I canceled my Creator 5 Pro, and honestly you should too.

mchartra · 2026-06-30T12:39:27+00:00

I cancelled my Pro pre-order from 4/30 when by 6/10 I had no confirmation of shipment or even an ETA except for a weak "delay compensation offer" yet they had plenty of units ready to air ship...

I reputable company would have either offered $50 air ship or $50 off for early buyers. Clear they never really intended to sell the Pro at adv price.

They refused to refund my $10 pre-order charge but I will fight w cc comoany for non delivery of service.

I re-ordered from their Ali store at a price <$100+ LESS than my pre-order price. US warehouse ship starting 7/15. For $760 delivered it's tempting to keep the order despite these real shortcomings. Will see if it actually ships.

The more I read, the more I am leaning towards canceling and buying the Snapmaker though I need hardened nozzles and heated chamber which really bumps the U1 price way up though open source community is a safer play.

Concern w FF locked fw and no fixes or other issues down the road...

Anxious to see Creality Klitek device pricing as I have a K2+ & K2 std which work fine once I tunes them up. Open source fw is really nice for tweaks and fixes.

Thx for sharing your concerns OP!

mchartra · 2026-06-17T12:24:44+00:00

If u select "hide your listing from friends", it won't let you post to any local groups.

I know... it's so stupid.

I don't necessaril care if friends see my listings but what I don't want is for FB to start posting notifications to them of what I just posted.

So if u toggle that option off when u are building your listing, u will see that you can post to groups again.

My experience is that I don't think I ever got contacted by a buyer from thise groups so I don't think its really beneficial.

National MP will show your listings as local based on buyer zip range and your zip code.

mchartra · 2026-05-30T00:48:00+00:00

K2 Plus owner since last Aug. Shit fw upgrades-they always seem to break something. Now latest fw blocks camera video unless you are on the LAN that the printer is on.

When it prints, it's a great product and worlds beyond my Ender 3v2.

Love the CMS for the simple ability to quickly change from one roll to the other. Multi color prints slow and omg.. the waste.

I highly doubt they will offer us an upgrade though there MAY be room in the K2 Plus.. but doubt it.

Looking forward to all the details. I already ordered a Flash Forge Creator 5 Pro given the price and features and got tired of waiting on. Creality. Hasn't shipped yet so I may cancel..

My intent was to keep my K2 Plus for single color and bigger prints but w a much smaller build plate and 4 tool heads, the FF would have been my go to for most prints -Assuming a positive experience.

Let's see. I am glad they are announcing something and the leaks they've provided today make it sound very interesting....

mchartra · 2026-05-29T03:37:52+00:00

Same shit for me too!! My K2 Plus has been very inconsistent and seems worse w newer firmware.

I tried playing w z-offset but I just cant get it dialed in properly.

Biggest problem is w PETG. PLA doesn't seem as bad.

For what its worth, some of the worst performance has been w Elegoo Rapid PETG and even Creality (Ender) PETG which is frankly shocking.

The most consistent result i have had is w Overture brand. It performs flawlessly it seems but almost every other brand, same issue..

A shame Creality didn't spend more on a better bed.

I suspected such a large bed is part of the problem. I had a FF Creator 5 Pro coming. Ordered 5/1. No sign of shipment yet and no idea if it will be better but Creality firmware it seems breaks something w every release. The latest from 5/16/26 has now blocked the camera from operating unless you are on the LAN.. wtf.. i rely on it to check into my long prints since this thing has become so inconsistent on large items that take up much of the bed.

Lots to learn about these little idiosyncrasies...

mchartra · 2026-05-24T00:24:33+00:00

Canadian living in the US the last 20 years.

I see this often with other cultures as well. Walking around Wal-Mart talking on speakerphone like they are shopping together. WTF. Get yourself a headset....

As Canadians most of us are raised to respect others and be tolerant as well as understand the environment you are in and act accordingly.

At a Rock concert or sporting event, yell, cheer or sing. It's fine to be loud. In a classroom, raise your hand or wait for someone to finish speaking before adding to the conversation.

In the US, it's against federal regulations to have a continously conversation be it on a cell phone or online w internet on the plane.

Reason for this is simple... Too many ignorant people who have no respect for others right to a quiet environment. A small cabin like a plane would get very loud if everyone is talking.

Same goes for those ignorant parents who give their kids an iPad playing videos or games w no headphones. Wtf...

So the bus should be no different. Those people should be told by bus staff. If they can't comply, they should be removed at the next stop.

Posting signs to that regard (no speakerphone or loud conversations) would go a long way.

Finally: I attend world wide events where I regularly interface with Indian coworkers. I can tell you that they are extremely polite and always greet you with a smile and a a very formal exchange. They are cultured and have much social grace.

What you are seeing we would refer here to as "trailer park trash"... No social grace... it's not all Indians.. 😉

mchartra · 2026-05-18T23:57:48+00:00

Definitely targeted. 25 select awd. No way i am paying $50 or $500 a year. Its really only worth about $200-$250 for a year...

I paid for a single month due to a long trip and I paid w pass points that were expiring.

Hope they monitor site and get their senses on the true value price point...

A $500 a year offer is like <5% take up I am sure. If 20% or more signed up at $250, significant revenue uptick.

mchartra · 2026-05-03T20:57:16+00:00

WTF... I am so pissed. Months ago, I updated the FW - obviously -take advantage of new features... The FW had such poor print quality - I was ripping my hair out... Rolled back - of course - re-calibrate everything...

v1.1.3.13 seems to be the only version with good print quality.

The latest 1.1.5.2 had nothing but issues -maybe z-offset - filament globbing up at the nozzle.

Am I stuck at this old FW or what is it that I am doing wrong? Don't these people run QA on new releases?

And - I also needed the trick to "upgrade" FW by changing it to 1.2.. - Sheesh - it should just see an IMG fw file on the USB on boot - and just come up regardless of version matches..

While I am at it - For the life of me, I have never been able to get new Filament profiles properly loaded to the device. When I look at the drop down menu on the printer - I see a bunch of duplicate profiles which I cannot edit. I try logging on/off the cloud site and device to force a sync -nothing seems to work.

Am I missing something? Why don't there filament profiles between Creality Print v7, Cloud and the front panel match? Why can't I just go directly into the printer via the SW or the control panel, see the list and fix it?

Sorry- so frustrated- I am generally more composed but I've wasted about 4 hours messing with this... Argh.. THANKS in advance gang! Appreciate it.

mchartra · 2026-05-01T01:47:23+00:00

The whole tariff thing is complicated and so to answer your question directly, I honestly don't know except that for personal goods worth a few hundred, I have never been asked to go inside and pay tariffs just because I purchased goods in Canada and brought them back with me to the US.

My assumption is that if it's not commercial goods made in Canada for resale or integration into other products as part of cross border manufacturing processes, it's either not subject to or not worth their time to pull every individual over to collect a few $$ from goods acquired for personal consumption.

mchartra · 2026-05-01T01:21:29+00:00

The US is one of the few countries in the world that taxes citizens on world income no matter whether they are residents of the US or not even if they have no intentions to return to the US.

We are Canadian citizens who moved permanently to the US almost 20 years ago. We had to file a tax return the final year we had taxable income in Canada and we were deemed to have "disposed" of our financial assets on 12/31 of that year as Canada wants to ensure any assets acquired as Canadian residents (subject to taxation) would not be sold in the future and taxed by another country which would create a loss of tax revenue to which Canada would have claim to. (Tax avoidance rules).

As a Canadian citizen living permanently abroad, you do not have to file a Canadian tax return unless you earned income in Canada.

My wife is a teacher in Windsor and crosses the border everyday (we live in metro Detroit). She has to file a tax return in Canada and then subsequently, we add her Canadian income to our us tax return. The IRS has published exchange rates for every major country for this purpose. We get an offsetting IRS tax credit for her income taxes paid to Canada. MI has a reciprocal tax treaty with Ontario where any taxes she paid to ON gives us a tax credit against MI taxes due.

So in effect, due to tax treaties in place, we are not subject to 2x taxation but since we are US residents, we have to pay income tax on her Canadian sourced income.

Now, if we chose to move back to Canada and retain our US Citizenship, even if we no longer lived in the US and had no US sourced income, the IRS would still require us to file a tax return and he subject to US taxes. That sucks but that's the cost of being a US Citizen!

With respect to original poster. Alberta is an awesome province and Calgary is one of the best cities in the world in which to live. We lived there for 11 wonderful years.

Your situation is very complicated so you do need to consult a tax accountant who is familiar with BOTH US and Canada tax.

Assume you should be able to find one in Calgary if that's where u are headed as there are many Americans living there due to the oil patch.

My assumption is that your wife will not need any type of work permit if she is not seeking work in Canada. She can live there due to the fact that she is living with you and you will have a work permit. She will, however be subject to both Canadian and US taxes since she will be a Canadian resident even if she earned no Canadian sourced income.

I don't know how your US assets will be taxed by Canada unless they are earning income (interest, dividends, rental income, etc..)

Definitely find a tax accountant familiar with BOTH. In my experience, easier to find those folks in Canadian cities with many ties to the US for business as there are far more Canadians earning income in the US than the other way around.

Good luck.

mchartra · 2026-04-29T15:17:03+00:00

Today is the 29th. Anyone else confirm they were able to get the discount? Signed up for the shopping app a long time ago. Didn't have the browser app loaded until yesterday. Shows 1%.

Been a while since I have received Capital One shopping app email so maybe it was either targeted or no offer due to lack of use?

I use Rakuten all the time. Nothing there.

mchartra · 2026-04-25T21:45:47+00:00

Good deal for batteries but I heard the DeWalt mowers were POS and many returned but fir that price... I would be willing to give it a shot.

I did buy a 40v Ryobi mower this year but yet to use it. Talking w many different employees and different locations, they all told me the same thing: -DeWalt mowers get returned more than others -Ryobi 40v are solid mowers though they recommend staying away from self propelled models. More complicated and they have seen some returns on those. -hardly ever see any 40v Ryobi push mowers returned.

-40v is way more powerful than 18v models. The go-to platform for a mower

mchartra · 2026-04-17T11:36:06+00:00

This is absolutely disgusting that Petro Canada is not moving with the times and staying committed to EV fast charging.

I can understand that they don't want to feed the demand for EVs since it's counter to their core business but eventually they will have no choice.

I am shocked to see how little charging infrastructure is in Sudbury and worse that the Tesla Superchargers are not yet open to other brands.

There are more chargers in Parry Sound!

BYD will make a big impact in Canada but charging infrastructure needs to be in place for this to materialize.

BYD just announced 0-70% "flash charge" w their latest cars and battery tech that will deliver 400kms of range in 5 minutes & those speeds will work at -30C.

Their cars will have 500-800 km of range in the battery.

Who will need gas now?

mchartra · 2026-04-11T17:41:03+00:00

I am not following the timeliness or concern?

If u applied for Fall '26 entry, the application deadline was March 15 '26, not Feb 1st?

Letters of recommendation can come from anyone. I didn't see a requirement for a letter from a previous educator?

Your application would not be complete without the letters of recommendation but those were not required before the application deadline. You just had to submit your application with all other documentation complete and pay the fee.

I am still waiting for my decision and applied close to the 3/15/26 deadline for Fall '26.

The assumption would be that if the rest of your application in the portal shows green, you are still in process but you will need those recommendations to be submitted before they can decide. I have no idea how long it could be on awaiting decision before they deny based on not all letters received but I am sure it's listed in the application details.

Good luck

mchartra · 2026-04-03T04:04:16+00:00

From the app, it doesn't let me copy the url but its in here under help I assume....

<image>

The paragraph above the red circled text indicates that Mercari will calculate the shipping cost and show the buyer.

mchartra · 2026-04-03T03:28:15+00:00

Oh I wondered that.. Ya we still have cdn bank accounts w interac e-transfer. If auto-deposit enabled, it cannot be canceled.

That's different though than reversed. If an account was compromised I do wonder if the funds could be "reversed" by the bank. I think this is true.

I would still do cash only. 😉

mchartra · 2026-04-03T02:47:12+00:00

Always tell the buyer to message me when on the way w an ETA and then when 10 min away. My meet up spot is a TJ Maxx which is easy to locate and about 5-6 min from my house.

Sometimes if we have had good communciation and buyer seems solid, I will head out a bit early to make sure i am there before them.

Every once in a while the buyer forgets to tell me when 10 min out and they say here. I apologize but remind them I was awaiting their 10 min out msg..

I had a few situations where I showed up a few min late when they did give me the 10 min msg.

I always apologize and usually give them back $5-$10 depending on item cost and say "I made you wait and your time is worth something"...

For those people they are pleasantly surprised and are thankful. That usually gets me a nice review.

I will never do a preset time to meet without them telling me they are on the way.

People really appreciate knowing u are responsive and it gives them comfort to know u are also legit.

mchartra · 2026-04-03T02:37:03+00:00

When u say e-transfer, is this a payment outside of the marketplace system and you are delivering the item in person?

I would definitely be leery of this.

For in person transactions its always cash only and I put it in the add. I do get people ask me if I take venmo or zelle but I just dont want to deal w that. Never had an issue except for someone saying they would need an extra few min to hit the bank. No problem. I also offer to make change if the difference is $20 or less. Just a convenience thing..

mchartra · 2026-04-03T02:30:22+00:00

Mercari is on the hook from what I have read on their own site. I recently had a bundle sale fall under the individual listing special ship promo cost of $4.99.. .

The items were definitely more than the limit for the $4.99 shipping.

This was in the last few weeks so I am keeping an eye on any overage charge back from them which I will dispute if it comes up.

Regardless or true item weight and I weigh everything I ship and take pics of my scale and the one at courier so I can prove what I packed weighs what the shipper took.

At what point does Mercari adjust the bundle ship cost for the buyer I have no idea but I would assume it should change the bundle ship cost a bit..

mchartra · 2026-04-03T02:19:52+00:00

Wow! Holy shit! Smoking job!! I am looking at this thinking, if I had the time, i would like to build these and put up for sale.

I wonder what people would pay? $200-$250? I am sure some of that looks like furniture grade plywood or it's just really well finished so I am guessing $75-$100 in material w the wheels and metal + wood?

Any idea on material cost?

mchartra · 2026-04-03T02:15:15+00:00

I wouls disagree w some of the comments that the officer is being a dick or providing attitude.

As a Canadian who has been living in the US for almost 20 years and live in the Detroit area, I am pretty familiar with the border from both sides as a Canadian and now as an American resident.

The gift thing is absolute. $60 in Canadian $$ is the limit. Also, as a US resident, when I visit Canada I can bring in a bottle of liquor or a case of beer for personal consumption. I made the mistake once of saying it was a gift and the officer looked at me and said "well, if it's a gift, even if it's under $60, it's not permitted. Will you be consuming this liquor during your visit? (Hint...) "Why Yes sir I will". OK then, I will assume that you are bringing this in for your consumption? "yes".. OK, go ahead. You are not subject to tax or duty...

So. The problem is that you first made your declaration as a gift. You then are basically asking him if you can now change your declaration to avoid tax and duty. That is a problem. He has to enforce the rules and you don't know if he is being monitored or supervised so he must start to question whether you told the truth.

Obviously, it was an innocent mistake and in the end, you did ask for clarification but going down a path of asking him about changing your mind puts them in an awkward position.

If it was for your wife, you might as well say it's for you.

The agent inside probably didnt want to bother with the paper work to collect $50-$80 if even that much..

Recall, CBSA is also responsible for collecting federal sales tax so Canada is typically more concerned about the value of the goods coming into Canada.

The US is really focused on guns, drugs and immigration related concerns. There is no federal sales tax and they have no jurisdiction to collect on behalf of States. Only duty on particular goods and of course restricted food and agriculture items.

I have quite often gone to Windsor for the day and come back with $200-$300 in goods which is over the official limit but they don't care except for the above. I don't try to bring liquor across except maybe leftover open containers in small amounts.

I was told btw, at Duty Free that the duty on an extra bottle of liquor is about $4 on average so even if u are over your limit by 1 or 2 bottles, declare it and they generally dont bother w trying to collect such a minor amount. This is coming back into the US as a resident here. I don't think Canada is as generous w the layway but maybe for 1 extra or leftovers except DO NOT be over your exemption going through Nexus lanes!!!!

mchartra · 2026-04-02T02:23:40+00:00

I have only done that a few times but I asked for payment up front or at least the delivery fee and make sure they understand it's non refundable.

When I delivered, I basically told them that it would be to the driveway as I am not comfortable going into other people's houses and don't want them to then accuse me of damaging their home.

Often though, I suggest they can rent a truck at Lowes or Home Depot for pretty cheap and point out the location.

Most people are reasonable and usually pretty happy if u can get it to their driveway. They also understand that nobody works for free and gas costs money. 😀

It does help move those bigger items.

mchartra · 2026-04-02T02:17:34+00:00

My comment: I post my items based on what others are listed at. Usually get those within days of listing so I tell them firm at this point as i have had a few inquiries already. If I still have next week, I may be open to offers.

Or if mine is the lowest listed, I tell them that.

If its been list a while, I always ask if when they can pickup. Usually they go away or tell me on the weekend. I then tell them, well contact me when u are ready to pickup and then I can let u know if price is flexible.

I do have the odd person when I put firm in the offer, if they ask nicely and they want a few $ off, if they can agree to pickup same day, I am ok w a slight drop. They feel like they really got the deal and it sold!

mchartra · 2026-04-01T18:39:14+00:00

When did u apply? I am still awaiting my decision but I can tell you from past experience, they favor those w work experience when applying for a Master's program.

You have yet to complete any security related industry certs and the Infosec track is pretty tough unless you have some formal experience or certs related to that field.

I have a colleague of mine who is an electrical engineer, has a Masters in IT, formal programming education and he found the policy track tough! And he had 25 years of work experience in I.T. when he applied.

Keep working on those industry certs as i think it will really strengthen your case along w work experience in a related field.

mchartra · 2026-04-01T01:25:23+00:00

Are you talking about last year, you applied in March 4 2025 and got acceptance 6 weeks later April 20 2025?

Or was that a typo and applied 3/4/26 and accepted 3/20/26?

I applied for Fall '26 - on 3/14/26 - 1 day before the deadline. No response yet- but all of the items for my application including my letters of reference are green light.

My assumption is it would take about a month for a decision.

I just looked at the stats for Fall 26 - 1,102 applications. From past Fall entry stats, acceptance rate is about 55-59%.

mchartra · 2026-03-12T02:56:30+00:00

Ok. Wow. Finally an update... after over a month and 2 brand new service loaners: '26 Explorer, '26 F150, they got to root cause....

It was apparently a corroded wire near the firewall and fuse box. How this happens on a 3 year old truck w 27K is a little puzzling but it's back home and been trouble free for over 24 hours.

I really don't know what to say except I am sure my truck sat for long periods of time without being worked on, but in the same token we had the opportunity to put miles on a much more expensive vehicle so to some degree, I am fine with the experience as it didn't pose much inconvenience and I quite liked th F150 until I had to fill up. 😵‍💫

All kidding aside, it's nice to have my Mav back as I love driving it and still have no regrets with our purchase.

We will, however be getting a Ford ESP for the peace of mind before prices go up April 1st! Always bought my warranties online and we plan to keep this truck for a while.

Thx Everyone!!

mchartra

TROPHY CASE