My experience with the BTT and the Panda Touch

[johnfcooley]

Good morning/afternoon/night,

I just want to share what you can expect with the Panda Touch, especially if you purchased one near or at launch.

I have been through the betas of the firmware for this device. I was a decently strong supporter given the features and promises made (taken with a grain of salt) when this was announced. I liked the fact that I could control the AMS from it and eventually the Panda PWR integration.

From the begining there were hiccups. I shrugged them off willing to give it the benefit of the doubt and to see what BTT would fix and how quickly. My unit started to bootloop about a week after getting it. Support acknowledged this defect and sent me a new board. This was being offered to those that purchased preorder or launch units.

I tried the new board and it didn’t solve the issue. Doing my own troubleshooting I connected different power adapters, different cords with no luck.

I kept installing betas hoping the problem would be fixed, and I paid attention to the reports from other users. Some reported bootloops so I saw no need to add my voice to that issue. What eventually happened was the reboots or bootloops became a little less frequent and random. Enough that I could keep living with it and wait for the fix.

Well it eventually died altogther. Long story short, after videos and back and forth, I’m told to hump it, it’s out of warranty and I could MAYBE have a discount on another unit. The support agent said he’d “work with his colleagues” to get a discount.

I have politely told them to stuff that.

Now I’ve learned something. I’ve learned that I should have spoken up and raised my issue much earlier. I’ve stated why I didn’t and I was wrong to wait and see if it would be sorted.

I’ve also learned not to support BTT. I’ll give the support guy a pass. He’s doing what his script says. Could ding him for not using his head a bit and realizing this is a known issue and maybe acting on that. I could call him out for not knowing it had been replaced before (I told him). He tried i guess, and that’s what his job is.

I won’t support them because they don’t support customers. I’m not alone in this experience and that is what forms my opinion. If the item is electronic, has moving parts, I would avoid it at all costs. Look elsewhere to avoid the headache of the consistant inconsistency of their quality. The quality of both the support and products.

[Olias]

Thanks for the candid and complete review.

This industry needs to clean up its act. When companies like BTT and Bambu fail in the areas of support and customer service, it sours everyone’s experience, slows down adoption, and reduces volume, which in turn drives away investors.

This kind of experience makes me very cautious when considering new tech. In fact, it’s what kept me from owning my own 3D printer for a long time. I’m not afraid of tech in any shape or form, but as I get older, my tolerance for wasting time has decreased dramatically. Time is the most valuable resource in my life—something that cannot be purchased or replaced, and once it’s gone, it’s gone. While that may seem obvious, why do we allow companies to waste our time without demanding compensation?

On a final note, it’s clear that BTT, like many other Chinese companies, just throw things against the wall and let users act as guinea pigs. For me, I refuse to be a free lab rat.

[johnfcooley]

@Olias

but as I get older, my tolerance for wasting time has decreased dramatically.

This. So much this. I can 't stress enough…THIS.

As for adopting tech quickly and being an early adopter, I’ve always loved it. I understand the wrinkles that may come up, and I expect the company to step up. If they don’t then I think that speaks volumes for the products future. They do seem to be throwing stuff out.

BTT pretty much used everyone who bought a Panda Touch as a beta tester. Thing is most weren’t informed that’s what they were. I just want a working PT cause when it works, it’s great. It just isn’t consistantly working.

[Wsquared58]

I bought a Panda Touch from BBT and at the end of the day, I feel like it was a waste of money.

Just because something has a touch screen doesn’t necessarily mean it’s going to be better.
I think, in regards to BTT and the Panda Touch, BTT is just hijacking the wifi signal and displaying it on a touchscreen but there is no real ENHANCED functionality over the touch pad.
You have to remember that Bambu Lab software/firmware for the PRINTER is closed source and they have their own touchscreen on the X1C. Why would they let BTT encroach on their turf? If you go look at what Bambu Lab has on Github, it is slicer stuff, not machine control. That is an important distinction that I think lots of people don’t see. Especially if you came up through theOS ecosystems of Marlin, Klipper and other open source softwares.
That BTT is just collecting dust on my workbench and will likely stay there.

[jameszy]

Im relatively new here and a new P1S/AMS owner and I bought a Panda Touch with my printer. I feel that it doesn’t really give any advantages over the stock control interface (Which is not that awful to start out with)… am I chuffed I spent $80cad on something that’s of questionable usefulness? I’ve wasted more money on less useful stuff. What I’d like to see is it being able to access the SD card so i can see the things ive printed without using a silly usb stick. G-code previews or Thumbnails of the models stored kinda like the mainsail files section…

[user_3145750058]

I too own a P1S/AMS, and also purchased the Panda.
As for the USB stick, there is one already built into the P1S, and you can see what you have printed, just like on the P1S interface. Also, if you want to reprint what has already been printed, you can also do that from the Panda screen.
What I mainly like about the Panda is the ability to actually SEE what is on the screen, it is in color, and is quite a bit larger in size. Also, you can detach the panda (held on with magnets) and use it wirelessly, although it does have a limited battery life.

Any P1S setting you can do with the factory black and white screen, you can do with the Panda. Print on, you will love the P1S/Panda!

[jameszy]

It’s odd then. I can’t see the files that ive printed and uploaded with orca slicer on my panda touch… when I go to list the printer its just empty and same with the usb key…

[johnfcooley]

But there is. You can add and remove filament from the AMS, as well as track the power usage if you have a PWR.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s not the greatest or as good as they advertised it to be, but when it’s on it’s ok. I ended up having to stabalize the power input plug to get it to work.

[Wsquared58]

My biggest annoyance with the system of P1S + AMS is getting the AMS to read the RFID on a new spool in the AMS.
I don’t think the Panda device is bad, I just don’t need it. Between the Bambu Studio application and the Bambu Handy app I can do everything I need to do. But I live in an apartment and the printer is just 10 steps away.

[johnfcooley]

I agree. I kinda dig (when it works) being able to deal with loading and unloading a little easier, esp when feeding from the S4. They’re side by side.

The only other thing I find useful that I can’t get from the app or studio is the power consumption and delayed off, remote turn off.

[user_3663498702]

Is this worth it over the x1c screen?

[johnfcooley]

There are three things to consider between the P1 and X1.

[johnfcooley]

Just wanted to add that the newest Panda Touch Beta adds a few new features.

You can see files on your sd card now.
You can see your history. date/time/item
You can choose “reprint” from the main screen.
Seems like they’re working on print image on the screen (had one show up, another did not)
Multi printing heat delay, 1, 2, 5 min.

May be more but these are just what I noticed without looking.

[jameszy]

how does one get this beta firmware? im already running 1.0.5

[johnfcooley]

https://github.com/bigtreetech-beta/PandaTouch-Public-Beta/tree/main/V1.0.6Beta

[jameszy]

This link is noooo workie.

[johnfcooley]

Then it’s closed beta.
I’ve been a part of it since launch.

Sorry

[PrinterMcgee]

Still good to hear there’s cool stuff coming, thanks for that.

[user_328240061]

Hi,
I bought the Panda Touch for my P1S and it works OK in LAN ONLY mode, but I have not been able to get it connected to my Bambulab Account so I can use it in cloud mode. I upgraded Panda firmware from 1.0.4 to 1.0.5 but it did not resolve the issue.

The Panda screen functions works well but he touch response time varies a lot, I find display more usable that standard P1S display.

I have a gmail email address for my Bambulab Account and therefore set up a unique pwd on my Bambulab account as specified in BTT instructions and have 2FA turned off.

I reached out to BTT support but have received no response. If they don’t respond with 5 days, I will return and ask for refund.
I would caution anyone considering this device to perhaps do the cheaper xTouch, the Panda Touch whilst promising looks like it has a few teething issues that may take some time to resolve.

[user_3721523398]

Hi All,
Well, I tried to upgrade my Touch from 1.0.4 to 1.0.5, just to get to read the SD Card in my P1S, only for it to go into a loop!
Contacted Support on a Sunday, and yes, they didn’t contact me back for 24 hrs… Understood completely, they pointed me to the Recovery tool, which failed. For about a week this went on… Even sending me the link for 1.0.6…
Then I was passed to a guy who works in R&D, who went through hrs of ‘Do this… Send logs…’
In the end, he asked exactly what did I do to get into this situation, so I explained it was an OTA update to 1.0.5.
As I was at work, I explained that I was connecting my laptop to the touch, with a Male 2 Male USB 3 cable… He said… Err… No, use the backplate & that cable… I did that, and then he sent me v1.0.5.1… The original version had a bug!
That works, but v1.0.6 is a closed Beta test group right now…
I still cannot view the SD Card from the touch though, I have a feeling that either I need to be LAN only, as it doesn’t even see the card (I use Global - Had to reset a lot just to get that to work)