Comment by parsimo2010 | Hacker News Reader

Comment by parsimo2010 | Hacker News Reader

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Bambu had a pretty big marketing campaign with their printers. All the major reviewers/influencers in the 3d printing community were provided review samples, and presumably talking points to emphasize. Most all reviews focused on the high print speeds and advanced technology in the printers.

Things like the nearly required cloud integration were glossed over with "that's normal today and you get so many shiny features with it" and hardly anyone challenged Bambu by saying that most of the features enabled by cloud integration didn't really need the cloud to be implemented. Things like immature firmware were glossed over with comments like "there are some bugs but that can be fixed over time, so just go ahead and assume that this young company without a proven track record will provide good support to these printers."

Add the marketing to the consideration that there were no other pre-built "fast" printers when the Bambu printers hit the market. Your only other option was to build your own like a Voron, which many people didn't want to do. Now there are other pre-built options that don't require cloud integration, so people can really weigh the pros/cons of the other options, but Bambu got an advantage by being first to market.

This is completely wrong...

When the Bambu came out, there was nothing like it on the market that combined price, speed, and ease-of-use. Yes, there were cheaper printers, and faster printers, and easier-to-use printers, but not in a single package, and especially not in a pre-built package.

Things like immature firmware were glossed over

The "immature" firmware is still better than the "mature" firmware Creality ships. And Prusa shipped buggy firmware for its multi-material addon for several years, despite being in the 3d printing game for over a decade.

Bambu got an advantage by being first to market.

Bambu's first printer came out last year. The Anker Make came out before it. Creality and Prusa have been shipping 3d printers for a decade. Voron has been a thing for about a decade. What is this "first to market" advantage you speak of?

Bambu X1 started shipping in July 2022 when their Kickstarter wrapped up. AnkerMake M5 started shipping in August. Bambu was first.

Voron is a kit or diy. Creality printers that were available at the time were not fast like the Bambu. Their K1 came later.

I wrote that at the time Bambu was the first to have a pre-built fast 3d printer. That is the first to market (the pre-built fast printer market) that I was talking about.

I don’t know how you say I was wrong, because everything you “corrected” me was in my previous post.

> When the Bambu came out, there was nothing like it on the market that combined price, speed, and ease-of-use. Yes, there were cheaper printers, and faster printers, and easier-to-use printers, but not in a single package, and especially not in a pre-built package.

are they hoping to monetise you in a future update?

continued use? $19.99/month

I'm not sure what you're getting at. There's no subscription cost for using the cloud update, and it's possible to control the printers over WiFi using open source slicers.

So it appears you're angry about a strawman that doesn't actually exist.

> There's no subscription cost for using the cloud update

... yet

What would you recommend as an alternative pre-built “fast” printer?

If cloud connectivity concerns you, the only pre-built option I’d recommend is Prusa. The mk4 isn’t as fast as Bambu’s printers, but that is a trade you will have decided on. I’d still put the mk4 in the “fast” category. The mk4 is completely open source. Prusa is the most reputable company in terms of trustworthiness.

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