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I currently have and Ender 3 Pro and an Elegoo Mars - I totally love both of these printers and have been eagerly awaiting the Elegoo Saturn open release coming in the next month or so, but now up pops the Mono X. Both seem so comparable and Anycubic has its die hard fans just like Elegoo. In looking at some videos of reviews, here's what I see...

- the Mono X might be at a slightly higher price point, but that is uncertain.
- the Saturn has a slightly smaller build plate by a few mm each way w/ the Mono having a 50mm taller range
- the Mono has Wifi!
- the Saturn has an ethernet cable port
- the Saturn can use ChiTuBox
- the Mono uses a proprietary slicing software(?) - anyone with experience with both and can let us know which they prefer?
- the Saturn seems to have a smoother top build plate assembly. The Mono seems to have open screws and areas that will just collect resin unless you keep the fill tank low.
- both have a 50 micron resolution and a monochrome screen

So, let's discuss the best (and worst) of both - I need to make a decision!!

Before seeing actual reviews and the like, and given that they'll probably both be very nice machines, I'd go with the cheapest one

Mono X wins on specs even if wifi is IMHO a trap option, but I haven't heard anything nice about the proprietary slicer. I'd wait for unpaid reviews.

When the Photon S came out, it had (and still has) a proprietary slicer, but it didn't take long for a Chitubox profile to show up for it.

I would probably wait but honestly, they are both excellent. I own Anycubics but am definitely not, like, red-team/blue-team about it; I was recommending the Mars pre-Mono because i liked some of the CBD board tools.

Also man this is just me being me but I would never use either Wifi or Ethernet for a long 3D print. Local storage (USB or SD) all the way ever time for me. IMO it adds little value but much room for error.

Yes, I think throwing your print onto a USB or card is the way to go and less chance of a hiccup, so I would not use either cable or wifi if I had them anyway.

I actually like the ChiTuBox slicer - not as fancy as Cura, but each CTB release does get better.

And, here is me being dumb and shortsided... I love the hollow and drill hole functions and always wondered why would you want to keep the plug after you drill the hole?

Well, watching a vid I saw on a big print where the little plug was used to put back into the hole, which is especially useful when you put it at the top of the mini so the resin drains while it hangs - this way you can mask the hole in the top by plugging it with the piece that came out and it is really invisible. I had never put holes at the top of large models as I did not want the hole and put them on the bottom, but you have a weird how to hang it so it drains issue.

Do all resin slicers have the hollow/drill/keep the plug function?

Hmm I really like the specs on the Mono X but I have both a Photon S and a Mars now and have had just so many more issues with failed prints on the Photon. Also for whatever reason I could never get the Chitubox to work for Photon prints.

A difficult choice for sure between the Saturn and Mono X given that...

To me the only truly redeeming feature on the Mono X is the slightly larger build plate, but it is only a few mm, and the taller capacity. However, without really knowing the retail/Amazon price for the Saturn it is still not a slam dunk if paying more for the Mono X will be worth it.

I think the Saturn needs to be at least $120 less than the Mono's $589 to win hands down for me.

You know, I never thought about saving the plug - I had been patching the holes with greenstuff. I have to try that.

 Ouze wrote:
You know, I never thought about saving the plug - I had been patching the holes with greenstuff. I have to try that.

If you drill in Chitubox there is a "Keep the hole" checkbox

 lord_blackfang wrote:

 Ouze wrote:
You know, I never thought about saving the plug - I had been patching the holes with greenstuff. I have to try that.

If you drill in Chitubox there is a "Keep the hole" checkbox

Yes, and now I can understand why you might want to keep it!!

OK, I am what you call a slow learner...

Ha ha! But I imagine in most cases it is very hard to align it properly while using supergule.

I thought I would drop an important stat on my current Elegoo Mars printer on how much I have printed (in liters of resin) going through the LCD screens to date:

1st screen - ran about 3.5 L before going bad. Since it was within 90 days, Elegoo sent me a new LCD screen for free.

2nd screen - had to replace last month, but I had gone through an astounding 9 L of resin before replacing.

3rd screen - bought on Amazon for $29 and have gone through 3.5 L of resin so far.

All in all, pretty happy on the durability and hope that transfers to the Saturn. Anyone with similar stats for their Photon?

Further update:

...and just as I was finishing my last planned prints (2" scale 1:6) WWI Vickers and Spandau twin machine guns for my large RC planes, my LCD screen is starting to go out with tiny bad spots. This made some holes in some spots on the prints, but easily patched.

So, on this last LCD screen on my Mars I got maybe 4 liters from it. I have been running my Mars literally non-stop for 1 full year, so now going onto my fourth screen, is this normal?

Has anyone else experienced with either the Mars or Photon this level of use and the screen life?

so all of these printers: anycubic, egloo, phrozen are pretty close to being the same machines and even buy their screens from the same 2-3 manufacturers (Sharp being the most common from what I understand). SLA printers are incredibly simple machines and there's not much one can do to make it really that different from the competition underneath the hood if all features are the same.

LCD screens are only rated for about 400 hours of life for resin printing but usually get half of that. They are $3 LCD screens after all so you cannot expect much from them.

It's why the mono screens are such a big deal as they're designed for UV and don't die so quickly. Mono are rated at several thousand hours of printing and cure resin twice as fast.

Well, after having my trusty Mars humming along with me (I work from home) over the past year, nearly non-stop and well into most evenings, it just kills me to have it sitting so quiet, until I get another project, which will prompt me to get another LCD screen.

So to calculate: At 300 hours life average and typical 4 hour print runs where there are about 1200 layers, this means about 2.6 hours of actual LCD lamp time - this should give you about 112 print runs using about 3 L of resin if printing 10 up space marines for a total of 1120 minis.*

Costs to print 1120 minis: $30 screen + 3 $30 bottles of resin = $120 - this means each mini cost 0.107 each. This does not count any other consumables; alcohol, gloves, FEP film, etc.

I do consider the $29 a reasonable consumable and being impossible to reconfigure the original Mars to use a monochrome screen, it will always be that way.

In any case, I have absolutely no regrets.

* figures totally out of my head as I recollect - do not hold me 100% to them!

I don't think the cost of the screens, once they hit $30, was/is unreasonable. Back when they were like $75 two years ago or so that was much more painful.

Well, I did find the Saturn listed on the Amazon site: https://www.amazon.com/ELEGOO-Photocuring-Activated-Off-Line-Printing/dp/B086283SQJ/ref=sr_1_26?dchild=1&keywords=elegoo+saturn&qid=1603233701&s=industrial&sr=1-26

But, it looks like half of the info/specs is from the Mars... I guess it is just a placeholder for now.

 MDSW wrote:
I thought I would drop an important stat on my current Elegoo Mars printer on how much I have printed (in liters of resin) going through the LCD screens to date:

1st screen - ran about 3.5 L before going bad. Since it was within 90 days, Elegoo sent me a new LCD screen for free.

2nd screen - had to replace last month, but I had gone through an astounding 9 L of resin before replacing.

3rd screen - bought on Amazon for $29 and have gone through 3.5 L of resin so far.

All in all, pretty happy on the durability and hope that transfers to the Saturn. Anyone with similar stats for their Photon?

 MDSW wrote:
Further update:

...and just as I was finishing my last planned prints (2" scale 1:6) WWI Vickers and Spandau twin machine guns for my large RC planes, my LCD screen is starting to go out with tiny bad spots. This made some holes in some spots on the prints, but easily patched.

So, on this last LCD screen on my Mars I got maybe 4 liters from it. I have been running my Mars literally non-stop for 1 full year, so now going onto my fourth screen, is this normal?

Has anyone else experienced with either the Mars or Photon this level of use and the screen life?

I've had my Mars since late June/early July. I've gone through 8 liters in that time, and the LCD seems to be perfectly fine... maybe. I've tried to locate the problem with one area where my prints always seems to fail, but between rotating the build plate, replacing the FEP, and doing a "test print" to check the LCD, I can't find anything wrong.

Yeah, it could be a bad spot on the LCD screen if you have gone through everything else.

You might just try adding a few medium supports to the one area that fails to make sure it adheres properly.

 MDSW wrote:
You might just try adding a few medium supports to the one area that fails to make sure it adheres properly.

Unfortunately, the problem is usually the rafts will form, the supports will form, but either the part doesn't form, it doesn't form until the rest of the build reaches that level, or it just prints the first few layers of the part. I'm certain it's not the supported part, as I can copy/paste the same supported part within the build file, and only the one's in that area have issues.

If it's the LCD, it seems odd that it will print through the first bit of every build, then stop printing at roughly the same point

I did find on one of my failed LCDs that it was not a spot on the screen that was absolutely bad, but kinda bad... It just kept the same area of a print from printing well.

A number of months ago I was having the same issue and I would do my rectangular screen LCD check and all looked good. I made a full plate slice where I can see the full LCD at one shot and this is where I found a good spot in the middle section was all fuzzy and blurry, like the pixels in a pretty large area were getting ready to go bad? A new LCD solved the issue, but maybe try a full screen view to see if all looks good and clear on your LCD.

Also, one other check is to make sure your support top is in good contact with your part - maybe it got shifted or skewed.

I had weird problems where mine would print fine for the first hour or two, enough to get it past the base and supports, and then it would occasionally glitch, causing bits of models or supports to vanish. Replacing the screen seems to have fixed that *fingers crossed!*

Started off fine and then went bad...hmmmm....Make sure your sliced file is not corrupt - before replacing the screen try starting over and slicing the file again.

I was almost locked in on my choice for the Mono X, after weeks of looking at the saturn too.

Then today I find out that the Epax e10 and the Sonic Mighty 4K are also dropping soon. All big plate print0rs.

So much choice.

ooooh...Going to check those out now...

Looks like the Sonic Mighty 4K has a slightly bigger build plate, close to the Photon, with a just slightly lower xy resolution of 52 than the 50 of the Saturn and Mono X. This is compared to the 48 res of most other smaller printers, but I do not think this will be really distinguishable. The price point for the Sonic Mighty 4K looks to be at the $500 mark and available in the next couple months - pre-orders going on now.

Epax e10 is priced about $50 higher and the option of two sizes - one at the Saturn size and one at the slightly larger size and seems to have the xy res matching the 50 and 52. respectively. Supposedly has greater options for upgrades, so possibly worth looking into. However, this looks to be available now to order.

We will have to see where all of the price points and availability fall after the first of the year when I am ready to go. All things if prices all in around the same I might be leaning towards the Photon, but if the Saturn comes in at the close to $400 mark, that could sway me their direction.

Amazon has had the Saturn placeholder for quite a while:
https://www.amazon.com/ELEGOO-Photocuring-Activated-Off-Line-Printing/dp/B086283SQJ

At first the specs were for the Mars Pro 2, but I see the stats have been updated to the Saturn, so looking to see when this becomes available and where the price lands.

Well, seems like while waiting for the Saturn to become available on Amazon, the Anycubic Photon Mono X just upped their price by about $100, so now it seems the best price available is at the $699+ range.

It may well.come down again after christmas. Unfortunately you then get Into the game of waiting for the perfect price that never comes :(

I remember being in such a loop back when I used to regularly upgrade a gaming PC. It sucks.

They are both excellent hobby grade printers. You will likely not be able to discern between the two in terms of print quality outside of stress test prints.

So just go with the cheaper of the two is my 2 cents.

Don't worry about the slicer - you can always use file format converter if it conflicts with accepted type of 3d print file your printer supports (99% of slicers give you option for file type anyways). You can use whichever slicer you feel most comfortable with/yields the best results for you.

It looks like just about every printer took a hike for the upcoming holiday season on Amazon - the basic Mars going up $29.

I will definitely wait until well after the holidays when it gets a little leaner and more competitive, also to check and see if Elegoo has worked out the initial issues with the Saturn or if the Mono X price comes back down to earth.