Here's my knowledge dump for you. Hopefully you will find some information below that is useful for you.
Firstly, both the Ender 3 and the CR-10 that were mentioned are both good choices.
That being said, testimonials in the 3d printing world are all but useless. A huge proportion of the issues blamed on the printer, the filaments, print quality, and overall success rate in general is operator error. There are several major factors, but the most common ones are: improper settings (software/input), improper setup (hardware and installation), and improper maintenance (which includes moist/non-dry filament).
Someone mentioned in another thread about the Ender 3 and the CR-10. One major difference is printable dimensions (build volume). For the CR-10, it is 12x12x15.5 (inches). For the Ender 3, it is 8.6x8.6x9.8 (inches). Keep in mind that those are max dimensions, assuming that everything was set up perfectly. In reality, nothing is ever perfect (many factors come into play), so your build volume will be slightly to significantly smaller, for all practical purposes. You should expect to get 85-95% of the stated useful dimensions, if set up properly. Also keep in mind that you might be able to print outside of that area, but your dimensional accuracy will go down and your chances of a failed or poor quality print go up.
Size. The Ender 3 is a nice product at a nice price, but it really limits you on build volume. You can make up for it somewhat by printing at an angle, but sometimes that is not practical for structural rigidity of the part or other reasons. Carefully consider what items you would and would not be able to produce into your budget for the projects. It may be in your best interest to hold off until you can put some more into it. The other size issue is physical size. Look at the dimensions and take a tape measure to your desired place for it. It needs to be
sturdy and
level, and big enough to work and for you to be able to adjust and work with it. The CR-10 is significantly bigger and takes up more space. So just do the math and measurements and pick what is best for
your purposes. It is also worth mentioning that you need to reserve that space for the printer, and and make sure you're OK with that. Moving or re-packing it requires significant effort, and that is a pain in the butt, which discourages use of it at all.
If you plan to use ABS, you should enclose it for best results, FYI. You also need good ventilation, esp with ABS.
The Ender 3 is sturdier, which will allow you to print faster before getting "ghosting" (vibration/oscillation artifacts). The CR-10 is still capable of the same great print quality, but you need to print more slowly... perhaps significantly more slowly. That means print times that can be 2x or more vs what would be required on the smaller printer, especially with "taller" prints.
Most 3D printers, including the two mentioned above, have bowden (aka bowden tube) extruders. There are also "direct drive" extruders. Bowden extruders are the best option for most, but for some use cases, like flexible filaments, you need direct drive. The main down side for direct drive extruders is a lot more weight on the print head assembly, which can cause a lot of issues. I recommend researching it a bit to see what is best for you, but it will probably be bowden.
Setup is very important. Your printer needs to be on a flat surface with good contact to the surface. If anything is wobbly or vibrates, you need to fix it for best print results. It is also important to use a level and triangle. This will ensure that the printer dimensions are proper among the parts of the printer, and with the ground/earth. This all ensures that when you adjust a given axis input, you are only adjusting that one dimension.
Again, a lot of the above is optimal, but not necessarily required. Just keep in mind that the more you skimp on doing it properly, the more likely you will end of on reviews somewhere complaining about crap products.