3D Printing - Creality versus Prusa

In general, the Prusa printers are more expensive, and you get what you pay for. The only Prusa printer in the same price range is the Prusa Mini, so it is worth examining that side by side with the Ender. Frankly I think it is a toss-up. The Cantilevered design of the "mini" leaves me looking at it a bit sideways, but the bottom line is that it is just fine.

For the money, you certainly can't beat the Ender. It is fair to say that the Prusa Mini matches it for similar money. If you are willing to spend $600 or up, definitely look at the Prusa units.

Prusa Mini

The other name I hear a lot is Prusa, but their printers seem to be in the $500 and up category. Maybe one would make sense if I find I am printing things all the time, which I doubt. I asked Dave about the Prusa and he said:

"I’ve seen them. They are just another Ender 3."

They are very well regarded. I should look at them again someday when I understand enough about 3D printers to judge whether they are worth the higher price.

Here are some comments about the Prusa from a video I just watched. The Prusa Mini costs $100 more than the Ender 3 V2, but what you get above all is a printer that will be easier for a beginner to get started with. It needs little tweaking out of the box, comes with good documentation and "just works".

Mechanically, the Prusa has bearings while the Ender has V-wheels and the bearings ought to be superior. The Prusa has a better hot end that can handle high temperatures and thus print things like polycarbonate. The Prusa comes with auto bed leveling, which is something you will have to pay $50 or so to add to the Ender (and you almost certainly will. The Prusa feed system handles flexible filament better.

You do get a 2 year warranty with the Prusa. This is the law in the EU. I don't know if this changes for somone in the USA buying a Prusa.

Prusa is in Prague in the Czech Republic. Their printers are not made in China. Prusa is a man: Josef Průša invented the original RepRap design known as “Prusa i3". You could feel good about buying a Prusa simply because of the fact that they support the open source "maker" community and have been a big factor in making things happen. All kinds of Prusa clones are being made in China, which is actually legal given the open source design -- unless they actually claim to be genuine Prusas made in the Czech Republic.