Over Hyped & Priced or Worth The Money? - Prusa Mini +
Summary
TLDRIn this video, the creator unboxes and reviews the Prusa Mini Plus 3D printer, sharing their first impressions and setup experience. They highlight the printer's user-friendly assembly, comprehensive manual, and thoughtful inclusions like sample filament and tools. The review covers the initial setup, including the assembly process, automatic bed leveling, and first print tests. The creator compares the printer's ease of use and quality to other models, noting its simplicity and potential for business use despite the higher price tag. The video concludes with the creator's overall positive opinion of the Prusa Mini Plus and its potential to replace other printers in their collection.
Takeaways
- π¦ The Prusa Mini Plus comes with a comprehensive package including a printed quality control test list, sample filament, tools, spare parts, and even gummy bears.
- π The unboxing experience is impressive with neatly packed and labeled parts, showcasing Prusa's attention to detail.
- π Assembly is straightforward, requiring minimal effort with only four bolts and foam feet to attach, highlighting the user-friendly design.
- π© The build quality is robust, with a steel sheet build surface and a well-protected mainboard, indicating durability and reliability.
- π₯ The LCD screen is not a touchscreen but operates via a dial, which might be a minor drawback for some users.
- π Wiring and connections are mostly plug-and-play, simplifying the setup process for users.
- π The included handbook is extensive, providing detailed guidance for assembly and operation, which is beneficial for first-time users.
- π₯ The printer includes a setup wizard that automatically tests machine functions and heats up the bed and nozzle, streamlining the initial setup.
- β±οΈ The Prusa Mini Plus offers a quick and easy filament loading process with an automatic purge feature, enhancing the user experience.
- πΈ Test prints, including the Benchy model, demonstrate good print quality with minor issues like stringing or under extrusion, suggesting the need for fine-tuning.
- πΈ Despite the high price point of $508 with shipping, the Prusa Mini Plus justifies its cost with a superior user experience and print quality, positioning it as a potential business tool.
Q & A
What is the name of the 3D printer model that the user received from Parusha?
-The user received a Prusa Mini Plus 3D printer model from Parusha.
What was included in the box with the Prusa Mini Plus that the user found unique?
-The box included a printed quality control test list, which the user found unique compared to other printers they have used.
What additional items did the Prusa Mini Plus box contain besides the printer parts?
-The box contained sample filament, a bag of tools and parts for assembly, spare parts, gummy bears, a handbook, assembly manual, stickers, a USB drive, an LCD screen, and foam for protection.
How does the build surface of the Prusa Mini Plus differ from other printers the user has seen?
-The build surface is a small but nice steel sheet with PEI on both sides, measuring 180 by 180 millimeters or 7x7 inches.
What assembly was required for the Prusa Mini Plus according to the user?
-The user had to assemble about four bolts and some little foam feet, which were the only assembly required.
What was the user's first impression of the Prusa Mini Plus after starting the assembly?
-The user was surprised at how little assembly was required and how well everything was packed and labeled.
What is the purpose of the setup wizard that the user encountered during the setup of the Prusa Mini Plus?
-The setup wizard is used to guide the user through the initial setup of the printer, including testing the machine, heating up the bed and nozzle, and loading filament.
How did the user adjust the Z-offset during the first layer of the print?
-The user used a knob to adjust the Z-offset during the first layer of the print, following a zigzag pattern that allowed for adjustments until the end of the pattern.
What issue did the user encounter with the first test print using non-Prusa filament?
-The user encountered bubbles or under extrusions in the print, which they attributed to the filament having absorbed moisture due to humidity.
What was the user's final verdict on the Prusa Mini Plus after using it?
-The user found the Prusa Mini Plus to be much better than expected, with one of the best user experiences they've had with a 3D printer, but noted the high price tag for the small build volume.
How does the user compare the Prusa Mini Plus to other printers in terms of cost and quality?
-The user compares the Prusa Mini Plus to other printers by stating that while it is more expensive, it offers a better out-of-the-box experience and quality, whereas cheaper printers may require additional tinkering and upgrades to match its performance.
Outlines
π¦ Unboxing the Prusa Mini Plus
The narrator unboxes the Prusa Mini Plus 3D printer, highlighting the quality control list and neatly packaged components. The kit includes sample filament, tools, spare parts, a handbook, and some snacks for assembly. The build surface, while small at 180x180mm, is a durable steel sheet with PEI coating. The printer also comes with a USB drive and an LCD screen. Despite minimal foam packaging, the main components are well-protected. The assembly is straightforward, involving only a few bolts and connecting some cables. The user interface features a dial-operated non-touch screen, and the printer includes a setup wizard to test its functionality, which is a unique feature compared to other printers.
πΈ Testing and First Impressions
After assembling the printer, the narrator tests it with the provided filament and runs the setup wizard for bed leveling and nozzle adjustment. The first test print, a 'benchy' boat, is successful with minor stringing, demonstrating the printer's precision. The narrator switches to third-party PLA filament, encountering under-extrusion issues likely caused by moisture absorption in the filament. After switching back to the Prusa-supplied filament, the print quality returns to flawless. The narrator then tests the Prusa slicer software and attempts printing with silk copper PLA and ASA filament. The printer performs well even with these challenging materials, though minor under-extrusion persists. Overall, the narrator is impressed with the printer's user-friendly experience and its reliable, high-quality prints, despite its relatively high price.
Mindmap
Keywords
π‘Prusa Mini Plus
π‘Quality Control
π‘Assembly Manual
π‘Build Surface
π‘Filament
π‘Auto Bed Leveling
π‘Z Offset
π‘Slicer Software
π‘Print Quality
π‘Enclosure
Highlights
Received a Prusa Mini Plus 3D printer to review.
Includes a printed quality control test list, a unique feature.
Parts are well-organized and labeled within the box.
Comes with Prusa's own brand filament, known for its quality.
Assembly manual is comprehensive, with many pages of instructions.
Includes a small build surface of 180x180mm with PEI coating.
The printer comes with a USB drive and an LCD screen.
Assembly involves minimal parts and tools, with clear instructions.
The display is not touchscreen but uses a dial for navigation.
The printer has a setup wizard for initial configuration.
Automatic bed leveling and first layer setup are user-friendly.
Printed a Benchy model as a test, which came out well.
Minor stringing issue was resolved with a heat gun.
Switched to different filament due to humidity-related issues.
Printed with ASA material, which requires higher temperatures.
The printer has a simple and effective user experience.
Compares the cost-effectiveness of the Prusa Mini Plus to other printers.
Mentions the potential to replace all other printers with Prusa models.
Provides links to products used in the video for viewer reference.
Transcripts
so i reached out to parusha to see if
they were willing to work with me in my
channel and they sent me this which is
their prusa mini plus so let's open it
up put it together and see if it's worth
all the hype that everyone gives these
machines and just so you know i've never
used any of the products from prusa so
this will show my first hand experience
and what i think of it all so this is
something i've never seen with other
printers it's a printed quality control
test list and when it comes to the parts
inside the box everything is nicely
packed inside of its own bag and it's
labeled and it did come with some sample
filament which with most printers it's
the cheapest pla they can get but this
is their own brand which i know is
pretty good there's also a bag of all
the tools and parts you're going to need
to assemble this along with some spare
parts they've also included some gummy
bears to snack on as you're building the
printer there's also a handbook assembly
manual and there's an absolute ton of
pages in this compared to other printers
i've gotten along with some stickers in
the back
and this is the build surface for this
printer and you might notice it is
pretty small but it is a nice steel
sheet with pei on both sides and this is
only 180 by 180 millimeters or 7x7
inches but anyways back in the box it
comes with its own usb drive and then
underneath this cardboard flap there's
the lcd screen along with the first bits
of foam and i'm kind of surprised this
whole box wasn't just filled with
different layers of foam in it and it's
actually nice to see that it's mostly
cardboard especially the foam being kind
of hard to get rid of but underneath all
that we have the main 3d printer parts
and they're just housed in a thin layer
of protective foam and with everything
out of the box i actually start putting
this thing together and surprisingly the
only assembly i have to do is about four
bolts along with some little foam feet
that just stick on the bottom there's
five of them in total they're going to
use and four of them go onto this piece
on the ends of the aluminum extrusion
and just one over here in the hole that
is shaped like it on the other side of
this piece you do have to remove a bolt
to get this cover off because we're
gonna have to get in here to plug some
stuff in and here's a closer look at the
main board after it's all opened up so
here's the display and the ribbon cable
for it that we're going to plug into the
main board and this is not a touch
screen you're going to be using a dial
for this for that ribbon cable just goes
through the side of the box and plugs in
right here and then it just kind of runs
underneath this unit and then i could
just line up the two pieces and bolt
them together and this can be a little
finicky seeing that the mounting points
can move if they're not on the right
spot you can move them with an allen key
so with the entire machine flipped up on
its side there's this connector that i
need to plug in for the y-axis stepper
motor and this needs to go up through
this hole in the case and it's real
tight in here so i'm using some tweezers
to actually pull this all the way
through but with all of it in the case i
need to plug it in right here and again
because it's pretty tight right here i'm
going to use the tweezers to put it in
place and it's just one bolt to install
the display and just don't over tighten
it and this is going to be pivotable
and the only thing left for the display
is to attach the ribbon cable to it and
tuck it into the machine the last things
we need to plug in are the connections
for the bed and the larger one is really
easy to plug in and the smaller one i
just use the tweezers like i did before
then just reinstall the cover and screw
it back on and make sure you don't pinch
any of the wires and the build surface
is magnetic so it just kind of sticks in
place
and this is the spool holder let me put
it together real quick and this is a
simple little thing made out of bearings
nuts and bolts and some 3d printed parts
and it's also size adjustable so it
should work with any roll of filament
this just happens to be a roll of asa
from prusa that i'll be trying out later
in the video but for the first couple
prints and the setup i'm going to be
using the supplied filament and all i
have left to do is plug in the usb and
turn it on and it looks like it's
working and now it's verifying and
loading and i need to pick my language
and this is definitely something i'm not
used to a setup wizard so i'm going to
work my way through this and i guess
it's going to just test the machine
overall and make sure everything's
working which this is pretty interesting
seeing i just normally home my printer
to make sure everything's moving right
and then have to manually test
everything else it's also heating up the
bed and nozzle to check those
and with all of that done i can finally
load up some filament and i'll be using
the galaxy black stuff that they
supplied with this and then just go to
load and pick what material i'm using
and as soon as i push continue it
quickly loads up the machine and then
starts heating up to do an automatic
purge so finally after all that i can
start doing sort of a print this is
going to set up the auto bed leveling
and my first layer so i can adjust my z
offset and it'll just start printing and
you have to use the knob to adjust it
down to the right point and as you can
see it started off way off of where it
needed to be but it does this little
zigzag pattern pretty slow so it gives
you plenty of time to adjust
and at the very end of the pattern it
does a solid piece so you can see if
everything is sticking together or if
you still need to go down a little bit
more and once this is all finished it'll
give you the option to go back and redo
this so you can get it fine or tuned or
you can go on and that's pretty much the
end of the entire setup process and we
can finally start actually using the
printer so i'm just going to go to print
and there's a bunch of pre-sliced files
on here i'm just going to go to the
benchy one and it's really nice to see
that it shows a picture of it this is
going to take a little over two hours to
print so we'll start it now and here's a
quick time lapse of the entire process
nothing special but here it is and here
it is all done it has the tiniest bit of
stringing on it that i wouldn't even
count as stringing but it looks like it
came out pretty good and to get it off
the build plate i'm just going to flex
it and it should just pop right off and
here's a look at the text underneath the
boat and on the back and a quick tip to
get rid of those little stringy bits
just use a tortoise heat gun on it real
quick and they'll pretty much just
disappear so i'm going to use some pla
from mater hackers and pick a different
test print and see how this turns out
seeing that the settings for these are
probably sliced for their own pla but
here's the finished frog and it looks
pretty good until you look a little bit
closer at the finish there's a bunch of
little bubbles or under extrusions all
through this but i don't think it's
actually the printer's fault this
filament has been sitting out for a
couple months and it's been really humid
so i think i might have a little bit of
water in here so i switch the filament
out to the other supplied one and
reprinted the frog using the same g-code
and you can see it came out flawless so
it's definitely a problem with my
filament so i'm going to throw it into a
dehydrator for about six hours to make
sure to remove any of the water that
could be stored in it and while i'm
doing that i might as well check out the
prusa slicer seeing that i've never used
it and it was pretty easy to slice this
model nothing is in the places where i
think it would be because i'm used to
using cura all the time but it was easy
enough and when it comes to printing
this little battery box i'm going to use
some silk copper pla and i'm going to
use it in this dryer box and about nine
hours later here it is and it looks
really clean besides right at the top of
this it has those same little bubbles or
tiny bits of under extrusion but even
with that it's totally usable and this
was printed without support so there's a
little bit of droopage right here but
everything else looks great
so now i'm going to try out the asa and
see how well it's going to print seeing
that it prints at a much higher
temperature and it can also warp and
it's not the easiest thing to print
without an enclosure to keep all the
heat in so for now i'm just going to
print something small like this clip and
i'm also printing it from the heated
dryer box and the print quality of the
clip came out really nice and it's
flexible to a point and i'll have to do
more printing with this once i get an
enclosure setup so after all this what
do i think of this printer it's actually
a lot better than i thought it was going
to be to be honest it probably has one
of the best user experiences that i've
experienced with a 3d printer and i can
see why people use these for business
there's no real fiddling with it it just
kind of works out of the box and all the
controls are extremely simple so it kind
of reminds me of the whole iphone
situation where they're so simple and
easy to use anyone can do it but they
also come with a much higher price tag
and you're basically trading the time
savings for money because the partially
assembled version of this printer is 459
dollars and with shipping it's 508
dollars not including any tax which is
pretty pricey for the small build volume
you're going to be getting with this and
to put into perspective you can buy
three enter threes for the same price
but you're going to run into quality
control problems and to get them up to
the same printability as this you're
going to have to learn how to tinker
with them and mess with settings to get
everything just right which means buying
new parts and after doing a bunch of
upgrades to these you're going to end up
spending about the same amount of money
just over a longer period of time and i
say this from experience because i have
6 ender 3 printers that cost about the
same as the mini after all the upgrades
and now i totally understand the people
that swear by the purusha brand and i'm
gonna have to be very careful if they
send me an mk 3s plus because it might
make me want to sell off all of my other
printers and replace them with these but
those are just my thoughts on everything
if you're looking for anything i used or
talked about in this video i'll have
links in the description and let me know
in the comments what printers you have
and what you're using them for well
that's just about it for this video so
i'll see you guys next time bye
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