Best 3D printer for 250 dollars ?

[mcc1961]

I am looking for a good printer for 250 dollars or less.I had a 3D printer about 3 years ago and I know they have improved a lot? Have been looking on Amazon and there are a few in this price range.Any help will be appreciated.

[AutoWiz]

Why the Biqu B1 of course. It has good specs. SKR 1.4 32 bit mainboard, tft35 v3.0 color touchscreen, tmc2208 2209 or 2226 drivers, filament run out sensor, magnetic removable flexible spring steel bed. All the goodies and at your price. Check it out: BIQU B1 3D Printer TFT35 V3.0 Touch Screen SKR V1.4 32 Bit Dual Operat – Biqu Equipment

[curious aardvark]

does it have dual z-screws ?
In which case, probably worth a punt as you can then easily turn it into a direct drive setup with a simple printed bracket.
Or is it just an ender 3 clone ?
In which case - I woudn't bother.

For $250 I'd probably go for one of these: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Geeetech-Re...UAAOSwUuFW1j7A
Not as fancy as autowiz's - BUT it is the full prusa design spec - and that really does make a difference.
So:
Dual z-axis screws and motors, printbed side support rails and direct drive extruder.

You can always upgrade the electronics if you want to - it's not necessary, but pretty cheap and easy. You will probably get a skr 1.4 turbo board with silent stepper drivers and touch screen for the extra $50 bucks.
Bear in mind you only need silent drivers on the x & y axis. They make very little difference to the overall noise on the z axis and extruder.

But basically, that's a prusa I3 mk1, which is still a very fine machine in it's own right.
I'd add a sheet of self adhesive PEI for about $7.
Although it looks like they might already have improved the print surface.

As with everything - try it i the all original for a while before spending anything else :-)
Too many people get a kit and change parts nefore even using it in it's original configuration.

[curious aardvark]

or there's one of these: https://www.amazon.com/printer-autol...9334546&sr=8-8

It's a steep learning curve for a beginner - but mine's been runing with all original parts for around three years and has so far pushed more than 8km of filament through the extruder.

I made mods - all of which can be printed on the machine itself - but it's even using the original firmware.
Here's the mods I made: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2386628
over 1600 people are using my mods - kind of gives you a warm tingly feeling.
Now if they'd all give me a couple dollars, I'd be even happier - but such is life, you can't live on good will - but it's nice to have all the same :-)

The only tricky part is the flexible cable holder and you need a stiff flexible filament and a lot of patience as you run it at around 10mm/s

I've always used simplify3d as my slicer for it - but I reckon prusa slicer would work wel as it does have a delta option when you're installing it.

And a sheet pei would be essential. I use printbite on mine, but PEI is nearly as good.

Oh and obviously as I've got one - you can bother me directly with any questions :-)
There's a thread around somewhere - though as one of the regular contributors went awol and took his posts with him - it can be odd reading at times :-)
https://3dprintboard.com/showthread....ta-kit-)/page1

And if you get as far as the big bastard - no, still haven't built it.