I just realized I haven't been on this forum in over a year. Things have changed so much while I was gone!
Speaking of which, one thing I noticed is that people seem to be straying away from CNI-type lasers. I remember NOVAlasers, Optotronics and Laserglow being the most highly recommended companies back in the day. Because CNI was the main manufacturer, people who were willing to do their own quality control often bought lasers directly from them. However, Laserglow stopped selling portable lasers to U.S. customers several years ago while NOVAlasers seems to have gone out of business. Although Optotronics and CNI are still active, I rarely see people talk about them nowadays.
Even "consumer" laser companies seem to be affected. For example, S-KY announced two years ago that they were exiting the business. This is unfortunate because I prefer the more professional-looking designs to the lightsaber-style ones.
So I'm curious: are people no longer interested in CNI-style lasers? If so, what caused such a big change?
Speaking of which, one thing I noticed is that people seem to be straying away from CNI-type lasers. I remember NOVAlasers, Optotronics and Laserglow being the most highly recommended companies back in the day. Because CNI was the main manufacturer, people who were willing to do their own quality control often bought lasers directly from them. However, Laserglow stopped selling portable lasers to U.S. customers several years ago while NOVAlasers seems to have gone out of business. Although Optotronics and CNI are still active, I rarely see people talk about them nowadays.
Even "consumer" laser companies seem to be affected. For example, S-KY announced two years ago that they were exiting the business. This is unfortunate because I prefer the more professional-looking designs to the lightsaber-style ones.
So I'm curious: are people no longer interested in CNI-style lasers? If so, what caused such a big change?