What are your thoughts about non-LEGO bricks, books, RUclips channels and podcasts? Bambu A1 Mini: www.matterhackers.com/store/l/bambu-lab-a1-mini-3d-printer/sk/M340Z8WP?aff=7553 Twoodfrd: www.youtube.com/@@twoodfrd Marius Hornberger: www.youtube.com/@@MariusHornberger Henry Segerman: www.youtube.com/@@henryseg Clickspring: ruclips.net/channel/UCworsKCR-Sx6R6-BnIjS2MA Alie Ward podcast: www.alieward.com/ologies If Books Could Kill: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/if-books-could-kill/id1651876897 Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir: amzn.to/4ekFeVq Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir: amzn.to/3AWHAv9 Nona the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir: amzn.to/4emORmr Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells: amzn.to/3MIj7wa Disclaimer: Tested may earn an affiliate commission when you buy through the links here
Any chance we could get timestamps on these? I'd love to recommend the books (and show Adam's description of them) to my wife, but she isn't interested in the 3D printers, etc like I am
To whoever manages the show notes, thank you! Whenever Adam makes suggestions, it’s a huge help to have the links so we don’t have to pause and search for each one.
While working as a plastic injection molding tech, I had the pleasure of visiting the Lego factory in Denmark. If you've not been there, I strongly recommend that the Tested crew reaches out to lego and ask if you can go there... It's mind boggling..
I cannot second those book recs hard enough. Murderbot Diaries especially is phenomenal, to the point where Wells has started withdrawing the series from consideration at the Nebulas and Hugos because she wants other authors to have the opportunity to be recognized. The prose is delightfully acerbic and while you’re on the floor laughing it will sneak in and hit you right in the feels.
Sorry if this is a cliche thing to ask, do you think Murderbot is Male or female? I was talking to a friend about this very subject. He gave a very passionate explanation of why it was female. He asked me what I thought. I said since it was in the first-person it was obvious a 58-year-old Hoosier.
The humor is just phenomenal. Another recommendation if you liked that is Dungeon Crawler Carl. It’s a “LitRPG” but the tone is just hilarious. Check out the audiobook if you can since the narrators range brings the characters to life.
Early 2000s, there were diaper wipes that came in plastic containers. The containers were about 4”x8”x 3” tall, that were molded to look like legos. They were easily stackable, and our toddler loved playing with them.
My mom uses those exact diaper wipe boxes to this day for bathroom storage for things like bars of soap, q-tips and cotton balls, nail polish, and hair accessories. She evem put cute little labels on them and they've lasted the entire 25 years of my life.
The Murderbot Diaries is my very favorite book series ever. I can empathize with nearly any character, and find some way to relate to anything, but it's very rare that a character validates so many of my own feelings that I spent much of my life believing no one else could relate to. I wish this series had been out when I was still trying to find myself. I'd've spent a lot less time trying to be what I was taught people should be just because it never occurred to me that just saying "No, thank you." was an option.
Yes! I can't recommend The Murderbot Diaries strongly enough. Absolutely fantastic series. My only complaint: too short, and I need "MOAR BOOKS NAO"! :D
I think you really need to look at bricks again. Brands like Blue Brixx, CADA, COBI or Mould King often do it better and cheaper than the market leader. Lego loves to give you a multitude of colored bricks for the insides that don't fit the theme of the build and others do that much better. Loved the Murderbot series and i'll look into Gideon the 9th, thanks for the recomendation.
I have a BL P1S and it is my favorite tool in the house. Can't say enough good things about this printer, fantastic experience. However, there is issues that I have with BL and the printer itself which requires a bit of maintenance knowledge of 3D printers to fully understand. Thankfully, I'm comfortable working with such products. I would say the A1 mini is a great entry level machine. I'm thinking about grabbing an A1 mini or the big brother alternative. As the P1S was really only intended for engineering/ multi-color products, not so much prototyping which is exactly why I purchased it. Now, I want more BL machines the more I think of each of their uses for my farm. The next printer I'm considering is my first resin printer. I'm glad to see Tested/ Adam and the community have much love for BL as much as I do and I'm glad the 3D printing community knows of their faults as well. Positive critiquing will lead to better products. =)
Oh man if you think P1S requires maintenance you've never had an Ender you lucky lucky person. It's funny because to anyone that owned 3D printers before Bambu lab era you come as a bit fussy when you say P1S requires maintenance haha. Regular maintenance is a normal thing with any type of equipment, but with Creality printers it's more about regularly fixing the printer so it even works at all. Cheers, I'm hoping to buy P1S soon, can't be soon enough haha.
@@ares395 Oh I had a few Enders, they didn’t last lol So I know all about that kind of frustrating maintenance but BL has great products and their wiki is really awesome. Whereas Creality I couldn’t find any help on maintenance in the early days except on forums. I hope you enjoy your unit! My recommendation is follow the guide to setup, use it a lot (catch any early issues) as there is only a 14 day warranty unless you buy from MicroCenter, and make sure it is working as intended as any printer you initially buy. If everything checks out, you’re going to have a great time! I have had some issues here and there but that is regular maintenance like greasing, retensitioning the belts, cleaning the nozzle, fixing an AMS jam, etc. As long as you’re comfortable with taking care of your machines, it will take care of your projects. Happy printing!
Can recommend both the A1 mini and A1 (both even with AMS), the setup is quick, prints fast and reliable, the A1 has awesome build volume (256mm cubed), and with the AMS, It's just so good.
Yeah but i wouldn't consider the A1 min with AMS lite or A1 as budget printers. Their both north of $350. Most budget printers are around $200 or lower. Bambu printers are amazing but Their are definitely some printers that are sub $200 with almost the same functionality as the A1 min with bigger build plates. I would recommend something like An ender 3 v 3 se for somone who wants to dip a toe in you can get that printer for under $160 on sale and it's just as capable ad the A1. It's not as polished but if your not worried about multi color right now ans want a more standard build plate it's hard to not recommend. But once you reach that $300 price point it sure is hard to justify anything else other than a Bambu printer.
@@writer8706there is no better printer than an A1 mini for $200 or less. The overwhelming vast majority of people won’t need a bigger build plate. My first printer was an Ender 3 V3 SE. I still have it. Haven’t ran it again since I got the A1 mini. My Bambu takes a meaty greasy 💩 on my Ender in every way. The only thing I miss about my Ender is cloud slicing with the mobile app. I have to go to my pc if I’m not using a model on the app. That’s just me though. 🤷🏻♂️
Really recommend printing at slightly less than 100% if your going for that solid feel, 95% gives about the same and should print slightly better. At 100% any over-extrusion will outflow from the print, at 95% it will have room for any overflow.
10:00 Hearing you sum up some of my favorite books thusly made me giddy and squee with delight! I never thought I'd hear those words, in that order, come out of your mouth. LOL
"These are your very basic, 10,000 years in the future, lesbian necromancer science fiction fantasy novels" wasn't on my Adam Savage bingo card :D I love how much you surprise me Adam, will probably look into those now :P
The Locked Tomb series is delightful and weird, really glad Adam has read it. Not sure I’ve ever laughed harder in a sci-fi book than an immortal necromancer king referencing none pizza with left beef for absolutely no one.
I don’t know that I’ve ever been happier about someone else’s current/recent reading than I am to hear that Adam has found and loved the Locked Tomb and Murderbot books.
thank you for saying A1.. so many people on FB say "oh just buy an ender, you can find one for $150". Sure, but then how much money are you going to spend trying to make it good? Nothing wrong with assembling a printer so you understand how it works, but most people JUST want to print (not tinker).
Yeah I'm a long time 3d DIYer and follow all things 3d printing. While those super cheap machines have gotten much better I would never recommend anything cheaper then the A1 mini. The ability to load a file, push a button and guarantee a print is paramount to people new to the hobby and the speed and quality of those machines essentially make them appliances which is the dream of 3d printing.
Yup, I finally decided to give 3d printing a try after years of thinking about it. I was looking really hard at the Ender 3 V3 KE that was a refurb from e-bay for like $150. In my research, I came across a youtube video comparing the KE to the A1 Mini, and everything about the Mini just made sense. Plus it was on sale for $200. Within 30 minutes of getting it home, I was printing. I have printed 40-50 different projects with only 1 problem so far (1 print did not adhere to the plate, my fault for not checking to make sure it was clean. They way I have heard it described is if you like tinker, an Ender is a good option, if you just want to print, get a Bambu. My only gripe about the Mini is no hardwire connectivity. My printer does not move. it is next to my desktop. Why can't I have a wired option to send to the printer. Why do I have to use Bambu cloud or SD card? Bed size has not been an issue for me so far. If I decide to keep doing this, I may look at getting an A1 with the AMS system, but for now, the A1 Mini with a single spool meets my needs just fine.
I think Angus on Maker's Muse has it right: the right printer for you depends on what you're looking for in getting into 3D printing: Do you want a hobby or a tool? If you want a hobby that includes building and modding printers, the Ender is great. But if you want a tool that just works, the Bambu A1 is probably the best value option right now. If you find a good deal on a second hand Prusa, imo, that would also be a good option.
As someone that owns Ender, you'd have to be absolutely mad to recommend it it today's day and age. A1 and A1 mini have no competition for the first 3D printer as that price point and performance. The amount of time, money and nerves I've spent on my Ender is not worth any 'learning'. In fact it deterred me from this hobby for months multiple times before. What sucks particularly bad is that you could spend literally weeks as a newbie trying to configure the slicer settings correctly etc. following advice from people online that swear this particular thing must be the problem and you find out that all this learning and testing was for naut. Why? Because it's simply that your printer was faulty in some way, maybe even from factory (which happened to me). Do not get an Ender, unless you want to deter people from this hobby that is.
Before the A1 was released, for years it was the ender, especially for the $99 microcenter deal. But now it's outdated, like telling someone to get a Blackberry
The Gideon the Ninth books are fantastic, but might need a couple reads. And yes, lesbian necromancers in space is an apt description. They're wonderfully weird, fantastical, and the gradual world building is done really well. You're always left with the feeling of wanting to know more.
The Locked Tomb and Murderbot series were both wonderful! This is basically my reading list for last few months, so it's funny to hear it repeated back to me. Your kids have great taste!
Absolutely not. Don't wish that horror on others. When the A1 Mini goes for 200 sometimes, why would anyone go through the pain of those older printers that teach them nothing but outdated fixes to problems modern printers don't even have anymore. More than that, a new user should never buy a used printer. Neeeever. When you buy used, you buy someone else's mistakes. When you're new, you won't have any idea if it's safe, what they've done or how to fix it.
To anyone reading this: this is a mistake. - Ender owner. The amount of time you'll have to spend in following months fixing that crap and money (and nerves) you'll spend will easily exceed 200$ soon enough.
I’ve been listening to the Muderbot Diaries on Audible during walks and runs. I’m on Book 5: Network Effect and I’ve really been enjoying these books. Glad you gave them a shoutout Adam!
Talking about podcasts, you would LOVE 13 Minutes to the Moon. Season 1, the moon landing and everything that went into it. Season 2, how they saved the Apollo 13 crew.
The Murderbot Diaries are fantastic IMO. Witty, gripping and with a sort of lovely ethos woven throughout that might, at first glance, seem impossible for books featuring an acerbic killer cyborg :).
Heck yeah Murderbot! Can't recommend the series enough. They're such a blast to read, and being novellas you can knock one out in a day or two and there are plenty more waiting for you!
I'd highly recommend the book "The Mysterious Case of Rudolph Diesel". It's a great story about the creator of the Diesel engine and how he made it as well as the mystery of what happened to him in the lead up to WW1. One of my first non-fiction "maker" books and easily my favourite
Lego and the different quality of Lego clones quality is such a good way to address the lesser focus some people will put on their work, than other people. Some people will say it is the same while other people can see that real quality actually matters. I am going to consider using Lego and clones within the hiring process as it could reveal a world of info about a prospective employee.
you mentioned you have a stack of books tagged in your mind "to read". i've had something similar, especially since i retired from the army 8yrs ago. the difference is my "to read" list is the classics, which i personally break up with scifi & fantasy from my favorite authors - after the divine comedy i decided to tackle the dune series, probably to be followed by the 1942 charles dickens set published by the scribner brothers, which it wouldn't surprise me if i follow up with orson scott card or another scifi or fantasy writer i love to death. one thing i've found over the years is you're more than capable of enriching yourself however you choose in bulk, as long as you make time for what you enjoy most in between - which for me is scifi, fantasy, & tinkering. have fun! :)
!!! The ninth series has been so fun. I got turned on to the first by a coworker as the 2nd one was coming out. I grabbed it and then had the 3rd order as soon as it was announced. And there is a 4th coming soon??? Whaaaaa
I've been a long time Lego fan, and I can say from both experience and reading articles that Lego has some of the highest level quality control in all of the toy industry. Lego pieces from the 1970's are perfectly compatible with pieces sitting on the store shelf today.
My first printer was a Creality Ender 3 (first revision). I do NOT recommend it or any variant as a first 3d printer. Don't get me wrong, it's a great little critter for what it is but it is extremely dated compared to modern designs and needs a lot of tinkering and purchased upgrades to come close to reliable. Additionally, I'd disagree with Adam on the A1 Mini or any other "bedslinger" design. They are prone to a ton of heartache-inducing issues due to the physics involved in the bed moving in the x or y axis. Effectively, you're dealing with inertia of the bed and inertial forces on your print, which can introduce significant deformations and/or failures if one prints too quickly or there is a bit of wind from a door or fan in the room. My suggestion would be to stick to newer designs like core-xy, where the print bed, at most, moves for the z axis. The Creality K series is a decent series, if one adds the nozzle cleaner mod (or relocation mod for K1C). It's about half the price of the Bambu equivalent and has the ability to use open-source firmware. This is not to say that it is at all the same level as the X1 series but, is nearly turnkey, making it more accessible and less likely to cause frustration for beginners that aren't able to afford the BambuLab X1C or similar.
Lego is Lego and I like it. However i use Duplo bricks to make mold boxes. I line the box with Press N Seal. I’m pouring before other boxes have cooled or dried.
Murder Bot Diaries are amazing! One of my favorite sarcastic sci-fi reads since Hitchiker's Guide. An interesting, very different sci-fi take is Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky. Highly recommend.
The book I'm reading now is Thran by J. Robert King, I believe. It's part of the Magic the Gathering Artifacts saga. It's a fantastic read. The villain is so brilliantly written that you can never really figure him out, even if you know how he ends up.
I've been a Lego snob my whole life. Colors, feel, even how they fit with real Lego bricks, all of it is just wrong. When I was 7 or 8 I had a Mega Bloks set that was gifted to me that I didn't open for about a year and a half before I gave it away. I already knew I didn't want them mixed in with my real Lego, so I didn't even bother opening it
I’ve been interested in getting a 3D printer for a while, and this was the thing that finally convinced me to bite the bullet and order one. Thanks, Adam! I’m really excited for my future projects!
Best prices are generally on the official Bambu website. Also I think this is a common mistake, Americans state prices, usually without tax...? I'm too lazy to check if that's the case here tbh... Also make sure you aren't looking at the AMS version, the Bambu lab defaults to that for obvious reasons.
He was stating the A1 mini WITHOUT the AMS Lite which is $199 before tax right now as they have a sale on, that’s £169. The £299 price is with the AMS lite included in the combo option.
Hi Adam, you are generalizing here. I see where you are coming from. Sure, there are awful bricks in the wild. But nowadays, there are very good non-Lego brands out there that have equal quality. Since Lego's quality actually got worse the last couple of years, some of the other brands might even have better quality. And they design their own legit models.
It’s not budget but Bambu Lab 3d printers are the most famous and best printing quality. Few month ago, I was thinking about Anycubic or Creality 3d printers for big volume but they have few problems and need so many modifications so I ended up buying Bambu lab P1S even though it has medium building volume. High speed and no mods 😃
The A1 Mini without an AMS Lite is available from Bambu for that price. $350 is what I'm seeing for the combo. If you are on their site, the combo is selected by default. Look for the options selection andchange it to just the printer.
I'm curious if Adam has a specific opinion on the impact of the Wright brothers on early American aviation? I'm a big Avgeek and have some definite opinions, myself!
The fact we can get a 4-color 3D printer with AMAZING quality fast output for under $500 is insane and awesome and I love it so much… even 6-7 years ago the $1000 printers with dual extenders were tiny beds and slow Also I love that there’s a “basic” level of 10k years in the future lesbian necromancer books XD
Color theory and all of its derivative fields ought to be higher prioritised for budding designers, because it can torpedo your entire project in ways most don't realise
I suggest reading James Rollins’ series of books Sigma Force. They are fiction, but he does a great job at intertwining history and contemporary matters with science fiction and real science.
non-lego connecting building blocks were pretty bad in the 90's-2010's, but I've heard the quality has become much closer to that of official lego in recent years.
Since Adam mentioned it in this vid, people flocked to buy it, driving up the price. If you wait a few weeks and keep checking back, the price should go back down slowly.
@@kjdegraafUnless they omit the apostrophe, which is still a mistake. All in all their correction is big enough to be justified and not be pedantic for anyone searching for that printer and wondering if there are multiple models with similar names. Which is common in 3D printers.
I'm binging Mythbusters at the moment and as a Brit it always makes me laugh when you put on a British accent in the show. My question is what lead you to do this ?
Me: *only half paying attention* Adam: "... All Systems Red..." Me: *suddenly paying full attention, rewinds to verify he's talking about Murderbot* Murderbot Diaries is such a great series. First of all, despite the fact that Murderbot is a biological/mechanical construct capable of superhuman feats of strength, speed, and violence, I don't think I have encountered a character to whom I can more relate to. Its discomfort with contact, conversation, and being looked at resonates hugely. And then the world feels real, even though it's some distance in the future. And all of that wrapped up with ultra-compelling narratives.
If you want a budget printer you can get Ender 3 V3 Se for under $150USD at times and it functions just as well as the A1 mini with a bigger build plate and it's eco system is open source. the Ender 3 V3 line is almost as plug and play as a Bambu labs printer. My brother's prints like a champ. Sure it's not as fast but it's a great entry point. The A1 mini at $199 usd isn't horrible but it's build size is lack luster. I know it can print like 80% of the things on online. But their are times you just need that extra few millimeters. But I won't lie after I bought my A1 (non Mini) it's hard to recommend anything than bambu of your looking to spend over $300.
The first printer I got was an Ender 3 v3 se. The ONLY thing that is better about that printer than the A1 mini I bought less than a month later is the build plate size (and I still have the SE and have not needed to switch back to it for a print) and the mobile app because of cloud slicing. The Ender doesn’t even have Wi-Fi support out of the box. I would not ever recommend the Ender SE over the A1 mini. But that’s just me though.
@joelamaro4525 it's an easy recommendation for those who don't want to spend a lot and are unsure of the hobby. Yeah the app and wifi are nice but not essential.butni totally understand where you are coming from as the A1 mini is just awesome for the price.
@@writer8706 and if you look for sales at the beginning of the summer the A1 mini stand alone was on sale. Forget how much it was. But according to Loyal Moses we should all wait to buy a new printer because in October and November some new printers are coming to compete against the A1 mini it both price and print quality. He said he has at least 3 new printers he’s reviewed but he’s on an NDA until October and November.
Try the newer Lego competitors, they've much much improved. Bluebricks has amazing products, lookup Burg Blaustein for example. Lego's products in the last years, has massively decreased in quality, complexity and increased prices. They're no longer the prime choice for bricks.
Thus, my brother is a brick builder and definitely sees better quality with other makers. Lego being a brand is going to be business and toss out anything and rely on the name to equal quality
Yeah, since Adam seems to be talking about older bricks here I can understand the criticism regarding the quality but the landscape is definitely changing now. Cobi, Cada, Funwhole (yes really), etc, there are some good competitor brands out there and lego's own quality is declining
What are your thoughts about non-LEGO bricks, books, RUclips channels and podcasts?
Bambu A1 Mini: www.matterhackers.com/store/l/bambu-lab-a1-mini-3d-printer/sk/M340Z8WP?aff=7553
Twoodfrd: www.youtube.com/@@twoodfrd
Marius Hornberger: www.youtube.com/@@MariusHornberger
Henry Segerman: www.youtube.com/@@henryseg
Clickspring: ruclips.net/channel/UCworsKCR-Sx6R6-BnIjS2MA
Alie Ward podcast: www.alieward.com/ologies
If Books Could Kill: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/if-books-could-kill/id1651876897
Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir: amzn.to/4ekFeVq
Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir: amzn.to/3AWHAv9
Nona the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir: amzn.to/4emORmr
Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells: amzn.to/3MIj7wa
Disclaimer: Tested may earn an affiliate commission when you buy through the links here
The youtube links are kind of "broken", only the @ part works.
@@nicolasroy8481 The links seem to work fine for me, and I'm on the RUclips app. So, if you aren't and are on a pc, try your phone.
I love you, Tested editor 😘
Any chance we could get timestamps on these? I'd love to recommend the books (and show Adam's description of them) to my wife, but she isn't interested in the 3D printers, etc like I am
@@t98765af 9:41 is the start of discussion on books.
To whoever manages the show notes, thank you! Whenever Adam makes suggestions, it’s a huge help to have the links so we don’t have to pause and search for each one.
While working as a plastic injection molding tech, I had the pleasure of visiting the Lego factory in Denmark. If you've not been there, I strongly recommend that the Tested crew reaches out to lego and ask if you can go there... It's mind boggling..
I cannot second those book recs hard enough. Murderbot Diaries especially is phenomenal, to the point where Wells has started withdrawing the series from consideration at the Nebulas and Hugos because she wants other authors to have the opportunity to be recognized. The prose is delightfully acerbic and while you’re on the floor laughing it will sneak in and hit you right in the feels.
Sorry if this is a cliche thing to ask, do you think Murderbot is Male or female?
I was talking to a friend about this very subject. He gave a very passionate explanation of why it was female. He asked me what I thought. I said since it was in the first-person it was obvious a 58-year-old Hoosier.
@@leonidasnoble6939neither, it’s a secunit
The humor is just phenomenal. Another recommendation if you liked that is Dungeon Crawler Carl. It’s a “LitRPG” but the tone is just hilarious. Check out the audiobook if you can since the narrators range brings the characters to life.
Early 2000s, there were diaper wipes that came in plastic containers. The containers were about 4”x8”x 3” tall, that were molded to look like legos. They were easily stackable, and our toddler loved playing with them.
i love when companies make their products multi purpose you dont see much of that anymore probably due to our litigious world.
I remember those as kid. We would use them to store toys in.
My mom uses those exact diaper wipe boxes to this day for bathroom storage for things like bars of soap, q-tips and cotton balls, nail polish, and hair accessories. She evem put cute little labels on them and they've lasted the entire 25 years of my life.
"Looks like how popcorn Jelly Bellies taste". Wow. That is a GREAT phrase and I will be borrowing it in the future!
I would rather have someone use every curse word in the book to describe me than say that to me lol it's a great subtle burn
Ever since Covid I have felt the shift from Fiction to Non-Fiction books. I have just fell in love with all of the cool stuff I have learned.
The Murderbot Diaries is my very favorite book series ever. I can empathize with nearly any character, and find some way to relate to anything, but it's very rare that a character validates so many of my own feelings that I spent much of my life believing no one else could relate to. I wish this series had been out when I was still trying to find myself. I'd've spent a lot less time trying to be what I was taught people should be just because it never occurred to me that just saying "No, thank you." was an option.
Yes! I can't recommend The Murderbot Diaries strongly enough. Absolutely fantastic series. My only complaint: too short, and I need "MOAR BOOKS NAO"! :D
Would love to this as an HBO series. The Stories are sometimes quite short but given the sort of love ‘The Expanse’ received it would be amazing.
@@henryhollis4287 I was so sad that apple TV got it. It could be great, but I'm not gonna see it because I refuse to have 50 tv subscriptions
I think you really need to look at bricks again. Brands like Blue Brixx, CADA, COBI or Mould King often do it better and cheaper than the market leader. Lego loves to give you a multitude of colored bricks for the insides that don't fit the theme of the build and others do that much better.
Loved the Murderbot series and i'll look into Gideon the 9th, thanks for the recomendation.
I have a BL P1S and it is my favorite tool in the house. Can't say enough good things about this printer, fantastic experience. However, there is issues that I have with BL and the printer itself which requires a bit of maintenance knowledge of 3D printers to fully understand. Thankfully, I'm comfortable working with such products. I would say the A1 mini is a great entry level machine. I'm thinking about grabbing an A1 mini or the big brother alternative. As the P1S was really only intended for engineering/ multi-color products, not so much prototyping which is exactly why I purchased it. Now, I want more BL machines the more I think of each of their uses for my farm. The next printer I'm considering is my first resin printer. I'm glad to see Tested/ Adam and the community have much love for BL as much as I do and I'm glad the 3D printing community knows of their faults as well. Positive critiquing will lead to better products. =)
Oh man if you think P1S requires maintenance you've never had an Ender you lucky lucky person. It's funny because to anyone that owned 3D printers before Bambu lab era you come as a bit fussy when you say P1S requires maintenance haha. Regular maintenance is a normal thing with any type of equipment, but with Creality printers it's more about regularly fixing the printer so it even works at all. Cheers, I'm hoping to buy P1S soon, can't be soon enough haha.
@@ares395 Oh I had a few Enders, they didn’t last lol So I know all about that kind of frustrating maintenance but BL has great products and their wiki is really awesome. Whereas Creality I couldn’t find any help on maintenance in the early days except on forums. I hope you enjoy your unit! My recommendation is follow the guide to setup, use it a lot (catch any early issues) as there is only a 14 day warranty unless you buy from MicroCenter, and make sure it is working as intended as any printer you initially buy. If everything checks out, you’re going to have a great time! I have had some issues here and there but that is regular maintenance like greasing, retensitioning the belts, cleaning the nozzle, fixing an AMS jam, etc. As long as you’re comfortable with taking care of your machines, it will take care of your projects. Happy printing!
Can recommend both the A1 mini and A1 (both even with AMS), the setup is quick, prints fast and reliable, the A1 has awesome build volume (256mm cubed), and with the AMS, It's just so good.
Yeah but i wouldn't consider the A1 min with AMS lite or A1 as budget printers. Their both north of $350. Most budget printers are around $200 or lower. Bambu printers are amazing but Their are definitely some printers that are sub $200 with almost the same functionality as the A1 min with bigger build plates. I would recommend something like An ender 3 v 3 se for somone who wants to dip a toe in you can get that printer for under $160 on sale and it's just as capable ad the A1. It's not as polished but if your not worried about multi color right now ans want a more standard build plate it's hard to not recommend. But once you reach that $300 price point it sure is hard to justify anything else other than a Bambu printer.
@@writer8706there is no better printer than an A1 mini for $200 or less. The overwhelming vast majority of people won’t need a bigger build plate. My first printer was an Ender 3 V3 SE. I still have it. Haven’t ran it again since I got the A1 mini. My Bambu takes a meaty greasy 💩 on my Ender in every way. The only thing I miss about my Ender is cloud slicing with the mobile app. I have to go to my pc if I’m not using a model on the app. That’s just me though. 🤷🏻♂️
Really recommend printing at slightly less than 100% if your going for that solid feel, 95% gives about the same and should print slightly better. At 100% any over-extrusion will outflow from the print, at 95% it will have room for any overflow.
10:00 Hearing you sum up some of my favorite books thusly made me giddy and squee with delight! I never thought I'd hear those words, in that order, come out of your mouth. LOL
Adam liking The Locked Tomb is genuinely the best thing I learned today
"These are your very basic, 10,000 years in the future, lesbian necromancer science fiction fantasy novels" wasn't on my Adam Savage bingo card :D I love how much you surprise me Adam, will probably look into those now :P
They're a trip, and all wildly different. Great reads!
The Locked Tomb series is delightful and weird, really glad Adam has read it. Not sure I’ve ever laughed harder in a sci-fi book than an immortal necromancer king referencing none pizza with left beef for absolutely no one.
I don’t know that I’ve ever been happier about someone else’s current/recent reading than I am to hear that Adam has found and loved the Locked Tomb and Murderbot books.
thank you for saying A1.. so many people on FB say "oh just buy an ender, you can find one for $150". Sure, but then how much money are you going to spend trying to make it good? Nothing wrong with assembling a printer so you understand how it works, but most people JUST want to print (not tinker).
Yeah I'm a long time 3d DIYer and follow all things 3d printing. While those super cheap machines have gotten much better I would never recommend anything cheaper then the A1 mini. The ability to load a file, push a button and guarantee a print is paramount to people new to the hobby and the speed and quality of those machines essentially make them appliances which is the dream of 3d printing.
Yup, I finally decided to give 3d printing a try after years of thinking about it.
I was looking really hard at the Ender 3 V3 KE that was a refurb from e-bay for like $150.
In my research, I came across a youtube video comparing the KE to the A1 Mini, and everything about the Mini just made sense.
Plus it was on sale for $200.
Within 30 minutes of getting it home, I was printing. I have printed 40-50 different projects with only 1 problem so far (1 print did not adhere to the plate, my fault for not checking to make sure it was clean.
They way I have heard it described is if you like tinker, an Ender is a good option, if you just want to print, get a Bambu.
My only gripe about the Mini is no hardwire connectivity. My printer does not move. it is next to my desktop. Why can't I have a wired option to send to the printer. Why do I have to use Bambu cloud or SD card?
Bed size has not been an issue for me so far.
If I decide to keep doing this, I may look at getting an A1 with the AMS system, but for now, the A1 Mini with a single spool meets my needs just fine.
I think Angus on Maker's Muse has it right: the right printer for you depends on what you're looking for in getting into 3D printing: Do you want a hobby or a tool? If you want a hobby that includes building and modding printers, the Ender is great. But if you want a tool that just works, the Bambu A1 is probably the best value option right now. If you find a good deal on a second hand Prusa, imo, that would also be a good option.
As someone that owns Ender, you'd have to be absolutely mad to recommend it it today's day and age. A1 and A1 mini have no competition for the first 3D printer as that price point and performance. The amount of time, money and nerves I've spent on my Ender is not worth any 'learning'. In fact it deterred me from this hobby for months multiple times before. What sucks particularly bad is that you could spend literally weeks as a newbie trying to configure the slicer settings correctly etc. following advice from people online that swear this particular thing must be the problem and you find out that all this learning and testing was for naut. Why? Because it's simply that your printer was faulty in some way, maybe even from factory (which happened to me). Do not get an Ender, unless you want to deter people from this hobby that is.
Before the A1 was released, for years it was the ender, especially for the $99 microcenter deal. But now it's outdated, like telling someone to get a Blackberry
The Gideon the Ninth books are fantastic, but might need a couple reads. And yes, lesbian necromancers in space is an apt description. They're wonderfully weird, fantastical, and the gradual world building is done really well. You're always left with the feeling of wanting to know more.
You can get a Kobra 2 refurbished ~$100, lacks some of the features newer printers have but size is really your only limit.
I was slapping my table in excitement! I love If Books Could Kill and the Locked Tomb series!
The Locked Tomb and Murderbot series were both wonderful! This is basically my reading list for last few months, so it's funny to hear it repeated back to me. Your kids have great taste!
Adam repeat after me Bambu Lab, Bambu Lab, Bambu Lab
"Bambu."
"Lab."
"Bambu."
"Lab..."
"Bambu Carbon."
Now we know if Adam has a custom 3d printer, it will be named "Carbon A1 Mini", so he is not wrong.
Tell me you have an X1 Carbon without saying it...
Carbon lab mini
If anyone who’s wanting to get a 3d printer w/o dropping $200, do the Ender 3/Creality CR series. On Marketplace they can go for at least $70-$120.
Absolutely not. Don't wish that horror on others.
When the A1 Mini goes for 200 sometimes, why would anyone go through the pain of those older printers that teach them nothing but outdated fixes to problems modern printers don't even have anymore.
More than that, a new user should never buy a used printer. Neeeever.
When you buy used, you buy someone else's mistakes. When you're new, you won't have any idea if it's safe, what they've done or how to fix it.
To anyone reading this: this is a mistake. - Ender owner.
The amount of time you'll have to spend in following months fixing that crap and money (and nerves) you'll spend will easily exceed 200$ soon enough.
No. My first printer was an Ender 3 v3 se. Junk in comparison to my A1 mini.
just got the A1 mini last week, as a first time owner and LOVE it so far.
Excellent recommendation about "If Books could Kill". I think it's a brilliant podcast!
I’ve been listening to the Muderbot Diaries on Audible during walks and runs. I’m on Book 5: Network Effect and I’ve really been enjoying these books. Glad you gave them a shoutout Adam!
Thanks Adam for all of the inspiration. I’ve really loved this format since you started it!
Talking about podcasts, you would LOVE 13 Minutes to the Moon.
Season 1, the moon landing and everything that went into it. Season 2, how they saved the Apollo 13 crew.
The Murderbot Diaries are fantastic IMO. Witty, gripping and with a sort of lovely ethos woven throughout that might, at first glance, seem impossible for books featuring an acerbic killer cyborg :).
Of the locked tomb books i think NONA is my favourite! getting into the urban scifi and the real structure of the society they live in is fun
Heck yeah Murderbot! Can't recommend the series enough. They're such a blast to read, and being novellas you can knock one out in a day or two and there are plenty more waiting for you!
I'd highly recommend the book "The Mysterious Case of Rudolph Diesel". It's a great story about the creator of the Diesel engine and how he made it as well as the mystery of what happened to him in the lead up to WW1. One of my first non-fiction "maker" books and easily my favourite
❤ I love that you have.
The support and help for somebody to correct you and you to be able to be like, yeah, that's great!
Lego and the different quality of Lego clones quality is such a good way to address the lesser focus some people will put on their work, than other people. Some people will say it is the same while other people can see that real quality actually matters.
I am going to consider using Lego and clones within the hiring process as it could reveal a world of info about a prospective employee.
you mentioned you have a stack of books tagged in your mind "to read". i've had something similar, especially since i retired from the army 8yrs ago. the difference is my "to read" list is the classics, which i personally break up with scifi & fantasy from my favorite authors - after the divine comedy i decided to tackle the dune series, probably to be followed by the 1942 charles dickens set published by the scribner brothers, which it wouldn't surprise me if i follow up with orson scott card or another scifi or fantasy writer i love to death. one thing i've found over the years is you're more than capable of enriching yourself however you choose in bulk, as long as you make time for what you enjoy most in between - which for me is scifi, fantasy, & tinkering. have fun! :)
Nice surprise was both his book recommendations are included with an audible subscription.
Marius Hornberger is some kind if engineering genius. He's going to do big things that we will probably never hear about.
!!! The ninth series has been so fun. I got turned on to the first by a coworker as the 2nd one was coming out. I grabbed it and then had the 3rd order as soon as it was announced. And there is a 4th coming soon??? Whaaaaa
Me screaming at my monitor "BAMBU" LOL
twoofrd is one of my favorite channels as well. His guitar repair work is amazing
I've been a long time Lego fan, and I can say from both experience and reading articles that Lego has some of the highest level quality control in all of the toy industry. Lego pieces from the 1970's are perfectly compatible with pieces sitting on the store shelf today.
OMG i haven't read through nona yet. Is it worth it? the 2nd person was really jarring for me to read.
Came home from work today and saw that Mr. Woodford had posted a vid. Then I hear you mention him here moments later. Nice guy. Both of yas.
Hey Adam, love all your videos. Was wondering if you could tell us what computer and programs you use for 3-D printing
My first printer was a Creality Ender 3 (first revision). I do NOT recommend it or any variant as a first 3d printer. Don't get me wrong, it's a great little critter for what it is but it is extremely dated compared to modern designs and needs a lot of tinkering and purchased upgrades to come close to reliable.
Additionally, I'd disagree with Adam on the A1 Mini or any other "bedslinger" design. They are prone to a ton of heartache-inducing issues due to the physics involved in the bed moving in the x or y axis. Effectively, you're dealing with inertia of the bed and inertial forces on your print, which can introduce significant deformations and/or failures if one prints too quickly or there is a bit of wind from a door or fan in the room.
My suggestion would be to stick to newer designs like core-xy, where the print bed, at most, moves for the z axis. The Creality K series is a decent series, if one adds the nozzle cleaner mod (or relocation mod for K1C). It's about half the price of the Bambu equivalent and has the ability to use open-source firmware. This is not to say that it is at all the same level as the X1 series but, is nearly turnkey, making it more accessible and less likely to cause frustration for beginners that aren't able to afford the BambuLab X1C or similar.
How do you handle the V.O.P’s in your at home office? A carbon filter, just ventilation or a combination of both
OMG The Locked Tomb series is an amazing read. If you enjoyed those you would love Kings of the Wyld and Bloody Rose
Gideon the 9th is FANTASTIC.
+1 for Oligies.. such an amazing production.
Lego is Lego and I like it. However i use Duplo bricks to make mold boxes. I line the box with Press N Seal. I’m pouring before other boxes have cooled or dried.
Those books are great, going to try to get the muderbot ones knocked out next :)
The Murderbot Diaries is perhaps my favorite new sci-fi series. It's great!
Murder Bot Diaries are amazing! One of my favorite sarcastic sci-fi reads since Hitchiker's Guide. An interesting, very different sci-fi take is Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky. Highly recommend.
The book I'm reading now is Thran by J. Robert King, I believe. It's part of the Magic the Gathering Artifacts saga. It's a fantastic read. The villain is so brilliantly written that you can never really figure him out, even if you know how he ends up.
MURDERBOT!!! The best series. a Must read and absolutely the best book for someone with neurodivergence.
Locked Tomb and Murderbot are two of the best series I've ever read
Once again….always get a kick hearing about a birthday element in your videos. We celebrate the same day…July 15th. Anyway….love your videos!
bambu is having a sale on and the a1 full size print with AMS(4xcolour spool feeder) is 400 quid.
I.e don't get the mini if you can help it. You WILL want to upgrade once you start printing.
I've been a Lego snob my whole life. Colors, feel, even how they fit with real Lego bricks, all of it is just wrong. When I was 7 or 8 I had a Mega Bloks set that was gifted to me that I didn't open for about a year and a half before I gave it away. I already knew I didn't want them mixed in with my real Lego, so I didn't even bother opening it
I think COBI is good quality if you're looking for brick built military models as a LEGO alternative.
I've read the Murder Bot Diries. They are great. Enjoy.
I am the LOVE buttered popcorn Jelly Belly camp! Nom! Funny!
I will strongly recommend the Comiclab podcast, its basically how to be a creative and make a living out of it
I’ve been interested in getting a 3D printer for a while, and this was the thing that finally convinced me to bite the bullet and order one. Thanks, Adam! I’m really excited for my future projects!
Best price I can find in the UK for the A1 mini is £299, which is almost $400. The price differences are crazy.
Best prices are generally on the official Bambu website. Also I think this is a common mistake, Americans state prices, usually without tax...? I'm too lazy to check if that's the case here tbh... Also make sure you aren't looking at the AMS version, the Bambu lab defaults to that for obvious reasons.
He was stating the A1 mini WITHOUT the AMS Lite which is $199 before tax right now as they have a sale on, that’s £169. The £299 price is with the AMS lite included in the combo option.
I need a 'Carbon A1 Mini' T shirt now 😂
Hi Adam, you are generalizing here. I see where you are coming from. Sure, there are awful bricks in the wild. But nowadays, there are very good non-Lego brands out there that have equal quality. Since Lego's quality actually got worse the last couple of years, some of the other brands might even have better quality.
And they design their own legit models.
Where is the Bambu A1 Mini available for $200? The cheapest I can find is $350, and the link in this video has it for over $400.
He’s old. He confuse what he say in every video. It is one of the entertaining point of this channel.
It’s not budget but Bambu Lab 3d printers are the most famous and best printing quality. Few month ago, I was thinking about Anycubic or Creality 3d printers for big volume but they have few problems and need so many modifications so I ended up buying Bambu lab P1S even though it has medium building volume. High speed and no mods 😃
@@hanakang2794no, he’s right. The Bambu A1 mini is in fact $199. It’s $350 if you include the AMS lite.
@@hanakang2794$200, which a stand alone A1 mini is, is absolutely a budget printer. It’s $350 if you get the AMS lite.
The A1 Mini without an AMS Lite is available from Bambu for that price. $350 is what I'm seeing for the combo. If you are on their site, the combo is selected by default. Look for the options selection andchange it to just the printer.
ADAM do a costume build of The Sleeper from Harrow the Ninth. I know you've got astronaut suits lying around!!!!
I'm curious if Adam has a specific opinion on the impact of the Wright brothers on early American aviation? I'm a big Avgeek and have some definite opinions, myself!
That crown with 100% infill..wow..how long would that take? At least the whole weekend..
The fact we can get a 4-color 3D printer with AMAZING quality fast output for under $500 is insane and awesome and I love it so much… even 6-7 years ago the $1000 printers with dual extenders were tiny beds and slow
Also I love that there’s a “basic” level of 10k years in the future lesbian necromancer books XD
Color theory and all of its derivative fields ought to be higher prioritised for budding designers, because it can torpedo your entire project in ways most don't realise
Popcorn Jelly Bellies are great!
You can get that solid feel and weight with more walls in prints too.
And yet the buttered popcorn jelly belly's are my favorite jelly bean.
Completely agreed on the pretenders to the LEGO throne… when I buy in bulk I fish out all the others and toss em.
Was not expecting to see Adam reading Gideon lol
I been using a Anycubic Kobra Neo 2
+1 for If Books Could Kill podcast (and just Michael Hobbes in general)
I suggest reading James Rollins’ series of books Sigma Force. They are fiction, but he does a great job at intertwining history and contemporary matters with science fiction and real science.
Amazing LEGO color combinations, since buttered popcorn jelly bellies are also amazing, right?
non-lego connecting building blocks were pretty bad in the 90's-2010's, but I've heard the quality has become much closer to that of official lego in recent years.
Making It is a good podcast.
Is there any 200$ option for the printer? On the website I only see it for 400
Since Adam mentioned it in this vid, people flocked to buy it, driving up the price. If you wait a few weeks and keep checking back, the price should go back down slowly.
you have to choose the standalone printer which is 200 the 400 dollar price is for the printer and the AMS system which is well worth the added cost.
Book recommendation: "We Are Legion, We Are Bob" by Dennis E. Taylor. The main character dies in the first chapter and becomes a Von Neumann probe.
It’s called the A1 mini. Bambu Labs a1 mini. No carbon lol. The only time the word carbon is used is for the Bambu Labs X1 Carbon or just X1C.
@@kjdegraafUnless they omit the apostrophe, which is still a mistake.
All in all their correction is big enough to be justified and not be pedantic for anyone searching for that printer and wondering if there are multiple models with similar names. Which is common in 3D printers.
@@kjdegraaf Seriously. You really are going to state my comment has no value after what you've written in your first comment... Be better.
Speaking of building systems howzabout Meccano?? And then there's the Automat system; hard to find but really industrial quality.
“Like popcorn jelly belly’s taste” is so relatable haha
Always love Lego and I also loved tente building blocks
Adam, getting past That Dumb Thing (i.e. your phone) is as simple as leaving it in the car when you get home. Seriously. Try it.
Speaking of Podcasts, I do really miss the Tested Podcast and Still Untitled. I understand why they ended, but they definitely left a hole.
I'm binging Mythbusters at the moment and as a Brit it always makes me laugh when you put on a British accent in the show. My question is what lead you to do this ?
cuz its funny
Lots of Americans do it. I do it all the time, and it is honestly involuntary.
Seconded on Murderbot, "The Ninth" books are an acquired taste, YMMV.
In the light of Lara Kamphs recent injury I think it would be good to cover first aid kits for the shop
But m&m's used to have 2 browns and I loathed that and was overjoyed when they tossed one of the browns for red 😅
Me: *only half paying attention*
Adam: "... All Systems Red..."
Me: *suddenly paying full attention, rewinds to verify he's talking about Murderbot*
Murderbot Diaries is such a great series. First of all, despite the fact that Murderbot is a biological/mechanical construct capable of superhuman feats of strength, speed, and violence, I don't think I have encountered a character to whom I can more relate to. Its discomfort with contact, conversation, and being looked at resonates hugely.
And then the world feels real, even though it's some distance in the future.
And all of that wrapped up with ultra-compelling narratives.
If you want a budget printer you can get Ender 3 V3 Se for under $150USD at times and it functions just as well as the A1 mini with a bigger build plate and it's eco system is open source. the Ender 3 V3 line is almost as plug and play as a Bambu labs printer. My brother's prints like a champ. Sure it's not as fast but it's a great entry point. The A1 mini at $199 usd isn't horrible but it's build size is lack luster. I know it can print like 80% of the things on online. But their are times you just need that extra few millimeters. But I won't lie after I bought my A1 (non Mini) it's hard to recommend anything than bambu of your looking to spend over $300.
thank you!
The first printer I got was an Ender 3 v3 se. The ONLY thing that is better about that printer than the A1 mini I bought less than a month later is the build plate size (and I still have the SE and have not needed to switch back to it for a print) and the mobile app because of cloud slicing. The Ender doesn’t even have Wi-Fi support out of the box. I would not ever recommend the Ender SE over the A1 mini. But that’s just me though.
@joelamaro4525 it's an easy recommendation for those who don't want to spend a lot and are unsure of the hobby. Yeah the app and wifi are nice but not essential.butni totally understand where you are coming from as the A1 mini is just awesome for the price.
@@writer8706 and if you look for sales at the beginning of the summer the A1 mini stand alone was on sale. Forget how much it was. But according to Loyal Moses we should all wait to buy a new printer because in October and November some new printers are coming to compete against the A1 mini it both price and print quality. He said he has at least 3 new printers he’s reviewed but he’s on an NDA until October and November.
Try the newer Lego competitors, they've much much improved. Bluebricks has amazing products, lookup Burg Blaustein for example. Lego's products in the last years, has massively decreased in quality, complexity and increased prices. They're no longer the prime choice for bricks.
The color issue is now affecting all lego sets. They cannot produce different bricks with the same color anymore.
Thus, my brother is a brick builder and definitely sees better quality with other makers.
Lego being a brand is going to be business and toss out anything and rely on the name to equal quality
Yeah, since Adam seems to be talking about older bricks here I can understand the criticism regarding the quality but the landscape is definitely changing now. Cobi, Cada, Funwhole (yes really), etc, there are some good competitor brands out there and lego's own quality is declining
There is no S in LEGO and never has been...
@@Dominik_S. might have something to do with where its manufactured.