I go with prusa any day, repairability is very nice with their machines.
Plus more of my money goes to a company that's in Europe and actually maintains the most important part of the 3D printing ecosystem: the slicer.
Most other manufacturers just slap their logo on top of cura or prusaslicer (or violate their licenses).
It was based on Slic3r, however I urge you to diff the sources to see how much has been rewritten and extended. Plain Slic3r is too far behind both PrusaSlicer and Cura nowdays.
> You can also find a thriving ecosystem of low-cost derivatives like the Ender series. In many cases, if not most cases, these clones and derivatives contribute basically nothing back to the original project and, at the surface, appear to add dubious value to the ecosystem as a whole.
What an unnecessary jab at the Enders. This person needs a serious financial privilege check.
In the third world the only printers that are affordable are the clones and the Enders, the "good" stuff is usually marked to 2x the price on top of 2x import tariffs because Prusa and Bambu Labs don't have official channels here.
Why would they care about a lower regional pricing for third world countries when they are selling as fast as they can produce? Screw poor people.
How could someone reporting in the industry be so blind about this.
But can you actually buy a Voron? I mean fully functional and ready to use.
For what I understand, Voron only publishes blueprints, and the process of building a printer is quite involved. You can find part kits, which is a good thing considering that you need a good 3D printer (like a Voron) for the 3D printed parts, but assembly is on your own. It may be a bit much to ask for someone who wants a 3D printer more than a hobby, though I admit that these often go together.
With a Prusa, you have the option of buying one that works out of the box, but you can still tinker with it. Or you can get an Ender3 or one of its many offsprings for cheap, these are moddable, often built using standard parts and open source software, and mostly work out of the box. Not the best by far, but you will have a better idea of your upgrade path (Bambu, Prusa, Voron,...), if you want to upgrade.
Maybe in the very early i3 days, but now Prusa's lane is being a workhorse, and even had a moment where they were trying to distance themselves from being fully open source on electronics despite the marketing speak here
People who want to tinker go with stuff like Vorons or Enders
A lot more people are willing to pay for a printer that just works. Without the accelerometer and nozzle pressure sensing most of the advanced calibrations are probably off the table.
Most other manufacturers just slap their logo on top of cura or prusaslicer (or violate their licenses).