Undecided between the Prusa mini and the new Creality CR-6 SE
Hi,
I am willing to buy a new printer.
The most important for me is to get a printer that just works and not to try half of the time to fix problems.
I read a lot of buyer's posts, but I am quite afraid about the under extruder problem of the mini. Did Prusa already solve this issue?
Regarding the CR-6 SE, its still new without a lot of experience yet.
I am hesitating between order the Mini or wait around 2 or 3 months until early buyers share their experience. If the Creality is more reliable with fewer problems, then I prefer it.
I’ll appreciate getting your thoughts.
Another question, should the result of the Mini should be better than the CR-6 SE, because it has a better resolution?
RE: Undecided between the Prusa mini and the new Creality CR-6 SE
Biggest difference is size. You have to decide how big prints you plan to make, whether 18x18x18 cm will be enough, and whether splitting prints to parts will compromise their functionality or will be hard to assemble.
It's hard to say which one will be reliable and cause least troubles. I don't have CR6 (probably not many people have it yet). I have my MINI from first batch, still stock, and have somehow avoided issues what people here struggle with the most. Maybe because by the time I got it on New Year's Eve, some teething problems were already known and I did my best to mitigate those even before turning printer on? It printed Lack enclosure parts, some functional objects around the house, then during spring few spools worth of small mask accessories (because shields are too big for MINI). It was minimally used during the summer, week ago I blew off dust, lubed rods for good measure, turned on, upgraded firmware, loaded PETG and now it prints its own plastic parts without me doing anything else (not even Z adjust).
Would there be such smooth experience with Creality? Who knows, maybe yes, maybe no. There will be people having issues with them, just like they have with MINI or MK3S or Ultimakers. Advantage of MINI is that it's been on the market for 9 months, most issues are known and discussed with official fixes or community workarounds, others are being addressed. At least you are not stepping into unknown territory. Also if I run into issues with MINI, there's Prusa support available on chat. But keep in mind some tinkering, tweaking, tuning and maintenance is required, no printers are in state of set and forget yet.
What's your budget BTW? If you are looking at MINI or CR6, probably something around that price level ... but have you considered MK3S, as that's the most mature and feature-packed printer still within reach of mere mortals? It has potential of being least troublesome, if this is important for you.
RE: Undecided between the Prusa mini and the new Creality CR-6 SE
@crawlerin
Thanks a lot for the detailed answer.
My budget is around the 400 € price. I am from Germany
RE: Undecided between the Prusa mini and the new Creality CR-6 SE
I would avoid the CR-6 SE for now. They're having major issues with failing power switches and the occasional motherboard catching fire. Also lousy support. Pretty much your typical Creality experience.
RE: Undecided between the Prusa mini and the new Creality CR-6 SE
Thanks. I ordered the Mini 😀
RE: Undecided between the Prusa mini and the new Creality CR-6 SE
Good choice, IMLO
I have made a Test print for getting the Z height, it preheats the MINDA for more consistency.
RE: Undecided between the Prusa mini and the new Creality CR-6 SE
If your looking for a printer that just works I suspect you're going to have to wait a good few years, if ever. Hard to believe that a technology that rely's on squirting hot plastic thro a tiny hole using a vast range of filament from a variety of manufactures will ever "just work".
But certainly if you're serious about CR-6 SE then wait 6 months and see what stock problems appear.
RE: Undecided between the Prusa mini and the new Creality CR-6 SE
The Creality CR6 sounds good on paper. I read the description on Amazon and their Kickstarter. I have also watched several Youtube videos. It sounds too good to be true so it probably is. All of the reviews are either 5-star or one-star so I suspect that this is Creality being Creality. The biggest problem is their quality control. I order and Ender-3 about tw0 years ago. I could never get it to print reliably. Their quality control is poor at best. Please do your research before buying,
I would recommend not buying the CR-6 SE and if you do buy a Creality, buy it from a retailer like Amazon so you can readily return it.
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Chuck H
3D Printer Review Blog
Not a fan
I would avoid the CR-6 SE for now. They're having major issues with failing power switches and the occasional motherboard catching fire. Also lousy support. Pretty much your typical Creality experience.
I have both. But the different Creality model. And have to say that the quality of it (not my first experience with that) hasn`t much to be desired. Sometimes the nozzle is primed in the middle of the bed and then the printer prints on the primed PLA.
If you can`t change the situation - change your reaction.
No such thing….
3D printers are not just print and go. Doubt FDM printers at less than $500 ever will be. Best bet is the MK3S+. That’s as close as you will get. Even that, however, requires maintenance, and will have issues from time to time.
printer
3D printers are not just print and go. Doubt FDM printers at less than $500 ever will be. Best bet is the MK3S+. That’s as close as you will get. Even that, however, requires maintenance, and will have issues from time to time.
Atleast not a reliable printer for under $400. You get what you pay for.
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Chuck H
3D Printer Review Blog