Review on Revolutionary Creality Leveling Free Meanwell Motherboard: Ultimate 235X235X250Mm Printer! by Tyler Owens

This was my first 3D printer and I struggled to choose it over the much more expensive Prusa i3 MK3S+. In general I am very satisfied with the printer, I have only been using it for a few days. The office I work in during the day isn't quiet enough to walk around as the fans are pretty loud. I haven't used the Creality software at all and prefer to use Cura and a Raspberry Pi 3 with the latest Octoprinter software download. Pros: Prints flawlessly so far. Once set up it seems to move smoothly and print reasonably well even at higher print speeds. The ability to save nozzle and bed heating settings is very convenient. The platform and nozzle heat up fairly quickly, allowing you to auto-level, preheat, and start printing in minutes. Cleaning before installation. This involved tightening a set of pre-installed screws/bolts and adjusting the bed and gantry eccentric bolts so that the printer movements could be controlled. The piezo printhead pressure sensor for the auto-leveling feature was misconfigured and it took some internet research to figure out how to set it up. The required firmware update was quite annoying as you have to install the firmware on the motherboard using a regular SD card (included) and then onto the display using a micro SD card (not included), which is a Requires disassembly of the display to get it to the card reader. Given the hotend's noisy fan and 350-watt MeanWell power supply, the importance of a "quiet" motherboard seems dubious. The firmware is a bit weak on the ability to create custom presets and it's not clear how you can speed up or slow down the printing process. My printer seems to have come with a 4.5.2 motherboard which seems to have been known to make "fairy smoke" after a while. So far this one is working fine but searching the web for this printer model and motherboard version is not encouraging. All in all, this is still hobby-level gear that requires some technical know-how. I couldn't imagine the average Joe taking one and getting a good result, which is probably why Woot.com sells so many open box printers weekly.