TechLasers - My opinion so far

[divdiv]

In my defence, I somehow never found this forum until just recently. So, in my ignorance, I placed an order with Techlasers.

I'm going to start my review of techlasers even before getting my laser. I ordered one of there 125 mW green lasers about 3 weeks ago. After about ten days I asked them what the delay was. They said that their expected shipment did not arrive, but I could wait another 2 weeks, or upgrade to a crossfire 300-350 mW and that they would give me a discount and ship it right away. Since I didn't really want to wait any longer, I decided to upgrade, and have what they had in stock shipped right away. Right away was about 5 days later. So I don't know if "in stock" really meant "in stock".
Finally, they did give me a tracking number and sent me an email saying that they would refund my original purchase and discount my final purchase. And that they "DID NOT include the battery to avoid customs confiscation". Well, gee, thanks. On the upside, their customer service did reply to my emails fairly promptly to give me the run-around.

In any case, I should be getting my laser delivered today. If they really did not send me a battery, does anyone know what batteries are compatible with the CrossFire 350mW? They are selling Lithium-Ion 18650, 2400mAh, 3.7V rechargeables on their site. Should I be getting these specifically, or are they other batteries that will run well on this laser?

Thanks guys. I'm glad this forum is around.

 

[a_pyro_is]

They lied to you. They don't send batteries in order to cut costs.
Do they have a satisfaction guarantee? You might be able to get out of it. Maybe send it back saying that you didn't realize that they're illegal.
If you paid with a CC there's always the chargeback. Tell your CC company either that it is illegal, or just that it didn't live up to the promises. But save the chargeback for last, after you've tried to deal with TechLasers

Might want to give this a look.

 

[Orr3]

Just so you know companies don't ship the laser with batteries. I atleast don't know a single company which does.

Here are some of those batteries: http://search.store.yahoo.com/cgi-b...atalog=theshorelinemarket&query=18650&x=0&y=0

 

[divdiv]

Hold on a second (regarding no companies shipping with batteries). I was just on Optotronics' website. They seem to ship their lasers with batteries, charges, the whole deal. From what I've read, this is a reputable source with solid products. If TechLasers doesn't work out for me, I might try them. Does anyone feel like giving me a quick pros/cons for going for a RPL vs PPL laser? I should just UTFS, but if anyone could shed some light on the subject briefly, I'd appreciate it.
Thanks

 

[bootleg2go]

Hold on a second (regarding no companies shipping with batteries). I was just on Optotronics' website. They seem to ship their lasers with batteries, charges, the whole deal. From what I've read, this is a reputable source with solid products. If TechLasers doesn't work out for me, I might try them. Does anyone feel like giving me a quick pros/cons for going for a RPL vs PPL laser? I should just UTFS, but if anyone could shed some light on the subject briefly, I'd appreciate it.
Thanks

Hi divdiv,
Our prices were just adjusted downward today due to our new partnership with Viasho.
I personally would go with the RPL, it's a better laser and the basically the 2nd generation of the PPL.

Jack

 

[shikari_rock]

LOL, their batteries cost $20, you can get the same 18650 bats from dealextreme, and the price is 10× lower.
Agreed, they lie and lie and lie, I don't think they even said 1 thing that was true. :-/

 

[divdiv]

Well they did not lie when they said that they did not include the batteries. They most defininately are not present. UPS managed to blow open the cardboard/styrofoam box. Arg. The unit looks ok, but some of the soldering, looks like something that I would have done in a hurry with my eyes closed. Can't even say if it works or not since I don't have the batteries. I'll order the batteries to see how(or if) the unit works. But I'll be taking my business elsewhere. On the up side, I didn't have to pay any brokerage fees or customs. That would have added insult to injury.

 

[a_pyro_is]

I'd still try to send it back, as for the same price you can get a MUCH better unit.
Even if this thing works, you don't know for how long.
That's why I'll always buy from someone who will take care of me. even if it were to cost 2X as much.

 

[a_pyro_is]

Good to see you here Doctor. I was wondering if you were out of pictures after the two uses of the word "pink" in your Eu[sub]2[/sub]O[sub]3[/sub] thread.

 

[divdiv]

I'd still try to send it back, as for the same price you can get a MUCH better unit.
Even if this thing works, you don't know for how long.
That's why I'll always buy from someone who will take care of me. even if it were to cost 2X as much.

You know what, you're right. I'm pissed. They've been very slowly jerking me around for the last two weeks. I'll call my CC company and see what they can do with a charge back. I'll probably place an order from Optotronics...unless of course, this forum was made by the people at optotronics. But seriously, if TechL takes 2-3 weeks to ship a laser and 2-3+ weeks to ship their bloody batteries, I think that's enough customer un-service for me.

How fast can you get a package shipped into Canada guy from Optotronics? Faster than I can ship Techlaser's broken box back?

Div

 

[timelord]

This forum is not owned by any company whatsoever mate

 

[a_pyro_is]

Look here
I don't know if it shows the most current price drops, but it'll give you a good idea of what options you have.
When I'm ready for a big greenie I'll be looking at NovaLasers, Optotronics, and LaserGlow. As I've seen good things stated about all three it's a hard choice.

 

[Justin]

Hey, if you're in Canada we're already here! Depending on your exact location I can get you a great laser by Tuesday if you contact me on Monday.

 

[divdiv]

Well, as I am actually in Montreal, you probably could have a shipment here in a couple of days. And that would be great. It'd make up for the 4 weeks I've been dealing with TL.
So I'm going to ask straight up, why should I buy from you? Sorry, that sounds kind of rude. I just finished writing to customer non-service at TechLasers. Correct me if I'm wrong. The laserglow, aries, is it the "equivalent" to the Crossfire that I bought from Tech? The crossfire that I bought was a 350 mW, but the laserglow aries only goes up to ~200 mW. Am I comparing apples to apples or oranges to oranges? Or are the TechLasers putting more power than they should be into their components? What is better about the aries and the crossfires?
None of these are RPLs? Is that correct? I'm actually having trouble viewing your product list (maybe its my browser, but I can't get a product list/price list consistently. So if you can post it or PM me your stock and prices, I'd appreciate it.
In anycase, I'm open to your response and any third party opinions too.


It would be great to know if my Crossfire actually works, and works properly, it would surely help clear things up.
But I did pay ~$850 for the Crossfire and a similiar model (as far as I can tell) is selling for ~$1900 at Nova, and is out of stock, and that is a huge price difference. But I don't mind at all paying twice as much for a toy that is worth the difference in money/quality ratio.

So please, convince me. If you can, I'll place an order this weekend. My interest in lasers is fairly new (Burning man), and I know I need to do more research, but time constraints (you name it) are kind of making me a bad shopper (eg. Techlasers), so please inform the ignorant!

Thanks for all the advice so far, it's much appreciated. I've looked for reviews on the crossfire, I could not find any. Does anybody have a link for that? If I get a chance, I will give it a layman's review (it did or did not turn on).

 

[divdiv]

This forum is not owned by any company whatsoever mate

LC does have affiliations right? I browsed it once a few months ago. I never posted a single thing, and I'm banned? I think that's probably where I got the idea to order from TechLasers. Wish that I had hit this forum first.

 

[Fluffles_Lasernoob]

Laser Community has no affiliation to LPF whatsoever