Should You Buy a FlashForge Creator Pro (or similar) in 2022?

 If you can't tell from my blog posts, I'm definitely still using my Creator Pro in 2022. It's enclosed in a pretty strong metal enclosure, will print basically any material besides PEEK, and has dual extrusion capabilities for basic multi-color or multi-material printing. If you have one in 2022 and it's been properly maintained over time, I think it's fair to say it will hold up and continue printing for quite a long time.

But what if you see a Creator Pro on Marketplace, Amazon, eBay, or a friend is selling one? In that case, it still may be a good idea if the price is low enough. Brand new on Amazon they sell for $299, and I've seen them used for around $200. At $200 it's very tempting if it's in good shape, but upgrading it to run Klipper will cost something as well since anything that matters runs a modern 32 bit firmware in 2022. I'd estimate it would cost someone with none of the tools on my build sheet about $150 to upgrade the printer to Klipper, and if you have all the tools and just need supplies, it would be about $75. These prices are extremely competitive, and with the tuning you can perform after running Klipper, it will print quality parts at respectable speeds. It will also have the modernity of online printing, forgoing the old SD card slot that's known to fail in some cases (mine did). If you like to tinker and want to save some money over some of the more expensive enclosed printers, and don't want to deal with enclosing a sloppy bed slinger like the Ender 3, this may be a good solution.

All this being said, I strongly feel like the Bambu Labs P1P seems to be worth double the price of the printer, new. This is simply because it's more than double the value of the Creator Pro. It carries all the speed of the X1 Carbon at less cost, and has a strong rigid frame like the Creator Pro, that will last a long time without ever bending or deforming vs aluminum extrusion-based printers. It's the obvious option if you don't want to tinker with your printer and want extremely fast results with less work. You're going to have to spend more if you want to print materials that require a full enclosure and buy the X1 Carbon, but I believe the value is there and it's worth saving up. It's such a large leap forward in quality for what you can buy off the shelf.