Laser Price Comparisons

[Bruce (Jack) Campbell]

Hi folk
Have been in the bathroom for a while and decided to dip my toes in the bathwater. Please excuse any blunders I may make.

I have in the past used a friends laser cutting machine and have been hooked by what you can do with woodwork projects. I have been looking at your posts on different machines and have been visiting manufacturers sites and have a fair grip on the specs. One of the most important ones, costs, are few and far between and it's hard to make any decisions without them. My problem is that I am in a very remote location in the way, way, way South Atlantic, with phone calls out of the question, and was wondering if there were any sites with cost and spec comparisons. I have e-mailed a couple of dealers but they seem disinclined to correspond with anyone outside the US.

On another note, I have been looking at looking at digital USB oscilloscopes and came accross this; www.screenscopetraces.com (http://www.screenscopetraces.com)
I know many of you have expertise in electronics and would appreciate any comments. Disclaimer: I have nothing to do with them just thought it was a possibility.

Thank you in advance

Bruce

[Dan Hintz]

On your scopes... here's another review of 3 more scopes by Jack Ganssle (I'm an embedded guy, myself):
http://www.embedded.com/columns/breakpoint/160902529?_requestid=104351

No one pocket scope I've found has everything I would want/need, so you have to set your specs based upon what project you're currently working on. Some scopes have a logic analyzer function, and that's huge on some projects, but if you're trading that for high-voltage inputs, it's not so great if you're looking at power systems.

[Dave Johnson29]

On another note, I have been looking at looking at digital USB oscilloscopes

Hi Bruce and welcome.

I can't help a great deal on the choice of lasers other than to say, they pretty much break into two price categories. Chinese and not Chinese.

Given factory support at your location is not an issue, then I would probably go for a Chinese one with a spare tube. We have a guy on this group who lives in Australia (I think) and he built his own. I can't remember his name, but hopefully he will chime in.

On the 'scope, it looks like an OK thing but it is two chunks plus wall-warts to carry around. I have a Tektronics TDS-210 and it is small, light and easy to carry to where you need to work. If you had a bench mounted set up the SScope may be adequate though. My laser and CNC machines are big (one is 2-1/2 tons) and moving them to the bench area is not an option. ;)

[Joe Pelonio]

I agree, if you are going to be a hobbyist, not dependent on the laser to make a living, and have some technical expertise, save yourself $10,000 and go for one of the China made machines. The shipping will probably be less too, but do buy at least one spare tube and find one that's in use by others on this and other forums so you can get help when the loosely translated manual becomes a problem and there's no support. I have heard that a couple of the Chinese brands are sold through U.S. distributors now, and do sell parts and provide support.