This question was touched upon elsewhere but not really directly addressed. I want to buy an H2D, in fact I was about to pull the trigger. Now I see the H2C is coming out, which looks really cool. My questions are, 1) do you think the H2C will be cheaper than the H2D + upgrade kit? I really don’t want to spend more. 2) Will the upgraded H2D be the same as an H2C, or will the H2C still be more sturdy or have more functions? I know nobody can say for sure, but some people here have an uncanny ability to make good predictions about future printers.
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Of course the H2C is going to be cheaper than buying an H2D and upgrading it that’s only natural. My personal opinion is the upgrade kit will cost $800-1000.
Will the upgraded H2D be as good as the H2C? Well it is supposed to be, if you put it together correctly and competently. But can a person put it together as well as a factory made H2C I don’t know that will be a challenge won’t it.
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Honestly, even Bambulab probably won’t be able to answer these questions at the moment, simply because the H2C isn’t ready for production.
I’d wait and see what comes out at the end of the year.
I also expect the upgrade kit to cost between $800 and $1,000, and a similar increase from the H2C to the H2D.
And the conversion will certainly be quite challenging and not for someone who wants to do it in an afternoon.
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I may be unpopular, especially with the many fanboys here, but if I have to spend €800-1000 and also lose 2 cm of print bed, I’ll keep my H2D as it is and pair it with a Snapmaker U1. 
Waiting for Bambu to make its real toolchanger… and not a gimmick designed to keep up with the times after realizing they had made the wrong plans… (my opinion)
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If bambu wants to compete with other available tool changer machines, I don’t expect the H2C to be $300 more than the H2D and if that robs some H2D sales so be it, people will buy one or the other anyway and the margin between the 2 may be unsignificant for BL.
Now it will all depends on the number of hotends that will be supplied with the H2C of course and that could make a big difference in the price of the printer or the upgrade kit.
As bambu did with the laser upgrade (at least during a brief time) was to sell the upgrade kit at the price difference of a new printer laser vs. non-laser. It might be the same H2C vs. H2D but the big difference in that case is we will be left with extra components (hotend fixture, may be PCB, may be hotbed, etc), will bambu just give those away in the deal, idk.
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“real toolchanger” last I checked, swapping the tool from a magazine is real tool changing, whereas swapping to another still-connected head is more like gang tooling indexing, but what do I know after a lifetime of machine design 
(I must be a fanboy of machinery??)
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So I’m confused as to why you think you would lose two centimeters of print bed?
We’re in agreement we lose 2cm or so on the right side of bed, that’s where the magazine goes in H2C config.
See photos and evidence here for best take on that: https://www.reddit.com/r/BambuLab/comments/1n1fpb1/h2c_vortek_will_use_different_bed_assembly_and/
This is fairly “conventional”, many CNC routers for example give up some space on their table for a “rack type” array of tools. Difference here is there’s some articulation vertically in the magazine to fit the maximum number of tools in the build volume/motion range. It looks simple and reliable as well.
If you want an H2D get an H2D. Regardless of the price of going from H2S to H2D the upgrade kit route, don’t forget labor. It prob worth avoiding that aggravation of doing the upgrade yourself even if you know what you’re doing why bother and you’ll also have peace of mind it done right (or at least warranted as such lol). Correct me if i’m wrong, the road to upgrade to a H2C will be easier starting with an H2D as opposed to trying to do it to and H2S as well. Or just wait for the H2C release. Black Friday is right around the corner so at the very least I’d hold off till then and see if theres some kinda discount. I know the printers are new, but who knows. With multi tool changer printers prob flooding the market next year perhaps they’ll try and get ahead of it.
Agreed completely, buy the machine (s) that suits your applications, upgrading is a lot of work in this case.
I guess a lot of people want the “best and newest” thus the desire to upgrade, without considering how it affects applications. Or to be fair, they are using the machine for hobby, fun stuff, and that’s fine too.
It’s nice that upgrade is an option, and all four machines are using mostly the same parts. I’m also glad we can buy as many of each as necessary.
I think a lot depends on timescales and the types of prints you want to do.
If most of your prints are 1 colour, get an h2s.
If most of your prints are 2-3 colours get an h2d
If 4+ - if you want to start printing now and have the skills and cash to do a later upgrade get an h2d and upgrade next year.
Otherwise wait a few months after H2C release and get an H2C.
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I have the opposite view. I buy my Prusa machines as kits. That way I know for sure that it is built properly, not by someone on an assembly line thats rushing through hundreds of builds repetitively. While the BambuLab comes pre-built (and very well built at that), I would still rather do the upgrade myself - cleaning parts as I go and making sure things are done right.
Thats just me and my OCD though!
And that’s assuming I even want to upgrade when the time comes - still undecided until we have further details RE reliability…
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With anything technology related we’re always chasing the next fancy dragon the day we make a purchase.
Will the H2C be cheaper than H2D+Upgrade… likely. We don’t know. You’ll avoid the labor of the conversion, so maybe less to go wrong. If we look at the H2D upgrade kits, there’s a wide range of options.
H2D + AMS Combo: $2,299
H2D + AMS + 10W Laser Combo: $2,899
H2D + AMS + 40W Laser Combo: $3,649
The Laser combos also come with the cutting module. If we upgrade after the fact…
H2D + AMS: $2,299
Cutting Module Kit: $89
10W Laser Upgrade Kit: $808
Total: $3,196
H2D + AMS: $2,299
Cutting Module Kit: $89
40W Laser Upgrade Kit: $1,558
Total: $3,946
Upgrading after the fact runs us around +$300 for the current H2D upgrade options. Bambu has to account for the logistics of stocking, packaging, and shipping these upgrade kits so there’s bound to be an added cost.
So, yes, I expect the H2D + Vortek kit to cost more than a similarly equipped H2C. We also don’t know yet the full story about what new hotends will come with the kit, and how many we may need/want to purchase in addition to whatever the upgrade kit comes with. Is that cost worth the reduction in filament waste and print speed time decreases? That’s an individual decision to make.
We also have no idea when H2D/S to Vortek upgrade kits will be released. It took a few months for the H2D upgrade kits to become available. I expect Bambu to focus on making components available for full H2Cs to start, then once initial demand starts to slow maybe we’ll see upgrade kits start to trickle out.
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This is a great answer/example, thanks. Yes, it seems that there is no scenario where the H2D upgrade path will be cheaper, or even the same price, as buying an H2C. When I first ordered my P1S 1 and a half years ago, to save money I didn’t order the AMS unit. A few days later (before the printer even shipped), I realized I really needed the AMS and ordered it and asked Bambu if they could still give me the combo discount. They said no, you have to order them together. I was bummed, but totally my fault. My point is, who wants to spend extra $ (even just a few hundred dollars) for something? While professionally I only need the dual heads of the H2D (water soluble support material in one nozzle for complex machine prints), I know personally I will eventually be wanting the Vortek system (my kids love multi colored prints). It’s a tough decision but I don’t want to end up again shelling out extra for something. So I am inclined to wait for the H2C, although I hope it really ships by the end of this year.
I totally hear you on that. My toddler asked me to print a small Mini Cooper the other day he found in Makerworld. He chose 5 colors and I used PETG-HF as a support material. I had to fully utilize my AMS and two AMS-HTs with my H2D.
Dang thing was 13 hours to print for a small car and SO much filament waste. But… he was grinning ear to ear when it was done. 
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My thoughts exactly! No one is going to do it as well as me. Every time I pay some for doing something within my capabilities, I am left disappointed.
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With Prusa adopting the Indx system for the Core One, it will be interesting to see who gets there first, and which has the more reliable system. Rumors are, the indx system is the more reliable of the two…?
For what it’s worth, I bought an H2D as I’m coming from a Qidi X Max. So multi-color capability and dual nozzle (for easy 2 color or easy support material printing) is totally new to me. I figure if the upgrade kit comes out eventually, I may upgrade in a year or two, depending on how much I find it would be helpful. For the most part, I can deal with some waste for the handful of times I’m likely to use more than 2 colors/materials. The potential for an upgrade path is what nudged me over to the H2D.
According to the article Bambu put out, the unit is production ready and sitting in a warehouse ready to ship, they are just holding it back because the software isn’t ready.
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and that all that matters! Seeing our kid excited and full with joy
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