Shopping for a 3d printer these days can be overwhelming as there are so many options available and the price can vary widely. A hobbyist printer can cost anywhere from $175 to over $3000, with the average being around $700. Which makes me wonder, what is the best 3d printer for the money and why do they get so expensive?
I have owned over a dozen 3d printers and I can tell you from experience that the best 3d printer for the money is Creality CR-10 V2. It has a massive max build volume, fixes most of the issues from the original version, has a large user community, and is well built for the price.
Now let’s dive into what makes the CR-10 V2 a great printer, especially for the price.
Specs
| Printer Type | FDM |
| Printing Size | 300x300x400 mm or 11.81×11.81×15.75 in |
| Weight | 11.5 kg or 25.35 lbs |
| Max Print Speed | 180 mm/s |
| Average Print Speed | 30-60 mm/s |
| Precision | ±0.1mm |
| Extruder Type | Bowden with optional direct drive upgrade |
| Layer thickness | 0.1-0.4mm |
| Nozzle Diameter | Standard 0.4mm |
| Max Buildplate Temperature | 100℃ |
| Working Mode | USB (online) or SD slot (offline) |
| Slicing software | Cura\Repetier-Host\Simplify 3D |
| Power supply | AC Input 115V/230V Output:24V |
| Power rating | 350W |
| Auto leveling | Optional |
| Filaments | PLA/ABS/PETG/TPU |
| Filament diameter | 1.75mm |
Upgrades in the V2
The original CR-10 was a great printer when it came out but it had some flaws. There were modifications you could make to the original printer to fix some of them but Creality accounted for all of them in the CR-10 V2.
| Upgrade | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Added an additional fan to the extruder | It provides the option to cool the filament quicker. Fan speeds are controlled in the slicing software. |
| Upgraded the power supply | The new power supply is more efficient and can provide more power to the printer. |
| Reinforced the frame | It helps prevent unwanted vibrations that cause ghosting. |
| Upgraded the controller board | Better interface performance and less noise. |
| Added resume printing functionality Adds the ability to pause and resume prints, even after power loss. | |
| Added a filament sensor | Will pause the print if you run out of filament preventing you from having to restart the print from the beginning. |
| All metal extruding kit | The more durable extruder reduces wear on the parts and can work with more abrasive filaments like carbon fiber. |
| Available direct drive extruder upgrade | Reduces distance from the cold to hot end of the extruder which makes printing with flexible materials easier |
| Available auto-leveling upgrade | This is typically a manual process and should be done every couple of prints or so. The auto-leveling upgrade removes the need to do this. |
User Community
The CR-10 user community on Thingiverse has almost 10k members and over 1900 topics at the time of this writing. What that means is if you run into issues, you have a large group of people with the same printer that can help you out. There is a wealth of knowledge available in basically everything you can think of related to this printer. I tend to go to the community first when I have any issues and have also been able to get the information I needed.
Recap
It seems like new 3d printers are popping up everyday which makes choosing the right one difficult. Having personally owned over a dozen 3d printers and I can tell you from experience that the best large 3d printer for the money is Creality CR-10 V2. It has a massive build volume, fixes most of the issues from the original version, has a large user community, and is well built for the price.
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