The Open Source folks need to stop complaining and implement some awesome features with a microscope and structured light!
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I really truly hope the open source stuff built into the new prusa xl starts to motivate others. I mean look how far printing has come. And really if closed source helps to advance i am for that too! I drank the klipper kool aid. I really like it. But I have to say I really would consider a bambu if i could spare 700
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I have a few months to make up my mind. I’m looking at all the other tools that cost a similar amount - Tablesaw, bandsaw, jointer and a lot more and I’ve hand them for 20-50 years.
Then I look at the new generation stuff that cost a lot more - phones - seven years on average, cameras, five years (but I keep the lenses)
Then I look at software or streaming costs - Photoshop, youtube premium combine the two subscriptions and theres’ a bambu written off every three years! 
I don’t know where I’m going with this, perhaps I’m trying to drag myself into the consumer world!
'cause fundamentally they’re really good??
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I have no problems with “closed source” - just “closed maintenance”.
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I use Magigoo glue it’s more of a release glue I use it on my glass bed of my ender it works there is no damage to the coating on the magnetic plate of my bamboo I’ve used it for 4months still looks new
There is starting to be more open source parts on the market now I bought my bamboo because for me it is more about the printed projects than the printer it will do every thing for you but you still need to have a good understanding of how a 3d printer works and how to fix it any printer will print well if you know how to use the slicer I will say the bamboo puts out a consistent print but it still needs maintenance
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It’s like a Nespresso coffee machine
Does it make the best coffee you have ever tasted no but it does make a very consistent cup
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Just to fill this conversation in a bit more - I can buy a voron kit without printed parts and hotend for about the same as a Carbon x1 - why would I do that?
I get that the P1P and Mk4kit are close in price and specs (one is fast and noisy, one is slow and reliable) so that’s a kind of arbitrary decision based on what the trolls are saying this week I guess, but why pay a lot more for a Voron?
I started with an Ender 5, then built a voron trident and got a bambu X1C about a month ago. I am blown away by the bambu. Things just work. I have not had to do anything to it and its printed a lot of stuff. The AMS is built around their spools and I have had some non bambu spools that it could not unload. The multi color prints have turned out great and again it just works. Before the bambu I was looking at adding the ERCF to the voron to get multi material, but I think I will keep my voron the way it is.
I do worry long term about the maintenance. I think things like nozzles, extruders etc won’t be a problem, but the belts, bearings, wiring, and AMS don’t seem to be built for service ability.
In answer to your question… Why is it so good.
My other 3d printers took a lot of trial and error. I had so many failed prints on my Ender. I kept upgrading things thinking it would help new hooted, direct drive extruder, new bed, added octoprint. With the voron I ended up with great hardware but I had to spend hours tweaking the settings to get great prints. I had to edit lines of code to add a nozzle brush, or setup auto bed leveling. With the bambu it does all this for you. It has great auto bed leveling, it calibrates so many things for you, the slicer is very easy to understand, their wiki walks you through anything you don’t understand. They created filament profiles that seem to work just fine. None of my other printers would print anything but PLA without having to edit a bunch of settings. They have “lidar” that looks at what the printer puts down and then makes all the adjustments that typically you have to do manually. You could get one and be printing multi color prints and all types of filament without having to tweak anything.
Would agree with you except the team is engineers that worked at DJI and they already have the production line running fully functioning units (over half a dozen 3D printer reviewers used working machines and the specs are 95% there. IOS software needs work and spaghetti detection isnt 100%).
Fulfillment window is tighter and realistic because unit count for kickstarter is going to be small.
I was listening to a few opinions about it this weekend. I have not dug in to all the details myself, and I think it kind of goes two ways in terms of a “makers” perspective. We all have 3D printers around here, and we know they do not last forever, but the newer printers are really starting to get some good longevity. The main complaint I heard was serviceability, and more than once someone mentioned the rails wearing out. They do have spare parts available, https://us.store.bambulab.com/collections/printer-parts, just not the rails glued in rails, yet. Honestly, I suspect they will be available as soon as a few people have an issue, whenever that might be. It seems there are a lot of parts already for such a new company. Really, let’s be honest, someone will figure out a way to change the rails if they do not offer them.
It looks like a very amazing printer out of the box, and for a person that has no desire to touch internals or firmware, this is a no brainer. I feel like all other products are just not this out of the box friendly, and probably the main reason it should be compared to a Prusa is they also offer a fully assembled printer. I am not really sure why people are not comparing them to Ulitmakers (which in comparison are looking a bit too maker-ish) and other companies that are marketing them as professional tools. The Bambu also has that look that sits well in a professional environment.
I understand makers being weird about them but I am very confident most large companies that need to print things will be getting bamboo’s knocking the ulimakers out of the running. I am sure there is very little interest from large companies for them to pay “skilled” employee the time to service the machine, the cost of rails and a few hours pay they will just buy another one and maybe maybe keep it around for spare parts. Time is money in that environment. At my previous job I frequently visted other engineering related companies and almost every single one of them had a ultimaker around somewhere, even an injection molding facility, CEO had it in his office.
A dual extrusion Ultimaker S7, UltiMaker S7 3D Printer | MatterHackers, is $8,299 dollars and it is not even close in terms of performance, makerbot $4,500 The MakerBot METHOD Platform - 3D Printers with Limitless Possibilities, Bamboo with capabilities far exceeding that, $1,500, Bambu Lab X1-Carbon Combo 3D Printer | Bambu Lab US I think that is the real comparison.
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I just think we are in for an interesting few years.
Now here’s the Hijack
I am working on a project (hypothetical at this stage). I don’t think that printing is the answer for it, but that’s what experiments are about. With a 280mm dimension in one direction, I can print it in six pieces at around 10 hours each with a 6mm nozzle. I would think something like a third of that time with a core xy or maybe the Mk4 if it delivers what is hoped.
It would of course be great to get it all in one piece. I was truly stunned to find the price of a Voron kit (with hot end and extruder and printed parts) was similar to a Prusa XL, and no, I’m not going to hotrod the CR10! 
Is the XL some kind of elephant in the room or is there a Bambu XL waiting to be unleashed?
Interesting, i do believe i did see a youtube about serviceability now that you mention it. the rods must be the carbon fiber one, right?
Definitely. I think it hits a very odd spot it is a great priced pro grade. I am sure they will make another and start increasing the prices, now that they have a name…or we get to see them keep driving prices down. That would knock out some of the completion completely. If it is anything, like the quadcopters/drones they are king of the filming hill when that hill used to be ruled by custom DIY builds. Now my realtor buddy flies his own property shots…actually same guy asked about printing a helmet after watching Uncle Jesse.
Yeah I guess they are glued in, instead of some clamp or screws, so it has to be replaced.
How many people here have a Bambu I count 3 including myself
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I just cleaned mine the other day spray with isopropyl and wipe clean pretty easy 4months of printing used most days no decernable wear
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Is this really the right comparison?
Apart from the SawStop folks, how much has table saw technology changed in the last several decades? The table saw I use (Rigid, and has been super-solid for me…nothing fancy but does the job) is not fundamentally different from the Delta I had in my shop back in my theatre days in the early 90s.
I would LOVE for 3D printers to be in the same class as my other shop tools in terms of being essentially commodity technology, but I don’t think we’re even close to that yet. Bambu, one could argue, is the closest from a polished engineering and design standpoint, but I would not wager a penny that the X1 will be supported or usable 20-30 years from now.
I am cheap across the board, but I don’t generally buy the cheap shop tools at Harbor Freight, precisely because I know I want to use them for years and years, and perhaps some day pass them on to my sons.
My expectations for PCs, phones, and especially printers are a little more measured in terms of lifespan. If I get 5 years from a printer, I’ll consider that a good run.
In fairness, though, my current Octoprint device is a 10 year-old OG Surface Pro running Ubuntu, so I suppose I do manage to get a good lifespan from some of my electronics. 
I do think your overall point is a good one…sometimes we can focus too much on price, and not enough on how much value we get from something, particularly in comparison to things we spend more on.
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A few of the guys on my printer’s discord have them. For the most part they really like them. I think for the most part the only thing they don’t like is the spool size issue with the AMS, and the kinda closed nature of everything. They say for a pull it out of the box and start printing kind of printer, no other is even close. We’re starting to see third party parts for them now too.
That’s good to know, because apart from the price, the main thing that would push me away from Bambu and more towards Prusa is the combination of parts and community strength. Though I don’t own a Prusa, I think there’s little question they have an incredibly strong community. Much like the Ender 3, if you need to figure something out with a Prusa, it won’t be hard to find the info, and/or the parts.
With any newcomer to the printer market (Anker also comes to mind here), you have to wonder whether it’s a market they’ll stick with, and what happens if they decide to bow out, or worse, go out of business. That’s where an open source design helps a lot, IMO, particularly on the software side. Closed firmware and slicer software doesn’t leave many options if the company goes out of business.
Other companies providing parts helps on the hardware side, for sure, though.
Thinking about this I have five unopened boxes of filament at the moment, and twenty in various stages of use. I only use the good stuff because life is too short for cheap filament, so that’s $750 US give or take in consumables on hand (the real cost is 50% more because of freight).
It makes the cost of the hardware trivial.