I’m almost certainly going to buy either a Sovol M1D or a Prusa Core One + w/INDX within the next few hours, but I’m am having trouble deciding on which would be better. I’ll share my thoughs, please share whatever feedback you have.
I feel like I have completely outgrown my old bedslinger, I miss being out of my depth and forced to learn, and I’ve saved up quite a bit of money in order to get a printer that will give me lots of new techniques and technologies to learn. I primarily want to add multi-color, multi-material, and a heated chamber for materials like ABS. I’ve decided that I’d like to get all these capabilities in a single printer, as I don’t have a huge amount of space in my apartment for my hobbies.
I’m leaning towards the M1D, as i find the IDEX system and larger print volume, at a slightly lower price, to be very alluring. Although the fact that the M1D is still in its pre-release phase does give me some pause.
The Core One+ wins a number of points though. I have friends with Prusas and in my experience the prusa polish is incredible, and I know that Sovol may have slightly lower build quality. The slightly smaller size of the printer, while a sacrifice in print volume, would make finding space for it far easier. Finally since the Core One is already released I wouldn’t have to wait for December for the printer to arrive.
Appologies if I have formatted this poorly, this whole post is just slightly edited stream of thought.
You’re probably going to be perfectly satisfied with either.
The M1D has the second tool mount, with all the pros and cons behind that.
The Core 1 is made in the EU, with a company that backs it’s products, and will provide an upgrade path for any changes they make.
The Aurora Tech channel has a really good video showing the pre-release M1D along with a comparison to other similar printers.
Honestly, the Core One is a flagship product from a highly respected brand that pays its workers fairly and supports the products longer than they would be expected to. If you can afford it, I would go with the Prusa.
I picked up a Core One+ kit a few month ago (no INDX yet) and I’m loving it. Super sturdy machine, great support, open source (more or less), super serviceable , great prints.
How is the assembly process(assuming you didn’t go pre-assembled)?
I really did not want to go back and troubleshoot any fuckups, so I took my time and double/triple checked everything, and was still able to finish it in one day. Instructions were super clear and well written. They even give you a bag of gummie bears and tell you when to eat them in the directions. 10/10.
While I 100% prefer the klipper-route of sovol to Prusa’s semi-closed ecosystem, the price difference seems relatively small between the M1D advanced and the Core One+ INDX, and despite the flaws of the Core one it is likely to be built better (or not, depending on your abilities).
Oh, and this so-called “upgrade path” Prusa provides, yeah those often suck a lot by being near complete rebuilds with minimal actual savings compared to getting the new printer.
Edit: regarding shipping, Prusa claims shipping end of October for printers with INDX, I wouldn’t be surprised if you don’t receive it until end November/start December. They’re notoriously bad at managing shipping deadlines.
I’ve upgraded my MK3 to S and then S+ and my MMU2 to S and then 3. Starting from the launch model of the MK3 and ending with MK3S+ and MMU3 costed me significantly less than buying a new printer. Yes, the upgrade kits across models are not worth it (MK3 to MK4 or MK4 to Core one), but what do you expect? At least they offer the option, and details documentation, you can even source all the parts by yourself.
