I want to buy my first 3d printer

[lirex]

Hi, i'm new in this forum. I'm always been fasinated of 3d printers and all the things you can do with them, I recently started to look at them for a business oportunity, and a perfect oportunity for me to finally be able to try them, but the technology I guess is still new in my country and the prizes for even the entry level printers is high. A few days ago i've come across a Creality Ender 3 the first generation of the basic one, it's listed for 230$ on marketplace. that's the cheapest one I have seen so far. it says it's from amazon returns with less than 30 days of use. I've manage to lower the prize for 200$ since is the first model and it's from amazon returns but I'm in the dilema of what to do, should I buy it? that same model can be like...350 or for the ender 3 v3 400$ it's crazy. Is it possible to start with this printer a hobby/ business?

[atrungroi2015]

Creality Ender 3 isn't very good but I think it's a perfect start for newbies. You can also upgrade to Creality Ender 3 Pro or Creality Ender 5.

[c1f4z7]

The Ender 3 is simpler to use and, if I'm not mistaken, cheaper. It all depends on what you plan to do. I started with the Ender 3 but switched to the Ender 5 because it's easier to work with models that require a lot of precision.

[dbhosttexas]

From what I have seen, read, heard, and experienced, all 3D printers are fussy and fidgety to get going, some have features such as auto level that minimize that fussiness. How much money do you want to spend, and how much effort are you willing and able to put into upgrading a printer?I currently have 2. Both what would be considered lower end, Voxelab Aquila series. My original Aquila is basically a design clone of that Ender 3, but with some upgrades in design as far as assembly and maintenance goes, but it is far from perfect. And some of the upgrades for it are also upgrades for the Ender 3. I am upgrading mine this weekend.Glass build plate was replaced with a PEI build plate.The cheap PTFE bowden tube was replaced with a Capricorn bowden tube.This weekend I will be adding...3D Touch auto leveling sensor and the firmware to support it.Creality all metal extruder upper section. The original one on my Aquila, and the Ender 3 is made mostly of plastic and has a reputation for failure.Quiet cooling fans for the hot end, mainboard, and power supply These are loud. The hot end fan in particular is NOT happy and needs to be replaced.My second printer, another Voxelab Aquila series is the Aquila X3 Max. This one is new and still under factory warranty, so upgrades are not going to happen for a while. However once the warranty is up, I am swapping the bowden tube for a Capricorn bowden tube, and swapping out the extruder upper for the all metal upper, same one on the Aquila and available for the Ender 3. This machine has the PEI build plate from the factory and also has auto level built into it from the factory, no need for any change there. The filaments I am interested in printing with are PLA, PETG, which this printer will do out of the box, and ABS at some point down the road. Pretty sure I am going to need to make an enclosure to do ABS though...So long winded story short, you did not say where on the planet you are, but in the US, $230.00 is crazy expensive for an Ender 3 used. You can buy a new one at Walmart here in the US for $143.00. Of course if you are in a smaller market supply and demand will make prices do funny things. I don't regret buying my original Aquila even though I am modding it. It is a great platform to work with and learn on. The Ender being the same basic design would be the same experience I would assume. More advanced users or users that just demand higher performance will hate this thing, but a get you into the hobby and enjoy building stuff, it is a great way to get started.