Hi
I went down the A1 return and refund rabbit-hole. Yesterday, after yet again threatening to get my refund through Paypal, my refund and voucher magically turned up.
While waiting I researched the replacement printer for the A1 and was about to pull the trigger on a P1S, but I have a couple of nagging doubts and I keep toing and froing between the P1S and an X1C. The main sticking point is the display on the P1S (coming from the A1, it is definitely an inferior product.) I know that I can get a Panda Touch but the future of the PT is uncertain with Bambu having made noises about potential firmware upgrades that may render the third-party screen useless.
I also don’t really know what materials I’ll be printing with in the future but as my 3D printing experience grows, I see now that the A1 was only ever going to be a stop-gap measure. I mostly print engineering parts and I think I will end up printing some carbon fibre stuff.
So, for those of you who already have a P1S, do you regret your choice? If you had your time over, would you have gone with the considerably more expensive X1C?
I don’t (yet) own either the X1C or P1S so not an authoritative answer but I have heard folks say you can’t go wrong with either but if cost wasn’t a limiting factor they would recommend going with the X1C.
Personally, I went the self repair route on my A1 and am thinking of using the extra money toward an X1C to have a second printer plus one that can print advanced materials. Of course that could change if BL announces a new printer before the A1 heather replacement comes out.
Yes, the rate at which BL bring out new printer models does make me a little hesitant. I was about to pull the trigger on an A1 Mini when, out of the blue, the A1 came out. I have seen speculation on Youtube channels that there may be something in the wind… Some suggesting a P2 series.
I was really desperate to get back printing again after the A1 debacle, and was part of the way through printing a bunch of parts for a ventilation system for my off-grid power installation. The refund and voucher have taken so long that, even if I ordered today, I would not get a replacement printer before I go away for six weeks. So, I’ll use that six weeks to see if anything new pops up. I’ve had to make alternative arrangements for my ventilation system in the meantime.
When I bought the P1P, about a month later I wished I had bought the X1C. However, the enclosure kit changed that for me. Now the X1C only has a chamber temp sensor and touchscreen that I miss. So, I no longer feel as though missing out on the X1C.
So long story short… the P1S cured the FOMO on the X1C.
I’ve been using the p1s for the past 3 months. This is the first time i have EVER used a 3d printer ! I have nothing but great experiences so far. it amazes me the things you can make with this printer. I dont know about you but after the initial start up , i have almost never used the screen on the printer . I do everything from my pc. I came very close to buying the x1c but it was like 800.00 can more expensive then the p1s with ams. I might get one in the future.
I have seen many similar stories to yours, Mike. Perhaps others can chime in on the benefits of the chamber temperature sensor and whether they justify the additional expanse? I’m also wondering about the lidar for first layer examination?
I, too, used the laptop a lot when printing with my A1, but I did use the display reasonably regularly too. I used to have a career in electronics and went through the “rotate and click” display era. It was a pain. Full touch-screen is the way forward and that’s why I’m so hesitant.
The chamber temperature sensor doesn’t have any function in the X1C anyway, other than displaying the temperature on the screen. On the X1E it possibly (haven’t heard a definite) that it controls the chamber heater also. You can put a temperature/humidity sensor in the P1S for a few dollars.
As @gOODTHRUST said, you’ll likely use the app or Bambu studio to control and monitor the printer anyway, so the nice screen on the X1C and lidar is not worth the much greater expence IMO. You can get an AMS, spares and and a couple of spools of filament for the cost of an X1C without any extra’s.
It’s not something that most will find useful. However, more temp info comes in handy when trying to replicate something, and it’s also useful in troubleshooting. The lidar is definitely not worth it (IMO). The touchscreen is the only real big draw. It’s nice and not obtainable on the P1 series. Just about everything else can easily be added to the P1 Series. On the other side, I actually prefer the look of the P1S over the X1C.
I have bought the X1C over the P1S. I knew that I would unhappy in the long run, and I’m glad that I did.
Actually, there are more points that I didn’t have in mind.
For me the display is a huge point. Others said that i have everything on the phone, but that doesn’t work for me as a substitute.
Spaghetti detection is working like a charm and has saved me a lot of filament and time. I’m experimenting a lot, so failed prints are something common for me.
The Lidar is also working flawlessly. When I’m lazy to calibrate a new filament, I just let the lidar determine flow and pressure advance and it had good results everytime. I have heard that it had lots of problems on the beginning but they seem to have that ironed out over time.
I faced the same when I had to make the initial choice (P1S or X1) and one of the considerations was the screen. I ended up with the P1S since I suspected I will mostly print PLA, but if I do want to get more adventurous I can (I have since dabbled with PETG as well, but nothing else).
Do I regret my choice? No, I am very happy with the P1S - I tend not to use the P1S screen, and when I do I got used to driving the display with the wheel. I also built an XTouch display - it was actually very easy to put together and provides touch capability. XTouch home page is where you can find the details. Whilst not as big as the X1 touch display, it allows me to control the P1S when I need to and an added bonus whilst one can print mounts for it, it is also portable so I carry it with me. It is currently in my study with the printer happily printing in the basement.
Two friends of mine purchases the X1 Carbon after my experience with the P1S. Am I jealous - sure, there is a little bit of FOMO, but for what I print the P1S more than satisfies my requirements.
i got the X1C with AMS and generally OK with it , but quite a few of the features which X1C have i do not use and i think the P1S with AMS would have done the same for me But any way the price difference for the two sets is not that big considering both sets are quite up there. Here is the local distributor( great people) comparison price (P1S combo) 2429nzd vs (X1C combo) 3250nzd , (A1 combo)1060nzd) Personally i think that the extra features is worth X1C route vs P1S if one printer . For second one probably will get P1S and never even consider A1. But today there are other options of fast printers if the price is a subject and not sure if Bambu is much better considering the price and still a entry level 3d Printer. I already got another upgrade not bambu since and if i need one more probably will consider different option
If the price is not a subject I would look at Ultimaker but expensive
Hello. I’ve had my P1S combo for over a month now and it has 55 hours of print time on it. I never use the LCD screen and use my laptop or mobile device exclusively. I wouldn’t even consider the display as a comparison.
I bought a P1P and the P1S was released the day after I received it. I had already bought all the upgraded parts and built the vision enclosure. Eventually bought the P1S shell. I’ve printed ASA, PETG, PLA, TPU, and PLA-CF as well as PETG-CF. Never a problem.
I haven’t regreted the purchase. If not printing color the AMS is very handy when filament runs out. I’ve had 3 instances the spaghetti sensor would have caught, in almost a year. The screen wasn’t an issue, I did use it along with my computer. The printer just printed. Very few issues and most of those I caused. I tried X-touch but I really didn’t care for it. Have the Panda Touch now, and it’s useful, esp since it can control AMS loading/filament setting.
I’d buy another P1S, even if money wasn’t an issue. Value is there, nothing really missed and I’ve enjoyed the experience making worthless prints and useable parts.
Thanks, everyone, for the replies. On the face of it, I can’t really go wrong whichever printer I end up choosing. I am leaning toward the P1S purely on the basis of price. I’m retired now, so every penny counts. The display is a bit of an issue, but I do tend to use my PC most of the time that I use the printer, so I’ll learn to put up with it.
Yup, same here…I opted for the P1S. I use a couple of Mac’s remotely, one in the Ham-Radio/office/Printer room (spare bedroom) and sometimes from my Mac in the living room to design my parts and print models. I started the first few days using the local console on the printer to put it through it’s paces it’s quite functional just not fancy so I ordered a Panda Touch which just shipped after the redesign. I know what you mean by accumulating stuff for the printer, mine ended up in a spare bedroom with zillions of spools on a rack, tools, cutting board and workbench.
once you get used to using the pc to access your printer , you will not even remember the printer has a screen. It’s great to have that color touch screen but when you think about it you load print , slice it start print then forget about printer for a few hours depending on print.
i run Multiple of both the best things about the X1 for me are… The faster wifi, send a 30mb file to it and its done very quickly, send it to my farm of P1S and they can take a while to fully suck it down. and the other great asset to having that touchscreen is visually seeing what your printing Locally, if your like me and forget to name your prints sometimes and have UNTITLED prints listed it helps massively with that… Thats being said the P1S once you have your prints on it and are methodical in the way you name them etc, its very good…plus using your mobile negates the need for that screen if you can do that workflow… Print wise there identical so if Moneys tight get the P1S and just fine tune your workflow