Intro
My first 3D printer from 2014 was a noisy mess of spilled out guts. Upgrading to the Anycubic i3 Mega was a great positive impression, though some noise tweaks were needed. For the last couple of years, my 3D printer was a Prusa Mini+. It had the right upgrades I wanted: network control, smaller size, and supposed better print quality, all right from the box. Then it was also updated to support input shaper which reduced the printing time. But I also wanted to get a reliable printer that I would keep as it was made by the manufacturer, without modifications (hence why the only thing I added was a light that is powered from the printer).
However, the industry still somehow insists on making printers without an enclosure, so for the Prusa Mini+ I got a network cabinet to keep it in. The box helps with noise, smell, keeping out the dust and overall esthetics and practicability. Recently, I got the Original Prusa MINI Enclosure, the official one, so this is a brief review which compares them.
The network cabinet
Because I thought the typical Ikea Lack enclosure it too large for my space, I explored alternatives for a box. In the end, it turned out that a network cabinet is a good alternative. After understanding the space required, I settled on a DIGITUS Professional Network Wall Housing, size 9HE (affiliate link). This box is enough for the printer and a spool, but the printer has to be placed 90 degrees rotated from the normal way of operation, like below. It would possibly work better with a wall spool holder, but the bearing based holder I already had did just fine.
The Original Prusa MINI Enclosure
I could not pass the opportunity to get one of these, thinking it would be a lot better than the network box. Here is how the printer looks like installed
How do they compare?
The need for an enclosure for the 3D printer is easily fulfilled by both. For me it solves the problems mentioned in the intro and it easily proves a point for the future: 3D printers should be a box, not an empty scheleton. At least printers aimed at the regular user who does not want a print farm.
How does it fit around the printer: the network cabinet does make it seem like the box is an afterthought. But so does the official enclosure. Both enclosures are just a box in which you put the printer, which is far from what a printer designed from the start as a box feels like (for example coreXY printers, or pretty much any boxy 2D printer).
Size: both enclosures greatly increase the footprint of the printer, which make the Prusa mini lose this size advantage.
Accessibility: the network box is wider towards the user side, which makes accessing the printer easier, but it also keeps it rotated 90degrees, which makes is a bit more difficult. The official enclosure has the more natural approach without the printer rotation, but the narrow and deep box makes reaching inside more difficult.
Price, assembly, weight: the network box costs about half the cost of the base model original enclosure and it is faster to assemble. They are both comparatively heavy.
Overall conclusion
Both enclosures are in more ways similar than they are different. There are trade-offs for both and I cannot say that one is clearly better than the other. But if I had to get a single one again from the start, I would go for the network cabinet, as it costs a lot less, is faster to install and I somewhat prefer the wider door.