I came from the world of Ender 3 where I used two of them for 5 years. I actually thought they were fantastic given the price. But I sold them and ordered the A1 Mini. If I liked it, I’d order one of the big boys (P1S). Well, I did and do like the Mini so I ordered the P1S. And I must say, I’m very surprised that the P1 with all its great features is little on the primitive side compared to the Mini. I’ve only had the P1 for two days, maybe I’ll feel differently later. My biggest disappoint is with the P1 LCD. Does anyone know if there is an upgrade so that my $800 printer will be as classy as my $250 one?
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I’m with you, the A1 mini and A1 LCD screens are great, the P1S/P displays are not.
I expect the argument at design time would have been a means to differentiate the P series from the X series.
With the budget-friendly A series getting a great screen each, that previous argument is over.
I expect a P2S future release will fix this.
In the meantime, the Big Tree product gives a lot of features and lets you control multiple printers from a semi-portal screen. You can control your P1S & A1 mini with it should you choose.
This is a U.K. Amazon purchase link.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0D177DWK4/
Directly from them.
There are important firmware version restrictions, you MUST read up on this before making any purchase choices.
A decent YouTube video walks you through the whole thing.
It’s wireless BTW.
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Thank you! I’ll watch the video.
By the way, did you say the X series has a better LCD? I should’ve done more research before ordering.
You are welcome,
The X series has a 5-inch 1280 x 720 Touch Screen.
The cost difference is significant between the P1S and the X1C. You would really need to benefit from the differences between the two which few do.
Tip: hit the reply button on the comment you are replying too as that person gets prompted to take a look, without it, your hoping that person will review every previous comment individually.
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I thought I did. Hmm…? What did I click on?
You probably hit the Reply button (blue on my device) at the bottom on the list rather than the white one with black text at the bottom of each comment.
It’s not a problem, just something to look out for.
The blue one adds a comment for the post in general, the white one adds a comment, essentially as a reply to one individual. That one also sends a notification to the related person.
Yep. That’s what I did. Thanks for the info.
Here’s something you might be interested in. I won’t be able to do it because I’m not smart enough to follow the instructions:
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They did that screen to keep costs down since the p1p/s is very similar to the x series.
This is one of the reasons at the time the p series could sell for the price it is.
Just like it was made with out an enclosure. The the p1s is the same exact machine with enclosure.
There are after market touch screens that will work with the p series but wont replace the screen.
It can’t be replaced due to the mainboard not being able to drive it. It has a different mainboard the. The x series
Yeah, unfortunately the X1C screen and the P1P screen is like night and day. I just got the Panda Touch that MalcTheOracle mentioned. Originally it was super buggy but after a firmware update it’s great now. It’s basically a clone of the X1C screen but also let’s you control multiple printers and is detachable/mobile. I got mine for $58 through West3D.
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Well, since I have the luxury of being a Monday morning quarterback having never produced anything of value in 78 years, I’m going to say-- that was a mistake. In 2024, no one wants an Ender3 LCD from a company that sells a wonderful little machine for $250 with a modern interface. Having said all that, I’m sure I’ll enjoy my P1S. If I had it to do over again, I’d go with the A1 to go with my A1mini assuming it’s as brilliant as the mini. The A1 is probably a better machine for someone like me who’s not likely to ever print any exotic filaments requiring an enclosure. And that would be my advice to someone wanting to get into the game.
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Oh i get that but was it really. You do know yhe p series is a how selling machine.
The display is not as bad as people say. 98-99% of running the machine is done through handy/studio.
There are 3rd parry screens etc. Just like enclosure, p1p has no enclosure, this is the ARC enclosure i did on mine.
So see even though they did this to keep costs down it works out depending on the user
In that case, maybe you could produce a how-to document for guys like me, the guys with seventy-ish IQs. A mod (more like a fix) for under $100 would be great! The YouTuber, Teaching Tech seems like a really wonderful guy, but I rarely make it through one of his videos. He’s just way too smart for me. I doubt he could dumb it down if he tried. Without being like me, he wouldn’t even know when he blew right over the top of my head. He’s a genius. And I’m not being a smart-ass. I really mean it.
I have 7 printers and my P1S tops all of then. I love it. Very little issues. And it just prints.
The thing i can tell you is do the maintenance that bambu suggests and it will just print
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When the decision was made, the A1 mini and A1 didn’t exist and wouldn’t for a a year or more.
It’s business 101, have two similar products, differentiate by features. If the products do very similar things, cut functionality elsewhere.
The P1S is also newer as the original entry level was the P1P. It didn’t some with side panel, door or top panel. It was the one that first gained that screen.
BL offered a pack to upgrade the P1P to gain the panels from the or you could print a set yourself that connected together.
It was a while after that they created the P1S variant that took the upgrade pack and just added it at the point of manufacture with other upgrades to create a decent printer.
The screen didn’t change.
As I said earlier, I suspect a future P2S will bring the screen upgrade into play and provide one from the A1 printer (not mini), it’s excellent. A big bigger than the one for the A1 mini.
That’s good to hear. I’m only on day 3 with my P1S and everything I’ve done on it was via the clunky screen or Bambu Studio on my desktop PC with giant monitor. I’ve never been good at doing anything on my cell phone. I just feel hamstrung because of the tiny screen. And that’s odd, because the rest of the world prefers the phone, even people my age. I need to try to switch over to the Handy app. If I could do that, maybe the primitive LCD on the machine would no longer be a problem.
The panda touch screen is that mod and easily below $100.
It doesn’t even need to be mounted to the printer if you don’t want to do that part.
Because it’s wireless, it only requires a USB socket and that can come off the printer if you wish to mount it there or a wall socket if you want to place it elsewhere.
The video I gave you walked you through the setup process, the manufacturer also have their own videos.
It’s just a case of providing your WiFi details, let the device scan your network for BL printers and then you can control one or both of yours.
The user interface is like that from BL so it will be easy to understand.
I statrted 3d printing watching teaching tech. He is great 98% of the time. I also used a ton of other sites. Etc.
3d printing and troubleshooting is not very difficult once you understand what is going on. In the 8 years i have been doi g this i have only ever had to contact manufactires support 3 times and that was for electronic problems with the printers.
A word of advice keep parts on hand. That way if bambu is out you have the parts and canbget up and running quickly
If you end up liking the app and the phone is too small you could get a tablet to run it on. Amazon has some fire brand ones for around $100. One of the neat things with Makersworld is you can send models straight to the printer.
Two things.
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A friend in his 80’s now hated the idea of even owning a mobile phone. Once I finally convinced him (took years) that a phone is a poor name for what these devices are now as they do so much, he finally relented and now tells me how great they are seemingly forgetting the grief he gave me each time I tried to make him get one unsuccessfully.
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The handy app is an excellent replacement for the printer screens. You can control everything including the AMS colours and plate types as well as monitor everything that is going on.
It also receives the push notifications telling you there is a problem you should rectify or the print has completed.
As this is with you when your not with the printer, you can fix things like filament run out and you need to put a new spool on, tangles you can untangle and other things.
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Thank you. Maybe I’ll give that a try after my confidence has risen with my two new machines. I only just now learned that I can run my P1S and my A1mini at the same time making different models. I know-- laughable. And I can monitor them both in BS by opening two instances. However, I’m now trying to learn how to monitor them both with my cell phone (Handy app). When I open the app, I see the mini, but when I try to add a printer, it tells me to shoot the QR code on the P1S. When I first got it, the QR code would appear during set up. But now-- it seems unavailable for linking to my phone. What am I missing? Thanks for all the help you guys are giving me.