. Hence why I considered the Bambo instead.....

Each sheet has it's own z-value saved. If you have two, you can use textured sheet for PETG and regular for PLA with different calibration values.
This works pretty good for me. PETG is also very easy to print. No need to be scared. Just do it 🙂

RE:

duplicate

RE: Prusa MK4 vs Bambu?

Not really a gimmick. Firstly they allow multiple rolls of the same filament to be set up and switched over automatically when the first roll runs out; that's really handy on a long print, whether done overnight or while the user is out.  Secondly colour changes requiring manual intervention are also a PITA; right now I have several jobs involving colour changes (simple ones, based upon layer height) that I would like to print, but I'm in the office and not at home - so the printing will need to wait until I am home.  With the MM/AMS, I could have been printing those parts today.

Posted by: @thejiral

Both MMU and AMS are gimmicky, that means very wasteful in terms of material and time (basically negates for the Bambulab. The can create cool looking prints though.

RE: Prusa MK4 vs Bambu?

Yes, you are right. limited colour change prints which involve just a few layers with changes (when you are printing some surface text into an object for example or some other markings) are indeed more than just a gimmick. That is a really handy feature, which is also possible without tool changer  but surely a pain to do otherwise even for just a few changes. The selection of filament roles is a nice feature to have which I would not want to miss but it probably does not justify the whole complexity and machinery by itself. I am not sure the MMU can swap spools if filament runs out, that's a feature I never tested. Maybe that is a feature which is indeed only offered by the AMS but maybe I just missed it with the MMU. In any case, that is indeed useful too. 

If those smaller features are already worth it for you, then MMU/AMS are really very practical. If not, the main purpose which is larger multicolour prints is rather gimmicky indeed I think. That means nice for hobbyists where time and material don't matter but maybe not so great for people where these two things do matter. The results are indeed very nice, that I do not question. I printed my self designed complete Catan set with MMU and love the result. But it took me around 1000h print time, that's a rather invested task. 

RE: Prusa MK4 vs Bambu?

Interesting; I sell a few board game bits on Etsy, so the commercial value to me of automated colour changes or filament swaps while I am elsewhere (doing my day job) eclipses the cost of the add-on.

Catan, Terraforming Mars - I can see how multicolored prints (mostly based on layer heights) would be really good.  In my case it's mostly hexes for Mosaic: A Story of Civilization, but I'm always on the lookout for new product ideas.  What would not work is 1000+ hours for a single product (or even 100+ hours, unless I could leave the machine unsupervised). 

RE: Prusa MK4 vs Bambu?

Thank you.  I am kind of new at 3d printing and there are a number of YouTube videos touting the value of the Bambu.  I like the sturdiness of the Prusa and their customer support but by the time you add an enclosure and mmu3 the price is quite a bit higher than the Bambu.  I will probably stick with Prusa because of the geopolitical uncertainties revolving around China right now.  Cheers!

RE:

I am on the same boat as many of you.

I am brand new at 3d printing. I currently own a Creality Ender 3 v2 Neo, which I use with Prusa Slicer. I don't have any issue with that and it's printing everything I need (PLA action figures). Having said this, I'd like to upgrade to a new printer and I am considering the following factors:

• Enclosure. I am super paranoid about UFP and VOC and I want to get an enclosure with a good filtering system. The Prusa MK4 can work with the Original Prusa Enclosure, which also has a filtering system as an add-on. The X1C has an enclosure and filtering system, but it's still not clear whether it does a good job at filtering plastic particles. On this point both printers are at the same level, and maybe Prusa wins because their filter seems to be more advanced than the filter in the X1C enclosure.
• Speed. I am printing for fun so I don't have any time pressure. Having said this, my printer is in the living room and I can't keep it on forever. Right now, for example, I am printing a Japanese anime-style robot and it's taking forever with my Creality. Just to give you an idea, my printer would take 10.5 hours to print all parts of the robot in black. It would take 3 hours with the Bambu Lab! While I am aware that Prusa will add input shaping soon, right now there is no comparison between a Prusa and a Bambu Lab. 
• Multicolor. I'd love to print multicolor projects. Prusa's MMU3 promises to be a great option for this. Bambu Lab's AMS product looks to be a fantastic product. AMS might be more advanced because of the RFID chip on the filament which automatically recognizes the color, the fact that the AMS unit can be used also as a filament dryer, and the fact (major to me) that their slicer software allows you to color any object the way you want, allows you to create multiple panels where you can place different components to be printed in different colors. In my opinion, this is a win for Bambu Lab.
• Long-term reliability. This is not something that I consider. I am buying the next printer well aware that the technology continues to move forward and that these printers might seem vintage in 2 to 3 years from now. As long as both printers can continue there life for at least 2/3 years, then I fine.
• Noise. This is one of the reasons I have not purchased a Bambu Lab yet. Everyone says that it's incredibly noisy. As said, I will place the new printer in the living room. A noise similar to the one that my Creality Ender 3 v2 makes if perfectly fine. But the Bambu Lab seems to be crazy noisy.
• Open Source. While I love the idea of supporting Josef and the open source platform, I need to think about what's going to be best for me. If Bambu Lab was just copying Prusa, then I would not be OK. But if they take the current status of open source, innovate and keep their innovation closed, then I am fine with it. At the end of the day it's what the vast majority of tech companies do.
• China involvement. While I am concerned about China as a government in the international market. I don't have any evidence that tells me that Bambu Lab is governed by the Government, will steal my data, will come find me at home because of some of the prints I have done, etc.

Moreover, Creality is coming out with a new flagship printer on April 9 that supposedly should be similar or even better than the Bambu Lab X1C.

At this point I'll wait to see what Creality does, I'll wait to see the final performance of the MK4 with input shaping and I'll make my decision.

RE: Prusa MK4 vs Bambu?

Good luck with Creality - I will not buy another after two lemons.  

Posted by: @botolo

I am on the same boat as many of you.

I am brand new at 3d printing. I currently own a Creality Ender 3 v2 Neo, which I use with Prusa Slicer. I don't have any issue with that and it's printing everything I need (PLA action figures). Having said this, I'd like to upgrade to a new printer and I am considering the following factors:

• Enclosure. I am super paranoid about UFP and VOC and I want to get an enclosure with a good filtering system. The Prusa MK4 can work with the Original Prusa Enclosure, which also has a filtering system as an add-on. The X1C has an enclosure and filtering system, but it's still not clear whether it does a good job at filtering plastic particles. On this point both printers are at the same level, and maybe Prusa wins because their filter seems to be more advanced than the filter in the X1C enclosure.
• Speed. I am printing for fun so I don't have any time pressure. Having said this, my printer is in the living room and I can't keep it on forever. Right now, for example, I am printing a Japanese anime-style robot and it's taking forever with my Creality. Just to give you an idea, my printer would take 10.5 hours to print all parts of the robot in black. It would take 3 hours with the Bambu Lab! While I am aware that Prusa will add input shaping soon, right now there is no comparison between a Prusa and a Bambu Lab. 
• Multicolor. I'd love to print multicolor projects. Prusa's MMU3 promises to be a great option for this. Bambu Lab's AMS product looks to be a fantastic product. AMS might be more advanced because of the RFID chip on the filament which automatically recognizes the color, the fact that the AMS unit can be used also as a filament dryer, and the fact (major to me) that their slicer software allows you to color any object the way you want, allows you to create multiple panels where you can place different components to be printed in different colors. In my opinion, this is a win for Bambu Lab.
• Long-term reliability. This is not something that I consider. I am buying the next printer well aware that the technology continues to move forward and that these printers might seem vintage in 2 to 3 years from now. As long as both printers can continue there life for at least 2/3 years, then I fine.
• Noise. This is one of the reasons I have not purchased a Bambu Lab yet. Everyone says that it's incredibly noisy. As said, I will place the new printer in the living room. A noise similar to the one that my Creality Ender 3 v2 makes if perfectly fine. But the Bambu Lab seems to be crazy noisy.
• Open Source. While I love the idea of supporting Josef and the open source platform, I need to think about what's going to be best for me. If Bambu Lab was just copying Prusa, then I would not be OK. But if they take the current status of open source, innovate and keep their innovation closed, then I am fine with it. At the end of the day it's what the vast majority of tech companies do.
• China involvement. While I am concerned about China as a government in the international market. I don't have any evidence that tells me that Bambu Lab is governed by the Government, will steal my data, will come find me at home because of some of the prints I have done, etc.

Moreover, Creality is coming out with a new flagship printer on April 9 that supposedly should be similar or even better than the Bambu Lab X1C.

At this point I'll wait to see what Creality does, I'll wait to see the final performance of the MK4 with input shaping and I'll make my decision.

RE: Prusa MK4 vs Bambu?

Hi,

I’m completely new to the world of 3D printing. I’ve been reading a lot about both printers but I don’t know what to choose ? 

RE: Prusa MK4 vs Bambu?

Posted by: @richard-d

Interesting; I sell a few board game bits on Etsy, so the commercial value to me of automated colour changes or filament swaps while I am elsewhere (doing my day job) eclipses the cost of the add-on.

Catan, Terraforming Mars - I can see how multicolored prints (mostly based on layer heights) would be really good.  In my case it's mostly hexes for Mosaic: A Story of Civilization, but I'm always on the lookout for new product ideas.  What would not work is 1000+ hours for a single product (or even 100+ hours, unless I could leave the machine unsupervised). 

Don't let me discourage you 😉
My project took so long for several reasons: 0.1 mm layer height and 0.25 mm nozzle for all prints. Very delicate design so print speed had to be dialed down considerably for various parts. The largest parts, the coast tiles, had 7 colours and magnets so they needed 2-3 manual interventions per print (filament change and insertion of magnets) and took all in all 48h to complete per piece (with some idle time in between as I was printing during work days). 
If one were to plan to produce something with commercial interests in mind, the whole thing should be designed very differently, 0.2 mm layer height, 0.4 mm nozzle and printing the full plate with identical copies. 

So one can indeed use the MMU way more efficiently (and still get great results) but as this was my hobbyist project I did not have to compromise for the sake of efficiency, so I didn't. 

RE: Prusa MK4 vs Bambu?

Posted by: @lode-bongaerts

Hi,

I’m completely new to the world of 3D printing. I’ve been reading a lot about both printers but I don’t know what to choose ? 

The first question you should ask yourself is what you want that 3d printer for. Are you enjoying the printing technology itself, ie, the hobby is the printer itself, not just the creation of 3d printed parts? Or do you simply want a tool that just prints and transforms your virtual files into something real? Are you interested in some 3d printed toys, figurines, games or do you want to print things not so much for their look but for a technical purpose? A combination of both?

Both printers are well suited for beginners I think as they usually do not need any tinkering to get good results right from the start. The Bambulab X1 probably delivers the most features at the highest speeds. It comes with an enclosure right away, that matters if you are interested in technical prints with materials other than common PLA. The Prusa can be purchased as kit, if you want to have the kit experience, ie assemble your printer all by yourself (with great and easy to follow assembly manual, no prior specialized skills required, other than not having two left hands), the Prusa is the better choice of the two for you. Also if you are interested in possibly tinkering or moding your printer later on or if you consider repairability and the ability to get replacement parts for literally every single part important, the Prusa is for you. Generally customer service and technical support is better with Prusa, which might matter more for beginners than more experienced people.

RE: Prusa MK4 vs Bambu?

I will also add that a kit will help you understand what the different parts of the printer are and how to replace/repair them.  As I did a kit just a couple of weeks ago, I found that I needed that information for a couple of little issues.  I also found that it gave me ideas on how to fix or design some of the different things I got the printer for.  Printed half a roll of PLA filament already.  🙂

RE: Prusa MK4 vs Bambu?

If you plan on doing any prints that require good tolerances (technical/functional/multipart), my recommedati0n would be the Mk4.  The X1C and P1P are suffering from non-flat heat beds.  Not all of them, but its totally chance as to whether you get a flat bed or a warped bed.  If you get one with a warped bed, there is no real way to fix it, and no option other than returning the printer.  It's unlikely the Mk4 bed will be super flat either, but assuming it uses the same 9 point mounting that the Mk3 bed does, you can level it out yourself, without too much effort.

For context, I own a Mk3, an X1C+AMS, and will be ordering a Mk4 kit as soon as they are available.

RE: Prusa MK4 vs Bambu?

One has to respect the voice of direct experience.  I am sticking with Prusa and the m4.   Thanks for posting. 

RE: Prusa MK4 vs Bambu?

I, for one, am leaning toward the MK4 upgrade (why isn't it called i3 MK4, weird).  I'm definitely not a beginner, but reliability/quality of life is a big deal (as I like to say, 3D printing is not for the faint of heart).  That said, I kinda want to know how prusa input shaping will compare / how the nextruder stacks up (I'd be using it with a nozzle x from my MK3S) etc.

Also: Are there any viable alternatives to the MMU out there (would only care about like one extra filament).  I'll want to see reviews for the MMU3 anyway

RE:

With our custom-made optics system and completely reworked UV LED panel, the SL1S can easily reach a 1.4 second exposure time per layer with standard 405nm resins of VALANCE SHEETS.

RE: Prusa MK4 vs Bambu?

If you just need a 2 filament setup and nothing more than that you should have a look into double extruder printers (2 nozzles on one toolhead). They are vastly superior to filament changers, faster, much less wasteful and more reliable. Sadly Prusa doesn‘t offer any.

If you want an Mk4, your options are basically the MMU3 or a Mosaic Palette. The latter is an add-on box which is compatible with many printers, that should also include the Mkk4 (better check first though). It is rather costly though. The base version (Palette 3) is t 650 EUR. It works very differently from an MMU or AMS, from what I have heard more reliably but also not without flaws or downsides, like any such technology. It is probably more plug and print than an MMU though. There is also the enraged rabbit carrot feeder (ERCF) which shares the basic principle with the MMU but is Klipper based. It is probably only an option if you were to convert your MK4 to Klipper. Supposedly that is theoretically possible ( but don‘t nail me down on that). I don‘t know if it is more reliable than an MMU as it is basically the MMU alternative of the Voron community.