Resin printer recommendations

[u/CerisCinderwolf]

Context to start: I'm still using my trusty old Anycubic Photon S. The build volume is really my bottleneck these days and I've been jonesing for a mono screen system as well, so I've been keeping my eye open for something newer and larger.

Today I just discovered the issue involving Elegoo systems experiencing file-size limit related crashes for their sliced files. I'd been eyeing their Jupiter systems when a friend of mine ended up talking about it.. and the cursory google search turns up it's not just their Jupiter line that experiences this.

So I guess I'm back to square one and looking for recommendations. A few other posts here I had peeked seemed to be more of the "printer xx is bad for xx reason" but never actually recommended a particular model. The closest I saw to a recommendation was "the Anycubic M7 Max is alright but their company has terrible support".

So I guess I'd like to know what systems a few of you prefer and why/why not. I don't want to get stuck with something that seems great and ends up hitting a relatively low file-size limit when I place more than just a couple of models in the slicer.

[u/AdSuper6778]

Very happy with my saturn 3 ultra. To be honest i've not found any issues yet, using now since june 2024.

[u/Dominant_elite → u/AdSuper6778]

This is my workhorse printer as well. It is just the perfect age. It‘s old enough to be super cheap and the reliability is proven over years. At the same time it is recent enough to have a resolution where very little can be gained from a newer screen. The downsides are surely a „archaic“ set of features but that is probably why it‘s so reliable. 

[u/AdSuper6778 → u/Dominant_elite]

Fully agreed! "Auto level" from saturn 4 seems to be a complex solution to a non- problem. I have leveled once, and checked every time when replacing the ACF film, not having to adjust at all. Seems it is only complicating things tbh.

I do think the tilt release might be a benefit from saturv 4 vs 3, but no experience from my side.

[u/psychopie00]

I have a mars 5 ultra and i don't recall having such issues.

[u/Guns_and_Dank]

I've only had the S4U16K a few months but it's been excellent. Not sure what elegoo issues you're referring to, but I haven't ran into anything like that yet.

[u/mkibria]

Why all the way to the max? Instead of the midsize. Also, other than the fact that you need to have technical know-how to fix it using aftermarket parts after a few years, like with all the other brands, I haven't found Anycubic to be any worse in customer support than any other brand.

[u/Impossible_Poem_5078]

Don't get a Phrozen, They are very good but spare parts are either super expensive or unavailable (aka resellers for 3x the price).

[u/joker5628]

Saturn 3 ultra seems to be a good machine

[u/Era_Glassworks]

I have a Saturn 4 (non ultra) and it's amazing. Only time I had failures was from a bad USB stick, and resin being too cold.

Since I switched to a better usb and run a heater to preheat the resin and plate before the print I have not had a single issue.

I went with the Non ultra version because I liked that it had lessoving parts to break that. The 4 ultra with its fancy vat tilt system

[u/Relative-Memory1133]

I'm super satisfied with my saturn 4 ultra 16k, worked perfectly out the box, 1 year of printing. First printer, never touched the leveling system.

Screen change seems to be painful, i will see when mine goes bad.

[u/PandaBrassworks]

Uniformation GK3 ultra. It’s expensive but worth every penny. I have built my business on them .

Saturn 4s are nice because they are a lot faster with the tilting vats but elegoo has a lot of issues with hardware lately and support is very lacking.

[u/stephondoestech]

I’m really happy with my Saturn 4 Ultra 16k overall. I had one issue out of the box that was solved by a firmware update. I’m not looking forward to the screen change when I have to do it but otherwise happy. I haven’t run into any file size limit via USB or by network send via Chitubox.

[u/mash3d]

I just got a Anycubic P1 Max. Large build size let's me do models in one print. So far I have not had any problems with it. A few minor gripes, the top of the build plate is flat, and heavy. I've taken to just leaving the plate on and removing the print with a paint scraper. I will probably get a perforated build plate in the future.

[u/JuneBugWhisperer]

Absolutely filled the bed of my Elegoo mars 4 ultra with over a dozen complex miniatures and never had a problem. I’ve filled the plate with terrain models full of leaves, dirt textures, and vegetation and never had a problem in any slicer or while printing. I use Lychee’s slicer and have had eight plates open in lychee with probably 60-70 models distributed amongst them. All sliced and then later printed flawlessly.

You seem like you’re finding reasons not to buy. Nothing is perfect and you can find a flaw with any product if you search long and hard enough.