I'm shopping for my first printer, I don't have any experience with 3d printing but I'm vaguely familiar with the whole process and I understand there will be a learning curve and I'm looking forward to that part.
I'm leaning towards the Creality S1 Pro because I remember the huge hub-bub about the Ender 3 when it first came out and it seems like everyone and their brother suggests it as a good first printer but then when I read reviews it seems kinda janky and I'm an adult with a job so I don't mind fussing a little but I don't want to fuss a lot.
I picked the S1 Pro because I think it has an auto-leveling print surface and the name recognition from the previously mentioned Ender 3, but when I try to research other printers I'm completely overwhelmed by the options.
If you are looking for minimal fussing about, get a prusa or a bambu. You will spend more money that route though, and the bambu is a closed system so you buy official parts from bambu when something breaks. Personally I am a fan of sovol and elegoo printers over reality, if you are looking for a bed slinger design. (creality is the name everyone recognizes so they have market share, but really they aren't making anything better than (or in many cases even as-good as) anyone else.)
I'm also a big fan of flsun deltas, but don't think I'd go for the v400... Super racer is a great machine and the q5 is a fantastic starter printer and cheap to start, if a bit limited in build area. But if I had the money to spend on a v400 I'd likely buy a bambu (or build a rat rig or voron, actually) instead.
what makes a sovol or elegoo better than creality? I just get so overwhelmed because they all look pretty much the same and seem to be priced the same too
I have only one printer and it is a sovol sv06 so I can't compare it to any creality printers, but it has been great. My understanding is that the sv06 is a clone of a prusa printer. I have had extremely minimal tinkering with mine (other than lubricating bearings once) and I have been printing most days for the past month. I'm sure the prusa has better QC and better customer support but the sovol was less than half the price
The more research I do that more I like the sv06.