General Discussion

Good info for those who already have Bambu printers. For those that don't, it's worth mentioning that the best solution to avoiding privacy issues with Bambu is avoiding Bambu. Bambu has made it abundantly clear that they do not accept or support your right to decide how to use the printer that you paid for. This isn't about them being Anti-2A, it's about them being anti-user-freedom.

Bambu isn't the only game in town. QIDI, Elegoo, and others make good printers that actually respect your freedom and privacy, integrate seamlessly with Orca Slicer, and won't force you to sneakernet your g-code on fragile SD cards. You can set up your router to block all internet traffic to/from these printers and they'll continue to work perfectly - no mysterious "LAN mode" needed.

Yes, the Bambu printers are marginally easier for the chronically lazy to get decent prints out of. But we've come a long way from the days when the alternative was spending hour-after-hour trying to beat an Ender into submission. And yes, in some cases they will produce prints that are aesthetically better (though the difference is becoming more and more marginal). So if your primary goal is getting likes on Instagram, by all means continue to support the erosion of your right to own your devices. But for me, freedom is a big part of what we do here. If you value that, consider supporting the companies that respect that and avoiding those that don't.