I reached a point in my 3D printing experience where I couldn't put up with the limitations of the Da Vinci printers from XYZprinting. They are so busy trying to prevent people from using other third party filaments that they are now affecting customers who are already buying filament cartridges from XYZprinting. I have never used a resetter and prior to last month had never re-flashed a printer to open source Repetier firmware. It all came to a head when I got a message on my Da Vinci 1.0 that I was using an illegal cartridge (which it was not!) and the software shut down my machine. I had had enough. I reflashed my Da Vinci 1.0A that I bought on EBAY used, and have been printing with open source Repetier control ever since. And I love it.
XYZprinting, which promoted my channel on their Facebook page didn't like it and quit promoting me. After one full year of videos promoting their product and helping many of their customers get their machines working, they dropped me like a lead balloon.
I figured that was coming though but I was already upset with their lack of customer support and the way they kept releasing new printers but doing next to nothing to help those that bought prior or releasing new filaments. Plus even the filaments they released required a $100 updated extruder to print PLA (which they falsely advertised it could do). I made the mistake of updating my firmware as they recommended as that let them into my machine to control when they decided it should be shut down. Never again.
My plan now is to shop for a true open source printer and possibly re-flash my other two Da Vinci's or sell them. Re-flashing is easy because they use the Arduino bootloader. The firmware can be flashed as long as you can get a version for the Da Vinci and the open source community released that long ago.
I figured that was coming though but I was already upset with their lack of customer support and the way they kept releasing new printers but doing next to nothing to help those that bought prior or releasing new filaments. Plus even the filaments they released required a $100 updated extruder to print PLA (which they falsely advertised it could do). I made the mistake of updating my firmware as they recommended as that let them into my machine to control when they decided it should be shut down. Never again.
My plan now is to shop for a true open source printer and possibly re-flash my other two Da Vinci's or sell them. Re-flashing is easy because they use the Arduino bootloader. The firmware can be flashed as long as you can get a version for the Da Vinci and the open source community released that long ago.
What is really interesting to me is that the XYZprinting company is using a bootloader in the 1.0 and 1.0A that is compatible with the open source Arduino IDE. It implies they are using open source GPL code in a closed source product they sell. Seems a bit illegal to me but I'm no lawyer. It does give us Da Vinci owners a way out of the closed source control they have tried to place on us so they failed in their attempt to control us. Having said that, I would not buy a newer Da Vinci Jr or any of their future printers based on this and their existing practices of thinking they licensed you the printer rather than selling it to you to own.
So going forward, I cannot recommend their products and am looking for a more open source company to work with me and my YouTube Channel. If there is any open source 3D printing company that wants to work with me, please contact me at my contact page.
For my channel subscribers, it's just gonna get better and better as I expand what I do at my channel, so stay tuned for more.
So going forward, I cannot recommend their products and am looking for a more open source company to work with me and my YouTube Channel. If there is any open source 3D printing company that wants to work with me, please contact me at my contact page.
For my channel subscribers, it's just gonna get better and better as I expand what I do at my channel, so stay tuned for more.
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