I am a long time user of a Malyan M150. After a few upgrades and many problems with the wiring, a Drylin bearings upgrade, glass substrate and stiffer baseplate upgrade, I started liking the printer. I have used it for about two years. Intended to change the extruder assembly to a Bowden type, but have not still got the chance.
I have also intended to build a printer from the ground up, a xy or Ultimaker type, but decided to wait for the next generation of electronics. Malyan does the job fine for what I need.
Now someone directed my attention to Creality Ender 3 and I did like what I saw. It seems like a similar machine in essence. Malyan has a steel frame which is heavy, but not very stiff. I assume aluminium construction profiles should be stiffer and are lighter. As someone who had a few destroyed prints because of desynchronisation of the two Z motors, I like the idea of one Z motor. If done incorrectly it may also be the greatest problem of such printer, but it seems that the chassis is stiff enough to hold the nozzle assembly in place. I like that it's a Bowden type machine, and I like that the electronics are tucked away under the bed, as I came to hate the electronics box of the M150. There is also a slightly bigger print bed, but that I cannot regard as either a plus or a minus. The wheel assembly should be much less noisy than the ball bearings, but probably not less noisy than Drylin.
I need advice from someone more knowledgeable or someone who had pleasure with both machines, should I keep what I have or acquire an Ender 3? Should I think of Ender as a tiny step up? Price is not an issue, because I will probably be able to get roughly how much Ender costs with import taxes when I sell the M150 localy.
