3D printers. Yes, there are lot of $100-$300 models out there. Unless you want 3D printer repair and maintenance to become your new hobby, just go buy a Prusa (or other well supported, full featured printer).
Just got a Bambu P1P this week for my first printer. It's incredible. I looked at the Press and while they are pretty highly spoken of, the $ to performance/quality wasn't there for me.
But to your point, yes. A good printer is a good investment.
Bed adhesion, nozzle clogging, inconsistent extrusion. It was always some issue and it was difficult to figure out the root cause. I kept buying better parts to try and fix things but at some point I decided to cut my losses. Truthfully I don't know if it was my fault or the printer's.
ive been using an old cr10s for the past 5 years. I've done a bunch of upgrades and stuff over the years. I have had problems with adhesion and inconsistent extrusion but those were my fault. never really had many nozzle clogs tho, that's probably more of a filament thing
I'm new to 3D printing myself, mainly got into it to make my ideas become reality - at the moment I don't want to get too caught up in the weeds modding and customizing my printer, I just want it to work, not turn it into a project
Extremely happy that I went for a decent used printer though (Delta style Flsun), instead of buying a new cheap one and being disappointed. My next printer will probably be a compact CoreXY, Voron 0.2 is what I have my eyes on but those kits carry a price tag and take days to assemble 😳
If I was buying a printer for my partner or friends though, 100% Prusa. The extra is worth it IMO for the highly refined UX, preconfigured slicer+filament combos, actual support, and most importantly their ongoing contributions to open source.