Tthe bBmbu A1 Mini is actually stupid good for $199

My roommate got a bambu a1 mini last month and i literally want to throw my ender in the trash

like it's genuinely unfair how much better the experience is. he unboxed it, hit print 20 minutes later, and the thing just worked. meanwhile i'm over here still manually leveling my bed every 3 prints like a caveman

the kicker? it's $199 right now. i paid $169 for my ender 3 and have probably spent another $40-50 in upgrades and hours of my time troubleshooting

what actually surprised me:

• it's quieter than my laptop fan (48db). i can legit sleep next to it
• auto leveling that actually works, not the "auto leveling" where you still manually adjust everything
• prints are done in like half the time
• multi-color option exists if you want to upgrade later

the catch:

• build volume is smaller than some others
• you're kinda stuck with bambu's software (though it's actually good?)
• not really moddable if that's your thing

if you're the type who ENJOYS tinkering and learning every detail about 3d printing, maybe stick with an ender. but if you just want to print cool shit without a phd in printer maintenance, this thing is absurd value

there's a breakdown comparing it to other budget options here if you're deciding:

anyone else make the jump from manual leveling to auto and feel personally attacked by how much time you wasted?