so im a teen with not alot of money but i want to get into 3d printing, another community suggested the ender 3 original. it looks like a solid printer but who know im a noob after all. my budget is around 100$ or less. im looking into making mini figures and painting them or whatever nerdy thing i find. i know the budget is tight but im hoping there is something, also im debating on buying a used 3d printer because they seem cheaper.
also any tips for a noob would be great like what makes said model good or bad compared to other models and such.
100 is pretty tight, but you could probably find an original ender 3 for that much. It’s good for beginners because you assemble it out of the box which gives you a feel for how to adjust and repair it, it’s very modular so you can upgrade parts or add modules easily, and overall it prints pretty well right out of the box. Overall, definitely a solid choice.
One downside is no case, so ABS and other high temp or toxic filaments are no good, but PLA will print perfectly fine.
Another downside is no removable bed (they make removing the print easier), but you could easily buy one online or use tape.
If you go with the ender, make sure to get a program like Cura (free) and a micro SD card for slicing and transferring print files. You can also hook it up directly to your computer with mini USB, but that’s been finicky for me. Also mini USB is old as hell and I doubt his have one laying around.