how much are ink/plastic refills?
My son has one of these and they are very capable little printers. Get the right filament and youâll be happy. Iâd be on this like stink on poop, but making obsolete parts for your vintage car is why you have kids.
But can it print a taco? 
PLA doesnât smell bad and itâs not that strong, itâs mostly derived from corn starch. Are you thinking of ABS? Other than that I completely agree with everything you said. 3D printing is more about the trip rather than the final destination. Itâs pretty interesting with a lot of variables that come into play. I have the JG Aurora A5. big build plate pretty decent options, easy printer for beginners. My experience with 3D printing is that there is definitely a learning curve (not a difficult one) but just a lot of trial and error until you figure out what works best with your printer from bed and extruder temps, to what techniques you use for bed adhesion, to the brand of PLA, to using the slicer.
While there is some rational informed replies above. I also see some BS comments or just people who have heard opions and made them there own.
I am far from an expert, but i do own a Creality Ender 3. Here my facts if it helps you.
#1 These are budget, but very good quality for single color printing anything you can think of. Thinigiverse.com has allmost anything ready for an easy print.
#2 If this is your 1st printer. The filament (plastic you make stuff with) it comes with wont even make the sample item. You need to buy some filament when you buy this, same day! And filament spools are between $10(rare half spool generic) - $20+ for full 2.2lbs spool of basic color. And thats per color! Be realistic, your gonna want more colors. So, add about $120 for the multicolor pack you will eventually stumble upon on Amazon (AIO makes an ok option where you get 12 colors, half spool 1.1lbs).
#3 PLA, the most common and easiest to use/buy filament HAS NO SMELL AND MINIMAL IF ANY OUT GASSING WHILE PRINTING! This printer can print all those other smelly problematic plastics, but thats up to you if you want the chalenge after mastering the basics.
#4 This is entry level, but gives top notch prints at any price. BUT, ITS NOT AS EASY AS PRINTING ON PAPER FROM A COMPUTER! This is more like patting your head and rubbing your belly. It takes a bit of practice to get good results. YOU WILL HAVE TO TINKER FREQUENTLY TO GET GOOD RESULTS. Bed leveling is a constant and most important. Tweaking temps between colors and materials. And even when your prints turn out right, you may need sanding and scrapping to remove supports/stringing.
#5 This requires some assembly. It comes with the base assembled and the gantry still needs to be built. All tools are included and not as hard to buikd as most ikea items. And you will need to print some parts that it does not include and makes printer better. Spool arm filament guide and a fan cover for the main board.
I would say if you want to get into 3D printing. This is as good a start as you can get and be succesful. There are tons of forums and youtube videos to help when things go wrong, and they will. My opinion: yes you will start printing trinkets and cases for your other gadgets. But, buy one. And for around $350 (printer and assortment of filament colors) you will have a good amount of fun. Even my wife is amazed at what can be made with these.
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I use Micro Center 2.2kg spools for $16.99 at Amazon.
Is this actually the Pro? I see the MSRP and MK10 extruder are features of the Ender3 pro, not the Ender3
I donât think itâs a clone. I have one and it just works as well as the other creality printer I had. Both great quality and very helpful customer service. BTW, sainsmart x creality ender-3 comes with a removable bed with clips. A slight difference but does help a lot.
I was all excited and thought oh this will be awesome a 3rd Ender for me but nope the price isnât a deal. Anyways Iâll say this, for anyone looking to get into 3D printing this is a good starting point. You can roll right out the gate with a little knowledge and really make great gains in learning a new hobby with good potential for real world applications.
Does anyone know if you can 3D print your own custom files, or is this a toy that gives you like only eleven things that you can print?
I use OctiPi as a front end for my Rigidbot. Absolutely love it, especially after adding a 4" b screen to it.
Based on the single track middle tray bar i would say no. That is one of the tell tale differences between the pro and non pro. However your right on the MSRP. You can get a non pro Ender 3 for this price any day of the week, this isnt really a deal.
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About $20 for 1KG roll. 1KG of printing is a pretty decent amount of prints. Here is a quantitative example How Much You Can Actually Print with 1KG of Filament
You mean 2.2 lbs or 1 KG spools
For those that say they have no useâŚmaybe notâŚbut I can use it to print wind tunnel models of my aircraft designs! Wahoo. You can use them to print a prototype that you can then use to make a mold for the real parts. The PLA part may not be strong enough to make a car bracket, but you can make a mold using the 3D printed part and then use that to make a steel bracket. Great for car restorers, or those that donât have a machine shop.
This is another case of journalists running away with random academic article titles and creating hysterical headlines with them.
Does your house have air conditioning and heat? Will you be 3d printing in ABS or Nylon 24/7?
Most people print occasionally, do not stand over it while itâs printing, have some kind of air movement in their house, and print in PLA which is perfectly safe. The academic article even says so. Btw, PLA is made from corn.
In an industrial setting, like my employerâs, where we have 4-5 printers going in one room printing various materials this might be of some concern. Even still, this is measuring VOCâs like those that off gas from paint. Most indoor paint is low-VOC now but exterior paints are still pretty fumey.
I wouldnât let this article scare you out of getting a 3d printer. Iâd be more concerned about spending $200+ bucks on something you stop using in a month because you get bored of it. That being said, I just 3d printed some replacement parts for my car (using a printer much like this one) so if you have use cases for it and like to tinker theyâre a neat gadget to have around.
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I wouldnât say PLA has no smell, but itâs minimal and actually pleasant. I agree that itâs the easiest and probably the safest filament to use, especially for beginners. Point #4 is totally true, it takes a while to become familiar with your own device, itâs quirks, the filament youâre using and the way you slice the models.
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JinOhâs post is pretty much spot-on, except that itâs quite easy to find sales for filament thatâs cheaper. Iâve never spent more than $21/kg (1kg=2.2lbs) for PETG (higher end than PLA) and I usually buy PLA for $9-$17/kg.
A kg spool goes a very long way too. Keep in mind that 3D printing allows you to make things in a way thatâs impossible with any other manufacturing method. If youâre printing solid, youâre doing it wrong. Pretty much everything youâll print has the strength in the skin, so you make the skin thick and only use enough infill for support of the rest of the structure as itâs being printed.
About car parts: Donât use PLA for anything going inside the car (unless you live in the Arctic) as it goes soft like a wet noodle at temperatures that can be hit if you park in the sunlight. Definitely not for use under the hood. PETG, on the other hand, should be much more stable, but is a bit finickier to use (stringy, have to print a bit slower, must understand retractions, etc.). PETG is something you move to after being comfortable with PLA printing (which is fairly easy).
About smells/VOCs/dangerous fumes: I donât do ABS for a reason, it outgasses several carcinogens and itâs a royal bear to get to not warp (you have to account for shrinkage, use a heated printer chamber, etc.). After the introduction of PETG, thereâs pretty much no reason to go for ABS (except for the price, itâs cheap). Iâm sure Iâll get flamed for this by the old-school who still love ABS (and printing on tape). If you do a quick google or youtube search, you can find actual studies about the VOCs and nanoparticles emitted during 3D printing. If the study doesnât mention PETG, skip it, itâs ancient. Basically, what youâll find is that PLA has very low (compared to other filaments) emissions, very little smell (what there is is slightly sweet and you can only smell it if youâre inches from the printer), and PETG has almost zero nano-particulates and very low VOC emissions.
About what you can make: There are countless trinkets on thingiverse, but there are also an enormous amount of functional parts. Search âraspberry pi cameraâ and youâll get bored looking through them all! I even uploaded a part to repair an old globe. Go to https://reddit.com/r/functionalprint if you want to see lots of, well, functional prints. If you want to see trinkets and general discussion, to go https://reddit.com/3Dprinting
About learning: The limits are pretty close to your imagination with a 3D printer. There are lots of CAD/modeling programs you can get for free (I use FreeCAD), even commercial ones have a âfree for educational useâ clause in a lot of them. There are also web based ones (if you donât mind anyone having access to your designs, read the EULAs!).
I really mean it about the limit being your imagination⌠google âlost PLA castingâ to see how people take 3D printed parts and make them into aluminum! Even better, thereâs a wax filament available for exactly that purpose.
Edit: they sold out while I was typing 
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Aw crap, I decided to actually come back and buy one after all and theyâre gone.
Yeah, was just about to pull the trigger and Woot replaced it with another Kindle.
Oh well, guess Iâll have to find it elsewhere.