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ArcticMyst Security by Avery

Wicked laser - laser dock

Joined
Feb 7, 2010
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Maybe someone can explain the logic in selling them for close to component costs as they claim they are doing? They have to build and ship them too which will cost $. It just doesn't make any sense.
 





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Mar 27, 2011
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Sure it does, if your plan is a bait & switch, or to not deliver altogether. Also WL was not at all shy about shipping truly terribly made products in the past.
 
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Feb 7, 2010
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Maybe they know they won't be able to get USA approval to ship (which they hint they know is a problem right now) so they are just looking for some funding cash knowing they will just refund before time to ship. They could claim they couldn't produce the product for that price and refund and then start selling them at $400 to $500 on their website afterwards after they started producing them (temporarily using the indigogo funds for that part). So many theories to think about :).
 
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I know no one was bashing me personally, just having a little fun. ;)

Yeah ... not the first time that's happened with one of these crowdfunding sites either. Definitely sketchy when it's WL involved. But ya never know, someone reliable has tested the product out - the controller at least anyway. So we know they do have a functioning product. That's at least a little encouraging. :beer:

I don't think anyone has tested their integrated product though, right? (The dongle and projector combined)

I'm curious how they managed to pull this off in such a short period of time, considering they JUST updated the campaign to include a separate projector in the bundle.
 

diachi

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I don't think anyone has tested their integrated product though, right? (The dongle and projector combined)

I'm curious how they managed to pull this off in such a short period of time, considering they JUST updated the campaign to include a separate projector in the bundle.

No, as far as I know only the dongle has been tested.

Don't see why it'd be all that difficult. Assuming there's space in the projector for the controller board all it'd require is a couple extra holes for mounting/USB and some screws really... Could easily just run the output of the controller parallel with the ILDA IN socket on the back. Really not much modification required. :p
 
Joined
Dec 27, 2011
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I just got this email as well. Thought I would come here for some info. It is down to $199 for projector and dongle right now. That's tempting just to SEE what it's all about.

I'm not real aware of indie gogo vs places like Kickstarter and gofundme. I assumed (perhaps wrongly) that indie gogo added credibility to it - not took it away. No?

I would have thought that indie gogo would suffer a pretty big credibility hit if something like this took a bad turn.

I note that someone suggested the gold star group purchase instead. I haven't been on here in a while, and I haven't seen it. But I have a fairly big issue with a > $1k show from them - it still works, but last Halloween I pulled it out with my laptop that has my software on it and was firing up one of the Halloween shows.

I fired it up and it turned on immediately. I mean THE LASERS turned on immediately. The lockout was NOT hooked up, but I was shooting a beam...

Not cool. I turned it off and treated it with extreme care until I had the beams aimed up at the screen and above any possible eye level, and it worked great from then on - except I don't have a working safety right now. I haven't looked at it to see what happened, or how that happened. But it freaked me out. Now that I know it, I am ok with being careful with it. But I'm bothered by the incident.

That said, it is otherwise a great unit. But it cost easily 6 times what this kit is claiming to cost, AND this kit has what looks like a neat software package. Not something I think that I can do with mine right now. It certainly has me curious.

Of course, I respect the pros here a lot, so I'm going to sit back and watch right now. I don't see how they've come down from $500 or so to $199 or why they would. It is very odd.

And while I do think of Wicked Lasers as a sketchy, or at best, worrisome operation, I kind of look at ALL of the Chinese laser-makers that way. You always want to have some reassurances before buying. That's what makes the GP's here so good, the laser manufacturers know if they mess up badly here, they never sell again to this crowd. I trust GP's here over a lot of other options.

Another comment, someone said the dongle wasn't tested with the laser. Here's one of their videos that seem to show that... I don't know though.

https://youtu.be/TtNN8HDkOho

Good to see some of you still kicking around here. I really need to buy something new and fun, it has been far too long. I have a few bills to get paid off (like the last three payments on the Vette - WHOO HOO) and I'll have some extra play money to waste here without the wife complaining. But I am itching for some seriously evil firepower. I have what used to be a pretty awesome blue in pieces that I took apart to give someone the driver I think, I regret that. I need to put it back together. And I've slowly but surely fried all my 405's over the years, usually putting a battery in backwards. :-(

Most of my greens still work, but seem to have lost focus to the point of still being cool, but not as amazing as before. The reds are all still kicking, interestingly enough. They are hard to kill, but I don't love the 635 pattern much so I don't use them often. Once I get flush with cash, maybe I will engage in some wavelength collecting.

I miss you guys!
 
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diachi

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I just got this email as well. Thought I would come here for some info. It is down to $199 for projector and dongle right now. That's tempting just to SEE what it's all about.

They must be making a loss at that price - surely - you can't get the components for that.

I'm not real aware of indie gogo vs places like Kickstarter and gofundme. I assumed (perhaps wrongly) that indie gogo added credibility to it - not took it away. No?

I would have thought that indie gogo would suffer a pretty big credibility hit if something like this took a bad turn.

Wouldn't be the first time that's happened.

I note that someone suggested the gold star group purchase instead. I haven't been on here in a while, and I haven't seen it. But I have a fairly big issue with a > $1k show from them - it still works, but last Halloween I pulled it out with my laptop that has my software on it and was firing up one of the Halloween shows.

I fired it up and it turned on immediately. I mean THE LASERS turned on immediately. The lockout was NOT hooked up, but I was shooting a beam...

Not cool. I turned it off and treated it with extreme care until I had the beams aimed up at the screen and above any possible eye level, and it worked great from then on - except I don't have a working safety right now. I haven't looked at it to see what happened, or how that happened. But it freaked me out. Now that I know it, I am ok with being careful with it. But I'm bothered by the incident.

That said, it is otherwise a great unit. But it cost easily 6 times what this kit is claiming to cost, AND this kit has what looks like a neat software package. Not something I think that I can do with mine right now. It certainly has me curious.

Again, they must be taking a loss at those prices - the RGB1000 from Goldenstar is very reasonably priced. As for the lasers coming on when you plugged it in ... that definitely shouldn't have happened. Switch setting somewhere maybe? Was it just a static full power beam... Low power, just above lasing threshold beams used to be common on projectors because you'd always set the modulation off current to be just above threshold.

Of course, I respect the pros here a lot, so I'm going to sit back and watch right now. I don't see how they've come down from $500 or so to $199 or why they would. It is very odd.

And while I do think of Wicked Lasers as a sketchy, or at best, worrisome operation, I kind of look at ALL of the Chinese laser-makers that way. You always want to have some reassurances before buying. That's what makes the GP's here so good, the laser manufacturers know if they mess up badly here, they never sell again to this crowd. I trust GP's here over a lot of other options.

Another comment, someone said the dongle wasn't tested with the laser. Here's one of their videos that seem to show that... I don't know though.

https://youtu.be/TtNN8HDkOho

Not sure how much I'd trust that - don't think I saw the box actually projecting anything - just a video of a projection on a screen. To me the beam quality looks too good to be coming from the WL box - although I could be wrong! Impressively sharp if I'm wrong, both the beam quality/alignment and the actual quality of the projection. Although the latter could be down to a low scan angle I suppose?

Good to see some of you still kicking around here. I really need to buy something new and fun, it has been far too long. I have a few bills to get paid off (like the last three payments on the Vette - WHOO HOO) and I'll have some extra play money to waste here without the wife complaining. But I am itching for some seriously evil firepower. I have what used to be a pretty awesome blue in pieces that I took apart to give someone the driver I think, I regret that. I need to put it back together. And I've slowly but surely fried all my 405's over the years, usually putting a battery in backwards. :-(

Most of my greens still work, but seem to have lost focus to the point of still being cool, but not as amazing as before. The reds are all still kicking, interestingly enough. They are hard to kill, but I don't love the 635 pattern much so I don't use them often. Once I get flush with cash, maybe I will engage in some wavelength collecting.

I miss you guys!

Know the feeling on vehicle payments, although I'm not paying for a Vette (lucky for some! :D) ... Will be nice once that's out of the way.
 
Joined
Aug 21, 2009
Messages
388
Points
43
i can't report on any of the projectors. if you're in the US, i would strongly suggest you buy Lightspace or Kvant and get your variance so you're legal.

i've just had an email with the WL folks. the price drop is legit and i've asked them to send me a statement that i can pass on.

i have only tested the dongle (the actual laserdock hardware). i tested it both on my .5W single mode diode programming projector and my 6W Lightspace projector. i think it's a nice bit of hardware, but i would much rather people decide for themselves instead of just taking my word for it.

i will bring one to SELEM in two weeks for people to check out and decide.

remember, i have nothing to do with sales and make no commission.


No, as far as I know only the dongle has been tested.

Don't see why it'd be all that difficult. Assuming there's space in the projector for the controller board all it'd require is a couple extra holes for mounting/USB and some screws really... Could easily just run the output of the controller parallel with the ILDA IN socket on the back. Really not much modification required. :p
 

diachi

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Feb 22, 2008
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i can't report on any of the projectors. if you're in the US, i would strongly suggest you buy Lightspace or Kvant and get your variance so you're legal.

Do you still need a variance if you're just using it on your own private property for yourself - I didn't think that was the case? I guess it's needed for import but not necessarily for use? Not all that familiar with US laws ... Canadian regs aren't as strict. UK regs for PJs only applied to public spaces/events IIRC. Although it's been a while...

Seconded on Kvant and Lightspace ... The latter if you're going for quality on a budget, the former if budget is no issue.

Wish I could make it out to SELEM ... going through photonic withdrawal... :p
 
Joined
Aug 21, 2009
Messages
388
Points
43
Do you still need a variance if you're just using it on your own private property for yourself - I didn't think that was the case? I guess it's needed for import but not necessarily for use? Not all that familiar with US laws ... Canadian regs aren't as strict. UK regs for PJs only applied to public spaces/events IIRC. Although it's been a while...

Seconded on Kvant and Lightspace ... The latter if you're going for quality on a budget, the former if budget is no issue.

Wish I could make it out to SELEM ... going through photonic withdrawal... :p

i think if you ask three people, you'll get five different answers about compliance. (j/k)

my opinion: i really doubt you'll have a problem with a non-varianced projector in your living room.
 
Joined
Jun 22, 2011
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Indiegogo is Kickstarter with less rules. It's far more prone to scams.

If this offer was payable with PP I would be tempted, with Indiegogo I won't take the risk.
 
Joined
Jul 29, 2016
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Indiegogo is Kickstarter with less rules. It's far more prone to scams.

If this offer was payable with PP I would be tempted, with Indiegogo I won't take the risk.

Same here. And, you can't get much worse than KickStarter! I read daily of people who jump in on these deals and end up with nothing except a hole in their wallet.
 
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Jul 27, 2016
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FYI I asked them some questions over on Reddit (probably not the best questions, but I'm pretty new to this). Here were their replies. Please excuse formatting as I'm on my phone.

wickedlasers 1 point 19 hours ago
There are no changes in the LaserDock Dongle PCB and the integrated PCB in the $199 LaserDock. We've already manufactured several batches of the Dongle hardware and our laser projector manufacturers are some of the higher volume producers in China.
The main reason for us selling at component cost levels is so we create as big of a market as possible, as our goal is revenue from in app-purchases of new apps and laser content subscriptions.
Once you have yours you'll realise that it would be easily worth the $500 and maybe $800 price.

------
The manufacturer says they will be submitting a product report soon, so we don't see why we can't ship to US as long as the FDA approves our submission. If it doesn't work out, we aren't going to hold on to your money or anything, it will be refunded right away. For non-US orders, there isn't even a possibility of us having issues of shipping.

--------
(FDA? As in the food and drug administration???)
--------

Of course, we must be as transparent as possible, so many crowdfunding campaigns are scams, especially the bigger ones. I heard Skully just went bust and no backers are getting anything.
And yes thats the point, we are giving away the technology and projector for free b/c no one knows what it is right now. Once they figure out its awesome, then they'll spend on apps and upgrades.
Its exactly what Pokemon is doing too, so why not emulate them
?

--------


The laser manufacturer who sells this exact hardware in another model charges $350 plus shipping. For $199, we are basically getting it at their wholesale price and passing the exact price to Indiegogo backers. It's not for us to make profit on these initial orders, its for us to build the largest user base possible.
 
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Joined
Jul 29, 2016
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One thing that makes sense in the replies to Reddit.

Everyone is about micro-transactions these days. Apps, Games, you name it. A LOT of money to be made, and it does make sense that they are going this route. How else can you make money with app purchases if nobody has your product.

I still don't trust them. They can promise and say whatever they want. It's just words.
 
Joined
Jul 28, 2016
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As an additional aside, there is a mandatory $80 shipping cost when you pledge, meaning the real total ends up being $279 instead of just $199.

That makes it ever slightly more reasonable, but I'm still with most of you that this seems a very risky venture.
 




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