Welcome to the SeeMeCNC Community

Okay there are some VERY smart people here who have printed with pretty much everything so I'm wondering if anyone wants to weigh in on whats the good and bad and what are the hot filaments.

I've been printing pretty exclusively with ABS and I get decent results but I'm looking for better. I'm running the HE280 hotend if that changes anything.

What do you want to accomplish? They're all different. PETG is easier to print but has lower service temperature limits. ABS/CF is supposed to be easy to print and have great mechanical properties but it's more expensive and should use a hardened nozzle (I haven't tried it myself yet). Different ones stick to different support materials and have different chemical compatibility in use.

It all comes down to what your requirements are. As stock, the HE280 is for lower temp materials like PLA and ABS. You need the Jet accessory to turn it into a high temperature hot end.

I know I need the jet for higher temps. I was looking more for a discussion about people's experiences with various filaments

I use PETG a fair amount for applications seeing higher temperatures than what PLA can handle. It's a little bit tricker to print with than PLA and ABS, but prints well once you get it dialed in.

If it's just a cosmetic part or not exposed to higher temps (hot car, etc), than PLA is my goto. I use ABS on occasion if I want to vapor polish a part, but avoid large parts due to warp.

I use the ProtoPasta HTPLA that can be annealed for high temp use. It's the bees knees. Here's their blurb on it:

Slightly more challenging to print than standard PLA, HTPLA rewards you with stronger, tougher parts that can be "Heat Treated" for "Higher Temperature" resistance than PLA, ABS, or Co-polyesters like PET. For warp-free printing and minimal shrinkage during heat treating, choose Carbon Fiber HTPLA.

I don't find it difficult to print at all. Annealing is easy and you can see the transformation.

Their line of matte fiber HTPLA is awesome too if you need a matte look. Very high tech. The black looks like their awesome CF PLA but no SS nozzle required. I sound like a PP advert, sorry! It's good stuff though.

FWIW Tom did a piece on this recently and apparently many standard PLA's can be annealed like the HTPLA.

I personally am not a PETG fan, I find it close to impossible to remove stringing from it.
There are a number of newer co-polyesters that seem to be the in vogue filament, E3D edge and equivalents, they are supposed to not exhibit the worst of the PET properties, but they still require hotend temperatures ~250C.
I have a soft spot for Taulman Bridge, it really is a printable Nylon, but only if you need it's properties.

As others have said it depends what you are trying to print.

I've struggled a bit more with the Inland PETG vs ColorFabb and MakerGeek PETG. I'm playing around with some PETG from Toner plastics soon. I've found the colored Inland PETGs print more easily than the transparent PETG.

My PETG tips...

Coasting in Cura or S3D helps a bunch with strings.
Use of Pressure advance helps as well (Duet/RepRapFirmware) or software based in Slic3r. I prefer Coasting before Pressure Advance.
Thick first layer 0.2mm minimum with 0.3mm normally and a slow initial first layer
PEI print surface... never had success with glass or glass with glue stick
Big Z hop on retract (2-4mm)
3.5mm retraction at 25mm/s. I'm using a Prometheus hotend, so big retracts is not an issue.