I have an Ender 3 S1 that I use every couple of months at this point because it’s just such a pain to use. I have to adjust the bed tramming and z offset and run auto bed leveling for every single print and often times that’s still not good enough.
It will often take 30+ minutes just to get the first layer going down successfully.
Is this a me problem or did I lose the creality lottery?
This is unfortunately the risk of the cheaper machines. Some people claim they have no issues, but you see many posts like this one that have constant problems or have spent a bunch of money to upgrade their machines to the point where they print consistently.
The cruel reality is that the cheaper machines are better for enthusiasts that have more knowledge and are ok with the printer being their hobby rather than printing, but they tend to be bought by people just coming into the hobby because they don’t want to invest in a reliable printer until they know whether they like it (or simply can’t afford it).
I did the exact same thing when I bought my first printer. I had already had experience with reliable printers and am very mechanically minded, so I thought I was ok to buy one that I knew I would have to tinker with. Eventually I came to the realization that to get it to the point where it would be workable the time and money would just about buy me a Prusa instead.
I probably count as that type of person you describe. I found a model on Lemmy that I really wanted to make and ended up buying an Ender 3 v2 cheap with a coupon at Micro Center. Has it totally been trouble-free? No. But I got it for a hundred bucks, plus a few addons (auto-level, flexible magnetic bed). I’d have to pay significantly more for a nicer one, when this is just an experimental hobby. I don’t care if I have to fiddle around a little more to get my occasional print going. In a way fine-tuning is part of the problem solving and tinkering I’m really looking for. I don’t care if the quality is less than what another printer can do. I don’t need a Cadillac when a Geo gets me to the grocery store just fine.
Oh, and most of my issues were caused by shitty filament. Once I went from some weird stuff on Amazon to the Inland I’ve had better success with, things went way better. I’m surprised that’s not mentioned more actually.