Recent thread: https://hexbear.net/post/3153755

I bought myself a Creality Ender-3 v2 for $200 a few years ago and am still running it (despite it sort of being a Ship of Theseus at this point). At this point, there are budget printers with more available features (offered by Creality, as well as many other vendors). I highly recommend something with a Z-probe (for mesh leveling), and with some viable (i.e. observed in the wild, not just advertised as a feature by the vendor) method to run 3rd party firmware on the machine. I also recommend getting something somewhat popular, as this will make it easier to find replacement parts, printable mods, customized and fine-tuned firmware, as well as troubleshooting advice.

PLA and PETG are pretty easy to print. PLA is the easiest, PET(g) is a bit more sticky / messy, but is much stronger, tolerant to direct sunlight, and doesn't require an enclosure like ABS. You should have no problems printing these on any budget "bed slinger"

Mostly for familiarizing myself with the tools.

Cura might have better tree supports, but I'm a PrusaSlicer dead-ender personally. At some point you many want to learn how to use some modeling software, whether to create bespoke designs, or to modify STL files you find on Thingiverse/Printables so they can work with whatever materials / problems you have on hand. In particular, a lot of designs which require magnetic inserts or nuts/screws will only work if you have the exact magnet/screws on hand, but this can be fixed with a little elbowgrease.