I have decided to purchase a Snapmaker I am leaning toward an Artisian. However, reading about lots of folks having problems, has me second guessing the Artisian and reconsidering a 2.0.
If you were starting from scratch, which would you buy and why?
I would appreciate your thoughts and feedback
Thanks
Dan.
I have a Kickstarter Original, which I really like. Iāve been reading the forums since they started, so I have some idea what the communityās opinions are.
The 2.0 A150 has been discontinued. The A250T and A350T are still available, but it wouldnāt surprise me if they stop being sold sometime in the next year. About 2 years after the Original stopped being sold, it started being difficult to get replacement parts. I stocked up after 1 year, and Iām glad I did.
The price jump from A350T to Artisan is pretty steep, for not much more build volume. Artisan gets the new toys sooner, so if thereās something on the roadmap you want, thatās the way to go.
The 2.0 seems to have the steepest learning curve. There are a lot of forum posts about bed leveling and wobbling. I really didnāt see any of that for the Original, and not much for the Artisan or J1. Dual nozzle printing for both Artisan and J1 seems to be challenging. IIRC, newly purchased 2.0 machines donāt need the additional bracing kit, only older models, so Iām not sure how much of that is A vs. AT machines. There are a few people on the forums that have both machines. Maybe one of them will chime in.
If I had to make a decision today, and I was willing to spend that much money, Iād get the Artisan. But I never ended up using the CNC or Laser on mine. So when my Original dies, Iāll probably get a Monoprice printer.
Honestly, I wouldnāt buy either unless space is a major concern (i.e. how much space you are allowed for your machines to take up). I would instead get a dedicated 3D printer like a Voron or Bambu Lab, and a dedicated laser like an X-Tool. The problem with the Snapmaker 3-in-1 machines is that they are a ājack-of-all-trades,ā which generally means they have made a lot of compromises on quality and individual functionality in order to accommodate 3-in-1. Dedicated machines will produce better results, and be more reliable, and in some cases easier and less expensive to fix as well. After the debacles I have seen with the Artisan and experienced with my 2.0 over the past 3yrs, I cannot recommend Snapmaker products except in the single case of you want to try all 3 types of machines but donāt have the room for 3 separate machines. In which case I would say get the 2.0, because the price of the Artisan is definitely not worth buying it just to test the hobby; better to find a used 2.0.
Thanks so much to you all for sharing your opinion. As I now have a very good 3d printer. I. May add a 40 watt laser engraver cutter and a dedicated CNC machine. Although I have to admit, I just love multifunction machines. In a previous life, I had a Shopsmith which I really enjoyed.
Thanks again
Donāt listen too much to mxbrnr, heās been nagging and warning for months. Here are a lot of satisfied Users who use all of the modules regularly.
What do you want to use the device for? Hobby, gifts or for commercial use? I would never recommend a snapmaker for the latter, not even for small shops.
As I have multiple 2.0 machines in all three sizes and revisions: i would just buy an Artisan. Buying a 350t with 200w CNC, 10w laser, bracing and quickswap kit is not much more cheaper than the Artisan. But please dont pay the list price. Snapmaker have 4-7 sales each year where you can save lot of money.
And with the view of the Artisan price: i dont think they will stop selling the a250. You will have to sell an entry product which is cheaper than the 2500$ for the Artisan.
Just making sure people know more of the story than the marketing and fanboys will sucker them into. Yes, the machine can do some amazing things, but it has a lot of reliability and design fault issues that can cause a load of heartache. You can look at the posts I have authored to see just a couple of them, and realize that is only the beginning, not even 1/5th of the whole story.
Thanks lots. I really appreciate the inputs.
Anyone
Over all snapmaker produces stable machines and support help where they could.
Printing, lasering and carving could be quite challenging so you would need more than a working machine.
You need the skills and the patience to learn how the machine works and has to be operated.
If I have the free space, I would go with the latest hardware design.
There is not much traffic about the artisan in the forum about design flaws or other weakness, it seems a pretty stable machine.
The 2.0 works well if you got the bracing kit and other upgrades but it was not easy all the time. The linear modules tend to wobble, this causes main problems like bed adhesion (not level) issues and not parallel carving. Sure, the bracing kit takes care off but itās another workaround.
Recently I switched from printing to laser cutting and was again really happy that 3in1 just works. This is great and I love it!
Surely a little bit fanboy here 
What is the condition he typical discount during sales?
Given the huge price difference, and not really much of functional difference, Iād go for the Snapmaker 2.0. I have the A350T and love it, especially after the quick swap was introduced, and itās currently offered as a bundle at no additional cost. I have a small studio, so the footprint of the machine is very important, and I simply would have trouble placing two machines of that size. I use both 3D print and laser, so the double function is great (in the end, I donāt use CNC much).
Oh man, I miss those. My grandpa had an old cast iron Shopsmith 5-in-1. Youāll be fine with anything the 2.0 throws at you. It can have problems with wobble, tramming, and bed level issues. Youāll spend some time up front dialing it in, and need to perform a bit of maintenance. Nothing really unexpected.
As an experienced user of 3D printing, CNC milling, and laser cutting, I find the Artisan to be an excellent option, especially for those with space constraints.
For context, I own a 6090 CNC router, a Seig X2 vertical mill, Roland SRM-20 Mini-mill, Anycubic SLA printer, multiple Anycubic i3 Mega and i3m printers, and use Bamboo Labs printers at work. Iāve also worked with various laser cutters, including a Trotec CO2, A large Chinese C02 laser, and a small K40 CO2 laser. The only thing all these machines have in common is that they all take time to maser.
The Artisan is:
Each function requires time to master, similar to learning separate machines for each process.
The Artisan is not: A plug-and-play desktop fabrication system. Users can easily make mistakes leading to unexpected results.
With most CNC machines, there are numerous ways to encounter issues. Currently, desktop fabrication isnāt at a stage where users can simply select a method and āhit print.ā While technology is improving (e.g., the Bamboo P1Pās reliability), mastering each fabrication method takes time.
I believe the Artisan is better suited for users who already understand these three fabrication types. Many newcomers are attracted to the idea of an all-in-one desktop fabrication machine without perhaps realising the learning curve involved.
Itās worth noting that the included Luban software is basic. To maximize the Artisanās potential, users will need to learn additional software.
Thank you for your thoughts. I am an engineer who leads aircraft modifications and will be retiring soon. . In my recently downsized life, I long for a laser cutter/engraver and cnc to do small builds.
Sounds like you have the experience to make it work out for you, treat it like a UFO though.
Thanks. Appreciate your time
Glad to help 
10yr A&P/IA here. With your background youāll likely be just fine working out the kinks of any machine you end up getting, just donāt get hung-up on over-engineering solutions and chasing perfection like many of us in aviation have a tendency to do, including myself. 
HI Dan. I own a 350,a 350t and an Artisan. To be perfectly honest I Have not had much luck with the Artisan at all. however the 350 and 359t have given me a good run.
however it would be good if Snapmaker was compatible with other software such as Light burn for laser work, as Luban is very restrictive and far from user friendly. Cheers Ian
There are guides to using Light burn with Snapmaker on the forum. I believe thatās the most comprehensive, but I havenāt actually tried it. You can search the forum for other software as well.
@Ian.Dunford1 @Cruz-in Thereās a Wiki guide on using LightBurn with Snapmaker 2.0/Artisan/Ray and with the laser modules of 1.6W/10W/20W/40W/2W IR.
https://wiki.snapmaker.com/en/general/manual/use_ray_with_lightburn_guide