Maybe if I used my selfie camera more often than never.

The problem is that Parametric CAD kernels are complicated and expensive. There are some recent open source efforts but they are slow going. Just look at how bad Freecad is after all these years to see how difficult they are.

I’m quite experienced with SolidWorks and have used both Creo and NX as well. I can’t stand the likes of Freecad or Fusion because of that. Luckily I have access to the professional ones for my day to day modelling.

One option to look at is Solid Edge, they have a maker version that is free and it’s a proper professional package many companies use.

Prusa also needs to fix their x-y build volume even if it breaks upgradeability. The standard has changed and it is hard to go smaller once you are used to the larger size.

I have a feeling that in many cases people’s work is being abused.

Yeah, a couple years ago I saw a stand at a flea market selling 3D prints. Took me all of 2 minutes to find the original at home with a non-commercial license.

It is all rectangular items around it, wouldn’t be difficult to measure out the environment and route the design around it. Good CAD tools have cable routing tools that can assist with this as well.

Run a temp tower if you are worried about it, but I run all PETG at 265 on my P1S. 255 will tear like you show and print matte which means it isn’t properly melted.

Wrong way to adjust, try printing at 265 and keep the part fan on ( aux fan off).

That the default petg profile? Bump up your temperature by 10C and try again. Their PETG profile is too cold for the flow rate.

0.2mm flatness is very flat for a 3D Printer bed, I don’t even know if I achieved that with the Nylock mod on my old Prusa. This simply looks like a bed adhesion problem, clean your bed well with dish soap and water and then rinse well and make sure you don’t toch the surface. Check the first layer height and bed temp as well.

Yeah I recently started switching from SolidWorks to Creo in a professional setting, it is amazing how slow and clunky SolidWorks feels in comparison. The downside is that Creo doesn’t hold your hand at all so you better know what you are doing.

Coming from that side, I have a hard time with the free/inexpensive options available for makers, they just don’t work nearly as well.

No problems synchronizing with LAN only mode in Orca Slicer for me.

Dunno, I just log into the website. Don’t need another app clogging up my phone.

Yup, you just need somewhere in your local network to install it. I’ve been using it on my P1S since I changed it to LAN only mode a couple weeks ago.

Octoeverywhere

Hard to make a good recommendation right now. Prusa really didn’t impress with the core one because they are still using their old bed size (z height isn’t important at all for me) and the MMU just isn’t as good as the AMS. Creality still has OQC issues that enough people encounter even on their high end printers.

There aren’t really even sls printers in that price point yet despite there being somewhat cheaper ($20kish) options for awhile. I wouldn’t expect anything for at least 5-10 years.

That isn’t a paperweight, that is a board in need of minor repair. If you don’t have the skills to do it yourself then find an electronic repair shop, they should be able to fix it for you pretty easily. Soldering on a new connector is like the most basic repair to do.

As someone that uses the exact same comparison. I do try to make it clear that they are both valid hobbies but you need to be honest which your hobby is when picking a printer. For a lot of the Ender and similar printer owners they really do have a 3D Printer hobby specifically.

This fixation isn’t new at all. One of the most popular modifications to Prusa printers for years has been the Nylock mod to make your plate as flat as possible.

It does make sense, while most parts don’t take up the whole bed area, when you do need to utilize the entire space of a printer you dont want to have to struggle with it. Having a good first layer maximizes the chance that your print will be successful.

If you are new and don’t know much I highly recommend staying away from the Ender and similar cheap printers as they require much more tweaking and are less reliable.

Bambu is the best choice in the price range but the printers themselves aren’t very open. No problem running on Linux though, Bambu Studio is available as a Flatpak and Orca Slicer can be compiled.

If you want the reliable, open option in that price range I’d recommend a used Prusa, you should be able to get a MK3S era machine in that price range.