Edit: wow I'm overwhelmed by all the help I received in this thread, I was gonna reply to everyone but it's gotten to a lot. You've all given me a lot to think about, thank you so much.

Hello there, hope everyone is doing well. I could use a bit of help/wisdom choosing my first FDM machine.

I get it, the technology has advanced a lot and I'm so lucky to be getting into this when I am, spoiled for choice with great options which is kind of the problem.

Realistically, my main goal is building functional, engineering style parts for my work as a cinematographer, think things like custom viewfinders, cable ties, precision rollers, and general parts and accessories for my rigs.

I do have a kid and family home too so I'll definitely want some toys for him and knick-knacks for the house but that's secondary.

So I know I need an enclosed core-XY with high temp hardened steel nozzles/heated bed for these special abrasive engineering materials.

I don't want 3D printing itself to be my hobby, but I definitely know how to tinker, I'm also not half bad with CAD/3D modelling.

Folks recommend Bambu but I'm also conscious of much cheaper options available that would do what I need.

I think I'm almost settled on the elegoo Centauri Carbon, but I'm worried about regretting not having multi-color right away (they're supposedly bringing an AMS style add-on but it's not there yet), and even when it does, it'll have the massive waste issue all these systems have.

So then there's the brand new options that are just coming out like the Snap maker U1 which sounds amazing but I dunno about getting something so new and apparently they don't have great track record.

Also looked at creality, flash forge, Audi Q2.... It seems I discover a new brand/option every day even after a month of research, lmao.

So, what are your opinions? What would you get as someone in my situation? I'd rather not spend too much on the printer (hence not listing Prusa) but I also don't want buyer's remorse and wanting to upgrade in a few months, ideally I get a work-horse that'll serve me for years to come right away and skip the upgrade paths...

Thanks in advance for your thoughts 🙏

Hello fellow Lemmy investors. I need to vent/seek advice...

I'm passively invested to what is (for me) a big amount in VWCE... The beatings have been rough since trump took office and a good chunk of my profits have already been wiped out.

Due to a change in careers 2.5 years ago (starting my own business), I've not had as much income as I used to and have not been adding to the fund since then. This fund is my "do-not-touch" fund, I did have cash savings on the side, a decent chunk of which has gone into investments in my business, vehicle, etc.

I'm not wiped out yet and still in the green, and I still have a rainy-days worth amount in cash savings, but if this fuckery is gonna keep going, that won't last much longer I guess. My fund is all-world so it's supposed to rebalance if the US shits the bed (which is why I went for that rather than the traditional S&P500 indexes), but still it's getting beat pretty hard meanwhile. I'm in Europe if that matters.

I don't know what to do, my strategy would say to ignore this and stop looking at the app, but also I can't help being nervous and I really don't want to start seeing my hard-earned savings that I'm keeping for my kid/retirement go in the red...