Recommendations for Oriental Option

[James A. Wolfe]

Having tried unsuccessfully to get parts pricing and availability for my VersaLaser, I'm thinking of jumping into a Chinese knockoff. Anyone have a definite recommendation or a firm "don't go there" for a particular brand? I'm thinking Full Spectrum or Red Sail with my preference so far, being Full Spectrum. They say they can "print" directly from CorelDraw. I can get their 40w machine for near what the repair parts will cost ( I guess) from Universal. I'm hoping I can get a better response from them as well.
Jim

[Bruce Dorworth]

I think every Chinese laser manufacture uses Lasercut to drive the laser. Lasercut has an option to somewhat print directly from CorelDraw. This by no means is a print driver like Epilog and most of the main stream lasers use. Last I heard the latest version of Corel that worked with Lasercut was CorelDraw #3. As for which Chinese to buy I have owned two different brands and the GWeike is the best I have seen.

Bruce

[Scott Shepherd]

What's the problem getting parts and prices from Universal? Are you calling a sales rep or the factory? I've called the factory about a part I damaged and got the part number, the price, and the availability in just a couple minutes.

[James A. Wolfe]

Bruce,
This is a quote from Full Spectrum's website;
"With this laser you can engrave from any Windows application that can print to a standard printer including CorelDraw, Adobe Illustrator, Autocad, Inkscape and even MS Word and MS Paint. This is made possible because the machine uses the powerful RetinaEngrave USB controller with Direct Print Drivers manufactured and available exclusively at Full Spectrum Laser."

Scott,
I'm not sure what the problem is. I've spoken with the 2 dealers in Kentucky and had a couple of E-mails from Jeff Zubricky of ULS. The dealers were going to check pricing and availability and get back with me. No joy. Jeff got me pricing on all the parts except the laser tube. He quoted a 25w tube and my unit has the 30w tube. When I asked him for pricing on the 30w, his response was, "Paying for a 5 watt upgrade might not be cost effective."

While I'm only a hobbyist and not trying to make a living with my laser, I do miss being able to use it. Since the repair parts prices for the 25 watt parts was around $1875, it won't take much more money to get the Chinese laser.

I'm more than a little disappointed.

Jim

[Rodne Gold]

There is a huge amount of info here on the chinese option. There is a sticky at the top of this forum you need to read.
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?181819-Chinese-Shenui-Laserworks-tips-and-tricks-thread
I would rather spend the $2k repairing your Universal , $2k wont get you decent chinese machine..you need about $5k or thereabouts.

[Lee DeRaud]

While I'm only a hobbyist and not trying to make a living with my laser, I do miss being able to use it. Since the repair parts prices for the 25 watt parts was around $1875, it won't take much more money to get the Chinese laser.Leaving aside what sounds like a comm failure between you and the ULS guy...

Let me walk my way through this...your two options are:

1. spend $1900 and get back a machine in basically new condition that you already know how to use or
2. spend $1900+ to get a new machine that you (at this point at least) know next to nothing about.

There are obviously some advantages to the second option that are clear to you, but I'm not seeing them. Care to share?

[Rodne Gold]

$2k in terms of a chinese machine *might* get you a sort of ok'ish smaller laser ex china , then add $1k for freight etc..even at $3k , he wont have anything near what he had with the Universal..at $2k pricing on small desktop models from one of the USA importers of chinese machines ..he will get around <$1k value Ex china , In other words , a piece of junk...

[James A. Wolfe]

For what it's worth, I would greatly prefer to keep my Versalaser for all the reasons Lee mentions and a few he doesn't. With regards to the communications issues, I'm not sure how I can be any clearer in speaking with the reps. I have explained that my laser tube has died, that I'll need new optics and that, while I'm in there poking around, it only makes sense to replace any wear items such as belts, bearings, etc. Having told them that, I explained that as soon as I got accurate pricing (Not the " it'll be around a thousand bucks for this and a thousand for that" guesstimate, I'd be ordering the parts that day. I started with the ULS rep who has yet to get back to me with prices on the exact parts I need. I have bought Chinese tools and equipment in the past and agree that it is mostly junk but compared with a dead bench ornament, it may be my better option. If someone has the name of a conscientious, ULS rep, please pass it along and I'll try them. The reps nearest to me have failed to deliver and I'm just about finished trying to find someone to take my money. . .

Jim

[Scott Shepherd]

Go to ulsinc.com and call the directly. You'll get all you need to know instantly. Leave the middlemen out of it.

[James A. Wolfe]

Probably a good idea. They're closed today but I'll try Monday morning. It shouldn't be this hard to give 2 grand away . . .
;)

Jim

[Scott Shepherd]

Probably a good idea. They're closed today but I'll try Monday morning. It shouldn't be this hard to give 2 grand away . . .
;)

Jim

The factory will hook you up James. I think ULS lost a lot of respect from their reps when they changed the way they deal with them and became competitors with them. From my understanding (and that could be wrong), the dealer network used to be exclusive. Each rep had a territory and no one could sell in that territory but that rep. If someone did, then they had to give the commission to the rep in that area. So it was pretty locked down and each rep would provide pricing they would comfortable with. After all, the the factory is just selling them the laser and then they mark it up and sell it to customers like us.

However, a couple years ago, they began tearing down that network, and allowing people to buy directly from the factory and then they've started showing up at large companies that are nationwide. So now the factory is actually competing with the old network of dealers. That means price cuts. Enough so that most of these dealers don't make a fraction of what they used to on the machines. That means less service and time with the customer. Where they might spend hours with a prospect because they stood to make several grand, now it's down into the 100's of dollars, so if you spend hours with someone, you've lost money on the deal.

I know many of the older ULS dealers have branched out into other markets because they lost their bread and butter from this change.

[Mike Null]

I have a friend who recently purchased the low end Full Spectrum machine and has not been able to get quality engraving out of it. Assembly of the machine, according to him, seems to be very sloppy.

[Mike Troncalli]

Quote
I have a friend who recently purchased the low end Full Spectrum machine and has not been able to get quality engraving out of it. Assembly of the machine, according to him, seems to be very sloppy.

I have the FSL 40w hobby and could not be happier. Out of the box with minor alignment and have been producing excellent quality work for the last 9 months. Had to engrave a registered trademark symbol about the size of a pin head on wood a couple of weeks ago. Amazing detail (it was so small you had to use a magnifying glass).

I do use corel draw x5, but yes, I have printed straight from MS word and it works just fine.

[James A. Wolfe]

Well, after contacting the third dealer, I finally got a new laser replacement tube. I still don't have the new optics but at least I'm up and running. I don't understand why the service was so crappy but that's water over the dam. I'm playing tonight, re-setting some of my settings since I now have the full power I started with.
Jim

[Deane Donaghy]

I have a Redsail X700 that I got directly from Redsail, not ebay.
So far the machine has been well worth the money and Redsail's service has been very good, both before and after sales service.
The whole process went very smoothly and I was kept up to date at all times.
The Corel plug-in they use for LaserMate/ Laser Cut ?? works in X5 no problem.
I'm not saying it is the best chinese laser around, but I have few complaints if any.
Maybe email them sales@cnccheap.com and ask for some info and prices.
I dealt mainly with Sarah if it helps.

[Ronald Erickson]

For what it's worth, I would greatly prefer to keep my Versalaser for all the reasons Lee mentions and a few he doesn't. With regards to the communications issues, I'm not sure how I can be any clearer in speaking with the reps. I have explained that my laser tube has died, that I'll need new optics and that, while I'm in there poking around, it only makes sense to replace any wear items such as belts, bearings, etc. Having told them that, I explained that as soon as I got accurate pricing (Not the " it'll be around a thousand bucks for this and a thousand for that" guesstimate, I'd be ordering the parts that day. I started with the ULS rep who has yet to get back to me with prices on the exact parts I need. I have bought Chinese tools and equipment in the past and agree that it is mostly junk but compared with a dead bench ornament, it may be my better option. If someone has the name of a conscientious, ULS rep, please pass it along and I'll try them. The reps nearest to me have failed to deliver and I'm just about finished trying to find someone to take my money. . .

Jim

I've had a similiar experience with my ULS dealer soliciting a price quote. I'm in the market for a laser and my local ULS rep came back with "The VLS3.60 with 60 watts and the downdraft table would sell for around $20K". How is that a price quote? I requested a specific configuration and I got a vague answer.I was tempted to reply with "I'll be looking to buy sometime within this decade." :)


I'm glad you got your system up and running.

(Yeah, yeah, I've been lurking for 2 years and finally made my first post. I "promise" my subsequest posts won't be as wordy, hehe :D)