Comment by jacquesm
10 hours ago
Yes, you can use the P1S offline, but they've done everything possible to make it hard: crappy micro sd interface without the ability to use folders, USB plug absolutely inaccessible (see if you can even find it) and then, once you've found it it turns out that there is absolutely no way to use it to print with. They push you towards their closed source plugin 'for your benefit'. Fuck that stuff. There is absolutely no way I'm going to run a Chinese built piece of software that I can not inspect on my desktop. FOSS or bust.
I'm curious - which firmware version are you on? Just yesterday I got confused when I accidentally entered the "cache" folder (Handy sliced models?) on my P1S, so it looks like my machine definitely supports folders at least. I am located in the UK and bought it late 2025.
AFAIK, the hidden internal USB port is intended to charge a phone/other device used as a "touch controller".
I don't like their closed-source control and the way they've managed local integrations, but I also want to accelerate making things with a printer that just "prints" (akin to how some will buy into the Apple ecosystem for something that "just works"). I've now sold my previous open-source Klipper/Mainsail printer which I heavily modified.
If/when Bambu makes their ecosystem unbearable for me, I will switch away (probably to a Prusa). For now, the ease of use of the machine has led to much more things being made as I can trust it to work accurately and reliably.