Literally all this. I own a ender 3 v2 and know a couple other people with them. I got mostly lucky with mine, the extruder broke a little earlier than most, however. I went down the upgrade hole a d realized I could have bought a better printer. But don’t let that dissuade you from trying one, like others have said, their QA is all over the place. You may get a gem or a lemon, it’s a crapshoot. From scouring the internet, the ones I see that get the most love in the more budget friendly space are the Prusa Mini and the Sovol SV06. I jumped in a little deeper and got a Bambulabs P1P and couldn’t be happier for $600 out the door @microcenter.

My advice is, watch a bunch of reviews, but instead of buying into what they’re saying about the printer itself, note the features each printer has and see what ones interest you the most, then look for the printer that has those features.

More advice? You got it, buddy. Don’t do what I see a lot of people suggest and go out and buy an Ender 3x vx and also buy a metric ass ton of upgrades because someone had them in a review or suggested it on the internet. Set it up and print some calibration cubes, 1st layer tests, temp towers and the like to see how that printer actually works. Once you get more experience under your belt, then maybe look at upgrading. You’ll know what feature it is you want/need, or you’ll have a problem in need of solving that only time and currency can fix.

Learn the basics. Learning how to tram (level) your print bed is critical for success. Being new and relying on a self leveling unit (without learning how to tram) isn’t a great idea, because they’re not foolproof. Think of a feature upgrade like a CR or BL touch for an Ender as a “tool” and not a “fix” and you’re light years ahead already. 3d printing is a great hobby but like any other hobby you’re going to fail few times before uou get it right. Learn how to verify your chassis and all axis are square. Learn how to calibrate your particular unit.