Is the Mini better than the MK3/S?
Im buying one or the other as my first 3D printer.
Which is a better machine? Seems like the new 32 bit board is better than the 8 bit board but does that really matter?
I would appreciate your experienced opinions and why you feel a certain way
Thanks
RE: Is the Mini better than the MK3/S?
Right now MK3s kit is a better pick if you can afford it. Printer and firmware are stable and most early issues were addressed and well known. Mini is just starting this adventure and it will need some time to reach same level of quality.
8 or 32 bit doesn't play any role at the moment but it will change in the future. Once new features will be introduced and missing space/power on 8 bit chips will prevent the use of it on this platform. But I'm pretty sure there will be an upgrade path from MK3 to MK4 if you really want to upgrade.
Mini is limited in smaller in space, has bowden setup and no MMU2 support. There is no function Mini has what MK3 is missing at the moment. My advise: if you have the money, go for MK3s kit.
Often linked posts:
Going small with MMU2
Real Multi Material
My prints on Instagram
RE: Is the Mini better than the MK3/S?
Thanks for the opinion, I was wondering IF the MK3/S will have an optional 32 bit board upgrade in the future
Hopefully others with express their thoughts as you did.
RE: Is the Mini better than the MK3/S?
I have both. I have had zero issues with the MK3 and the upgrade that I used to make it the MK3S.
The Mini for me has not been great so far. I have had issues with the controller encoder which renders the machine useless as I can no longer control it. I have also had massive issues with under extrusion on the Mini and issues with different filaments. See the posts made by others in the forum. I have, however, managed to get the Mini printing well. Quality, when working, is not far away from my MK3S.
If you can afford it, the MK3S full built system should give you practically no issues out of the box. My Mini worked fabulously for 2 days and then went bad, taking me another 2 days to solve the issues (note that I am waiting on Support to replace my encoder/LCD combo). So your mileage may vary with the Mini.
RE: Is the Mini better than the MK3/S?
@andrew-d44
"I have also had massive issues with under extrusion on the Mini".
How did you resolve the under extrusion?
RE: Is the Mini better than the MK3/S?
@towlerg
See the Underextrusion thread in setup/first print forum. Several people have posted detailed resolutions. Seems like the machine might not be well set up out of the factory, or some screws are a little loose and give way after the first few prints.
RE: Is the Mini better than the MK3/S?
@towlerg
See the Underextrusion thread in setup/first print forum. Several people have posted detailed resolutions. Seems like the machine might not be well set up out of the factory, or some screws are a little loose and give way after the first few prints.
Indeed. The solution mentioned on that thread worked for me too. Mini was under extruding to the point that the printer was useless. Moved the hotend up as explained in the post and now it prints as good as my mk3s
RE: Is the Mini better than the MK3/S?
Thanks for the opinion, I was wondering IF the MK3/S will have an optional 32 bit board upgrade in the future
Hopefully others with express their thoughts as you did.
There's a pretty high chance a 32 bit board based on the same MCU family (not necessarily the exact same MCU as the Mini, but still a STM part as the Prusa dev team will be familiar with the relevant tools) will be part of the MK4 upgrade in the future. From a development standpoint, it doesn't make sense to maintain two code branches not to mention BOMs for production. I expect once the MK4 is out, the 8 bit development likely will basically just be bug fixes and then development frozen two to so years after that.
RE: Is the Mini better than the MK3/S?
Surely use in Mk4 was considered when the Mini board was being designed (it is a bespoke board right?). Why have two boards?
RE: Is the Mini better than the MK3/S?
Surely use in Mk4 was considered when the Mini board was being designed (it is a bespoke board right?). Why have two boards?
Definitely. Right now the Buddy board is only used in the Mini but the same or modified versions will likely end up in the MK4 and the Prusa XL as well.
RE: Is the Mini better than the MK3/S?
@shadow703793
Most likely different version, Buddy board was developed specifically for MINI, it lacks some features like second Z motor plug or lower power output for heaters. While having one unified board for everything (MINI, MKsomething, XL) makes it easier from development point of view, reason for separate MINI board introduced first may had been deliberate and business driven - fully fledged board capable to drive XL would be too expensive and overkill for MINI; plus they probably don't want people to scavenge MINIs to upgrade i3 printers right now and want people to buy either whole new MK4 or upgrade kit when it comes.
RE: Is the Mini better than the MK3/S?
@crawlerin
"plus they probably don't want people to scavenge MINIs to upgrade i3 printers right now and want people to buy either whole new MK4 or upgrade kit when it comes. "
Hard to believe that Prusa would charge more than the cost of a Mini for the upgrade Mk3 to Mk4. (assuming MK4 uses existing Mk3 structure)
RE: Is the Mini better than the MK3/S?
@shadow703793
jo prusa announced in an interview after ERRF that prusa did enough volume in control boards that doing custom boards for each printer line was not an issue. i expect they will announce boards to upgrade the mk3 line and another board for the rumored mk4
RE: Is the Mini better than the MK3/S?
@towlerg
No, but people are creative and want the 32-bit board 'rite nao!' when they feel Einsy is limiting them or want new features. See how many "what about MK3, will it get one too?" questions popped up immediately after announcement.
RE: Is the Mini better than the MK3/S?
@david-a66
Or maybe they will use the MK4 board later in the Mini 😉. Maybe the costs of having/producing only one 32bit board is less then producing/storing/handling/supporting two boards. It highly depends how many additional features they want to put into MK4. But this is all wild guesses.
Often linked posts:
Going small with MMU2
Real Multi Material
My prints on Instagram
RE: Is the Mini better than the MK3/S?
@crawlerin
Nobody is limiting you to try it "right now". SKR v1.3/1.4 with TMC2209 you can get for ~$50/60. Put Marlin 2.0 on it and enjoy 🙂
Often linked posts:
Going small with MMU2
Real Multi Material
My prints on Instagram
RE: Is the Mini better than the MK3/S?
@shadow703793
jo prusa announced in an interview after ERRF that prusa did enough volume in control boards that doing custom boards for each printer line was not an issue. i expect they will announce boards to upgrade the mk3 line and another board for the rumored mk4
From a manufacturing perspective it's cheap and not too difficult to spin up custom boards. But my point was mainly related to simplifying long term maintenance. There's little reason not to use some of the same unified parts, especially when it comes to the MCU and tool chains. For example, Prusa is already using a STM MCU. There's little reason to go with say a totally different Ti MCU.