Any good alternatives to Bambulab printers?
Don't want a printer that I habe to tinker with, want one that just works

There is also a problem of printers calling home regularly with unknown payload. Add to it that these devices have a camera it's not a good look. Anecdotally mine stopped working in "lan-mode" after two or three weeks before it was allowed to connect and phone home again.

Release your models under a license that requires the printer that prints it to be open source.

That has about as much sway as me telling you what bowl you must eat your breakfast from. Completely unenforceable.

Restricting models in such a way is also in itself against core values.

Bambu make great printing appliances but that's about it. It's still a good recommendation for someone who just wants to print as a starting point, and unconcerned with much else. The same kind of people would buy OEM cartridges at 3-5x cost for their paper printers and simply don't care. File goes in, model comes out. Vendor lock-in doesn't matter to them.

Other options exist for those of us who want to tinker, learn a thing or two, or simply just be in control of their shit.

Still, there will always be a 'but...' when I'm mentioning the company to someone looking to start printing. Then they can decide based on their own values.

I get the appeal of Bambu printers, I've been tempted myself to get one... but the thing that keeps me away is that they are closed source and I don't want a world with closed source 3D printers because when the company goes evil - and they all eventually do - I don't want to be held hostage. I've fallen in that trap before and don't want to again.

Don't give them backlash, instead stop using their printers. Release your models under a license that requires the printer that prints it to be open source. Let friends and colleagues know the dangers of supporting such a company.

I get your take, the A1 Mini is smaller, but in the end, it's a printer with crazy good value.

I guess I will also buy a Prusa next time. My P1S has internet blocked in my firewall, and I'll use it in LAN mode until it dies.

Bambu lab is just doing a capitalism, no one should be surprised. These guys have wide reach and bring many people who'd otherwise never 3d print into this world.

Also, they push all kinds of innovation in the industry. The h2d is arguably the best consumer printer on the market currently. My a1 mini is a workhorse with over 700 hours of prints on it. The thing is a champ that will likely never receive another firmware update and I'm okay with that. I already have a security camera pointed at the thing for better viewing, I can easily put the thing on a controlled outlet if Bambu handy stops working. I guess I'll lose the ability to exclude failed objects in a print, but I'm still not gonna knock this machine. It prints good and made me love 3d printing.

That being said my new qidi Q1 pro is open ish source, runs on a modified klipper and often produces better prints but is definitely quirkier. It has already frustrated me more than my a1 and taken more hours of troubleshooting and calibration at a third of the print hours.

I'm into electronics and a huge nerds who halfway got this to be able to tinker, mod, and fine tune, but I could imagine my experience with the qidi would turn off many to 3d printing. But my journey started with Bambu, a printer that just worked and turned me into a full fledged 3d printing nerd who is eyeballing a third printer because now I want a kit or bom and to build one.

I hope that wasn't too long winded or nonsensical, I'm a little on vacation

Bambu lab is just doing a capitalism, no one should be surprised. These guys have wide reach and bring many people who'd otherwise never 3d print into this world.

Also, they push all kinds of innovation in the industry. The h2d is arguably the best consumer printer on the market currently. My a1 mini is a workhorse with over 700 hours of prints on it. The thing is a champ that will likely never receive another firmware update and I'm okay with that. I already have a security camera pointed at the thing for better viewing, I can easily put the thing on a controlled outlet if Bambu handy stops working. I guess I'll lose the ability to exclude failed objects in a print, but I'm still not gonna knock this machine. It prints good and made me love 3d printing.

That being said my new qidi Q1 pro is open ish source, runs on a modified klipper and often produces better prints but is definitely quirkier. It has already frustrated me more than my a1 and taken more hours of troubleshooting and calibration at a third of the print hours.

I'm into electronics and a huge nerds who halfway got this to be able to tinker, mod, and fine tune, but I could imagine my experience with the qidi would turn off many to 3d printing. But my journey started with Bambu, a printer that just worked and turned me into a full fledged 3d printing nerd who is eyeballing a third printer because now I want a kit or bom and to build one.

I hope that wasn't too long winded or nonsensical, I'm a little on vacation

While I agree with the most valuable users statement, I can't imagine that is how they see it. Or that they even should realistically care from a purely financial standpoint. Most users buy their printers and just use them with whatever software came with them. And most of those didn't even watch or read reviews. Or worse: they did, and possibly heard about the firmware and online thing and just didn't care.

I disagree with your second part though. Voron is only relevant for the complete opposite end of the spectrum. People who are multi-discipline tinkerers (electronics, hardware, ...) and capable and interested in building their own printer. Actual overlap with all Bambu customers is probably sub-1%. The commercial printers that are Voron-adjacent (inspired by or based on the design in some way) still have a different demographic and severely lack in software polish and especially out of the box experience. It isn't remotely close. Even if they innovated over night and made it even with Bambu, there is nothing that would cause that to be actually relevant in the market without millions in marketing. They might be able to gain momentum, but only slowly and I highly doubt they can catch up to Bambu momentum even in years.

Any good alternatives to Bambulab printers?
Don't want a printer that I habe to tinker with, want one that just works

This is Lemmy, I come here for the long winded and nonsensical.

My Q1 Pro was awesome for weeks without issue, but now the motor is jammed (I can see the little gear trying and failing to move) and I've been too afraid to take it apart.

I'm sorry to hear that! Have you contacted customer support yet? I've heard and found them to be very helpful, but I can't speak for that issue directly

I've set my P1S to print through LAN and it works fine. I don't want or need to use an app to control the printer so I'm not concerned by that loss of functionality. IMO printing via LAN makes more sense anyway for most users. Having to upload some multiple megabyte file to the cloud just to download it back down to a machine you're sitting beside makes no sense.

I like Bambulabs hardware but I don't get their obsession with locking down the firmware. Ultimately it's just a 3d printer that takes an STL and prints it. There is very limited IP in a firmware that needs protection or that couldn't be figured out by monitoring the I2C or whatever protocol it uses to send instructions to various systems like AMS, camera, printer board etc. Somebody could reverse engineer it already and all this controversy just makes it more likely that someone will.

I get the appeal of Bambu printers, I've been tempted myself to get one... but the thing that keeps me away is that they are closed source and I don't want a world with closed source 3D printers because when the company goes evil - and they all eventually do - I don't want to be held hostage. I've fallen in that trap before and don't want to again.

Don't give them backlash, instead stop using their printers. Release your models under a license that requires the printer that prints it to be open source. Let friends and colleagues know the dangers of supporting such a company.