NEWBIE: Creality Ender 5 Plus OR Tronxy X5SA Pro

[Shatty]

First post ...Total 3D printer newbie....Which printer is better and why? I like the large printable areas they have. 13x13x16 for the Ender 5 Plus and 14x14x16 for the X5SA Pro. I want something that has a big printable area. I picked these 2 because I think they are reasonably priced. Microcenter, which is very close to me, sells the Creality printers and parts. Tronxy is online/Amazon. I was also reading that I can upgrade controllers to better than stock ones and also use custom or 3rd party firmware. Do I need to worry about that if Im a newbie? I dunno why a faster controller would matter if the print head can only print so fast. Also I know these printers only have 1 extruder. I would end up adding more in the future and do color mixing. Do I need new controllers for that and 3rd party firmware? Are both printers capable of using more than 1 extruder? Help me out guys.... Thanks in advance.

Im in IT so I dont mind a little challenge...

[curious aardvark]

the main difference between the two is in the way the printhead is moved around.
The tronxy is a corexy and the creality is a standard cartesuan setup.

In corexy the stepper motors for the x and y axis are stationary and the head is moved by a clever belt setup.
In the creality y motor is stationary but the x motor is attached to the gantry and moves with it.

Corexy is the faster and more precise option.

I own al the common types of bed and printhead movement - got to say my corexy is hands down the best of the bunch.
So I'd go for ther tronxy.

Short of moving the exrtruder on top of the hotedn so it's a directdrive printer - and maybe adding some stabulisers to the frame - there's very little you need to do to it.

I know most of the people on youtube and facebook groups love to mess about and change parts - regardless of whether it's necessary or not.
But All of my 6 printers are using stock parts.
I've added printed mods to most of them - in varying degrees.
But never needed to change anything mechanical or electronic.

Well apart from the ctc i3 prob - and as that cost £80 - the parts really were the cheapest and nastiest that might actually woirk. To be fair It did print quite qwell at 150mm/s - but the whole control panel and screen were almost unuseable. So those are waiting to be changed. And as the board it came with cannot be altered in any way - that's gone too.

But the other printers have never needed bits replaced.
the vast majority of machines out there works really well as stock machines. And the vast majority of 'upgrades' have little or no impact on that.
If people spent more time learning to use a machine and less changing it's bits- more people would probably have faster more reliable printers.

So yeah - tronxy all the way.

[AutoWiz]

Any printer you get is gonna have some issues to resolve and work out. Unless you spend the thousands. And you have to build the printer. There is a significant investment in your time to get this hobby up and going in a successful manner. For that you should consider the build volume. 500x500x600 is I am pretty sure the largest build envelope you will find anywhere for under a grand. I am all for the TronXY X5SA 500 PRO. Go big or Go home.

[frierson22]

I've had my Tronxy XY for a couple of years now. It seemed to me that I could get the most for the money from them. I have had some issues for sure, but I like the printer. I have started looking at upgrades. I currently have 210mm print base and want something larger. AGain, I like what I see from Tronxy. Problem is, I want something American made this time. My power supply burned out last month. I placed the order early Sept. It was released by the Chinese postal service on Oct 9 and since then has been sitting in a receiving facility with a backlog waiting to be processed. Everytime I have tried to order parts from Amazon or some other quicker shipping options, I can't find anything compatible. When I have tried something I find there, it doesn't work. I am very frustrated and ready to get back to printing. Any suggestions of what I can get when I upgrade that might work better for me?

[Shatty]

I still havent made a decision. Both have large print areas but one is $200 more than the other. Which machine is better quality? I heard the Tronxy has build problems and the Creality has better quality. Creality is $200 more and lose an inch of printable area. I have to watch videos because I am getting closer and closer to making a decision.

[curious aardvark]

corexy is faster, more precise and just better all round.

[Shatty]

I appreciate the comments, but something is still pulling me toward the Ender 5 Plus. It has bigger print area, if I need parts, I can get them locally, and I am seeing that Creality is a better brand. I see everything Ender or CR related on Amazon. This is my first. I want the least amount of problems on my first one. Maybe if I decide to make it a hobby then I will go for a Corexy. The most comparable and well known printer compared to the 5 Plus is the X5SA Pro. But after all the YT videos I watched, the X5SA was a pain in the butt in the beginning. E5P comes pre-assembled. The X5SA has to be completely assembled. I plan on swapping out the control board, PS, and extruder to a better CB with silent motor chipset, meanwell PS, and DD extruder from the get go. I can get the last 2 at time of purchase.

[frierson22]

I have a question. My Tronxy allows me to print from an SD card. Is that common to most printers, or is that something I should especially look for when looking at upgrading. I really like it - can't imagine having to have my computer physically connected to my printer the whole time it's printing.

Thanks
Donna

[Shatty]

I have a question. My Tronxy allows me to print from an SD card. Is that common to most printers, or is that something I should especially look for when looking at upgrading. I really like it - can't imagine having to have my computer physically connected to my printer the whole time it's printing.

Thanks
Donna

Every printer has that feature. I know there are a few aftermarket control boards that have wifi or ethernet.