Thanks to everyone for their recommendations.
It is a pleasure to help those who appreciate the help.
Some reassurances, moral support and advice going forward:
The objectively correct right answer.The guy who recommended it to me came over and helped me set it up while our daughters had a playdate (they're school classmates and friends).
This is the winning line right here. You bought a printer, after researching it and others, with the direct help of someone who is friendly and you allow in your door. Optimum result frankly.
I do not know the Sovol, so I could not recommend it. I do not know if it is basic top end or in the middle. You have it, you have the recommendation of someone who is a fan of it and therefore you have support, and in turn will grow to understand the Sovol and gain exp in use of that printer.
This is why I recommended the Ender 3, the chance of the above optimum scenario is high due to the ubiquity of the printer. It could have been an Ender 3 guy who came around with his daughter, but it was a Sovol guy. I won't try and measure the two, it's not practical, or helpful. The outside expertise is worth far more than any differences even if subjectively better. When you become Sovol guy 2.0 you will know what is what.
Ubiquity is keyWhat I will say is this. The other half of my advice still holds. If you get the 3d print bug and want faster and more, don't bother 'upgrading to the newer faster printer', get two or three or more basic printers and run them in tandem. Same result but even faster and a lot cheaper. Also multiple printers mean print fails are parsed and you lose less effort, unless the failure is a general power cut.
If you end up with two or three Sovols side by side on your workbench you are heading in the right not the wrong direction.
The only exceptions are for massive print sizes and if you want to transition to resin.
Large Scale printers. Think outside the box.For massive print sizes you need to ask yourself why. Most print items are split down for 220mm and 240mm bed sizes, which are dictated by the bulk quantity printers that are most commonly used. Another good reason to join the herd. You need larger than this only for specific items, wearables are a good example and specific 'industrial' use. You will already know if you are in that category.
Large print sizes come at a price, the bigger the print bed the more the manufacturer will gouge you. Instead if you really want to make giant prints you need to make your own. To do this take a ubiquitous well supported printer, like an Ender ( or Sovol, check with the Sovol guy) and make custom axes for it and a custom print bed. This is a job for geeks, but it can be done. You can buy a 'massive' printer for a 'massive' price, or you can buy a regular 3d printer, some custom 'girders' and turn an entire workbench or even an entire room into a printer for a fraction of the price. Take that for print sizes. You can even make massive heated beds, pet shops sell them, and as is common the same item has a different price tag for different purposes. Want a massive custom heated print bed for a 3d printer "that'll cost ya!", want the exact same massive heated bed for a pet python "yep standard vivarium supplier waiting to serve customers".
Chances are you will never get there, but if you end up really getting the 3d printing bug, this is where the rabbit hole you tumble down ends up, and it is not as ridiculous as it first sounds.
ResinHowever now you are getting into 3d printing you will find that filament printing is not everything. It is better overall for some roles, but to make the most of 3d printing you need to consider resin. Even if you only resin print small components to add to a filament printers output what will make a huge quality difference.
The above wisdom for filament printers does not apply to resin. Here you through my earlier advice in reverse. You don't want to try and mod resin printers unless you really know what you are doing; most of us don't including me. You don't want to go cheap either, and unless you run a 3d print business you don't want two.
Safety firstYou have daughter and she sounds young. Resin printers involve chemical processes and are unsafe. Either you can secure your resin printer, in a well ventilated space, preferably in a lockable outbuilding, or don't buy one and go with filament printers only. Maybe you are already there, if so you can outsource resin print components and go filament only.
Bigger is better.If you are still on board with resin printing know this: Size is key, what can hold a lot can hold a little, but the other way around does not work. As resin printers are expensive don't go for a false economy, buy a bigger one over a smaller one. If needs be wait until a deal (including Black Friday!), if needs be wait until your budget recovers so you can spend an extra 25% on an even bigger one.
Just get ONE, unless you run printers as a business.When your print ends you need to be there, because the are immediate post production stages. These processes involve handling and storing chemicals so they cant be rushed. For safeties sake you want one resin printer running, wait for it to complete the print cycle then go through post production and clean up. Later you might have more than one running at once to finish cyclers between each other or do do one massive daily print then a single bigger clean up sequences. But that requires previous experience. Get the exp first, then juggle resin once you are confident you can.
Faster is better.Do not go with old tech, 3d resin printers are emerging technology. The newer screens last longer and print faster than older tech screens and cost marginally more, or even less. Go advanced not basic.
Research all the jargon.Watch lots of comparison videos.
TLDRElegoo Saturn 3 UltraBuy that one or the one most reviewers pitch to be superior to it and in your budget.
