Yeah I’ve never had a missing driver problem with a windows install since maybe windows 7. I even moved a hard drive with a windows 8 install from an Asus laptop with an Intel cpu to a custom build desktop with a ryzen cpu without having to change any drivers. I did have to reactivate windows because of the hardware change but that’s it.

The included drivers are often providing less performance than updated ones from the vendor though, so it is recommended to download those in some cases, specifically nvidia. But most gaming laptops will have a vendor provided update center to manage all of that for you.

I like Linux over windows for a lot of reasons but this post is a bit silly.

Debian on a base model 2013 MacBook air checking in. Runs better than it ever did on Mac OS. Battery life is still fine. I did have to use proprietary drivers for some things (wifi and webcam) but other than that it was pretty much plug and play.

Lots of replacement parts are on ebay for cheap, and there are a lot of repair tutorials on YouTube (and piped.video) I replaced keyboard and trackpad cheaply, and some of the internal cables.

As far as drawbacks, if you have to replace the storage or or logic board, those are expensive. I have a sound issue which I haven’t been able to fix and from searching around it looks like a logic board would be required. Bluetooth headphones work fine though so I’m just dealing with it.

Oh sweet! I haven’t heard of that one. I’ll check it out

Draw is great, and I’ve been able to use it for most of what I used Acrobat for before, but it has issues with converting certain documents, especially when they have special fonts. Also there’s the issue of not being able to just fill out some fields and then share it back as a PDF

I’m not opposed to paying for software, especially if it’s good. I’ll try that out and see how it is. Thanks!

Good tip - I don't have a runout sensor installed so I was not aware of this

I need to do that - I haven't finished fully calibrating everything. I still need to calibrate flow and pressure advance as well. The current settings are pretty good for print quality so I haven't messed with it much but the last few prints I have noticed some issues with dimensional accuracy that affect tighter tolerances

I use Cura 5.4 and the only changes I made were to the start and end gcode for the machine (per the guild I linked). After that, I did a few prints with my regular profiles, then started cranking up the speed a little at a time. So really the only setting I changed was the print speed and start / end gcode.

The printer handled everything else - honestly it feels a little like magic to me, even though it's just software. I'm a software engineer so I feel like I should have a better grasp of it, but printer firmware is pretty far outside of the type of work I do. One thing I do know is that Klipper manages acceleration itself and doesn't use the acceleration gcodes sent from the slicer - those get ignored and Klipper decides how fast to accelerate (this is configurable using moonraker or the config files).

I think the thing that makes the most difference in letting you print at higher speeds is the input shaping. I don't understand all the inner workings, but it using the processing power on the raspberry pi to compensate for the vibration of the printer, letting you print much faster without getting artifacts in the print that affect quality. Here is some info on that

I'm sure there are a lot of slicer and Klipper configurations that I can do to improve things even more as well

Great little machine! I have one as my first and only printer and I have been loving it. Prints PETG and TPU very well

That is my biggest gripe with modern windows. The OS itself is pretty decent, but WHY am I paying at minimum $100 and seeing ads all over the start menu? Even with a vanilla MS sourced USB there are so many bloat apps. It didn’t used to be that way.

I set up a PC for recording in a sound system and got a fresh install of Windows 11 on a custom PC and it was still super bloated with garbage games and a video editor that watermarks footage instead of the perfectly functional basic software they used to have.

I am in the process of repairing and setting up an old macbook with Linux since it stopped getting Apple updates. When I get a new laptop I will likely go with Linux there as well.

I thought so but I’ve only ever used it on taller TPU prints where I want them to basically be hollow so I’ve never seen it look quite like that!

Those look great! What is the top left one?

There’s a type of cubic that starts out lower and increases in density as it reaches the top to support the top layers. That’s mainly the one I was thinking of. I can’t remember the name of it though. And lightning is suuuper fast but provides basically no strength

Same. Sometimes you want something fast. For things that don’t need to be sturdy at all (little display figures and stuff like that) I’ll use cubic or even lightning infil

That’s a good tip - I haven’t tried that yet. I’ll give it a shot next time I need something sturdy

Looks great! I don’t use a Macbook anymore or I’d test it out.

Are you printing in PLA? I have really been enjoying PETG for mounting things as it is a lot less brittle. It will flex a lot more before it breaks

Yeah I do like that it doesn’t jerk the printer, just a little wiggle!

This is PETG also - it makes for super sturdy prints.

I haven’t had a use case where something is too thin for gyroid yet. I can definitely see that being useful though!

It’s like a little dance for every layer