I’m starting to run up against the printer’s small build volume. This is my first 3D printer, and I was attracted to the easy out of the box experience. I actually intended to buy the A1, but got its smaller cousin by mistake. I could have sworn I clicked the right button, but everything from the emailed receipt to my order history on the Bambu Lab website says I ordered the mini.
I decided to keep the printer even though I knew I’d eventually outgrow it. I told myself this was my toe in the water for this hobby, and I’d re-evaluate in 6 months to a year whether upgrading to a larger printer would be worth it.
I bought the printer in November, and since then Bambu Lab has begun the enshittification of their products[1]. If I upgrade, it will have to be to a different brand.
So I like the A1 mini’s ease of use and no brainer setup, but don’t like its small build volume, the new restrictions placed on it by the manufacturer, and the fact that the printer is not enclosed. A better camera is a nice-to-have but not necessary. Any suggestions for an upgrade?
Follow-up question so as not to double-post, IIRC the A1 mini was not included in the initial enshittification rollout earlier this year. I put my printer in LAN mode and blocked outgoing traffic from its IP on my network as a precautionary measure anyway upon hearing the announcement. Have the changes made to the other products trickled down to the mini yet? Can I safely upgrade still or should I keep it isolated? ↩︎
Might be a setup error on my part, but the P1S has had more print quality problems than my A1m. Also, when iterating on new drafts, I find it useful to have 2 printers to print staggered versions, reducing my wait times. Again, if you don’t have the resources to keep it, sell it by all means. After all, that’s what I did. But i do sometimes miss it’s simplicity and ease of use. Going back to your first question, i just never updated my a1m, nor my p1s, so they both worked fine with Orca slicer. The app and online functionality still works