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Economy / Service Announcements / Re: BitLasers.com - Handheld Lasers and accessories
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on: May 15, 2012, 08:37:46 PM
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Jesus christ, these delays really grind my gears.. Turns out my supplier hasn't even shipped the parts yet. He is shipping them out tomorrow, they should arrive in about a week. And as said, after I've received the parts, I'll have a relatively stable supply. The parts I'm waiting for is enough to make one more 1.3W blue laser and 2 * approx. 350mW reds which will be pretty cheap, maybe $80 or so. Prices of violet and orange has been FURTHER decreased.. Much more and I'll be selling them at loss. I just want to get rid of them since you guys obviously are more interested in the blue ones. I really recommend that 100mW green one, though. It might not burn very well, but it's very bright. It's only beat by the 1.3W blue in brightness, and it's half the price, AND waterproof!
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430
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Economy / Service Announcements / Re: BitLasers.com - Handheld Lasers and accessories
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on: May 11, 2012, 04:47:23 PM
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Now Grix, here's an interesting question. How custom can you make these? If you have a little lathe and the facilities, I would love a well built green laser with both a momentary and an on/off switch that also has an easy to use external control of the drive current that lets me adjust it between 1mW and 50mW.
I'm afraid that's a little above my skill level I don't have a lathe, so I am dependent on third party hosts, and very few of them has momentary switches, let alone both kind of buttons! All the lasers I sell has a "sort-of combo" button, though. It's a clicky switch, but while it's on, you can use it as a momentary-off button if you only slightly press it in. Momentary-on would be better, I realize, but that's how the switches are built.. The custom driver would also be kind of tricky, but especially with green lasers. I don't make the green modules myself, as they use crystals and are much more complicated than diode-based lasers. This means that the driver and module is sold as one, and so a custom driver with external power adjusting would require a completely different kind of driver setup. Again, there are som good news, though: The drivers from the green lasers I sell has a potentiometer on it, which you can screw on to adjust the power as you want! However, that requires you to disassemble the laser every time you adjust it, and it's kind of risky. If you set the current too high, the laser might die.
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431
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Economy / Service Announcements / Re: BitLasers.com - Handheld Lasers and accessories
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on: May 11, 2012, 11:17:37 AM
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Wow, this is very neat! I was thinking about getting a laser myself, but I am a complete noob. Mainly what I would be looking for would be a laser to point out stars at night. The blue ones make me drool! In your opinion, how much power would I need for this to be effective, and would this require glasses for everyone looking at the sky with me? Or are they just worn in case they go directly into your eye? On the same note would it be possible to build one that only turns on while a button is currently being pressed? That way in case it gets dropped, it won't still be on? For star pointing, I actually think the blue laser would be TOO bright, it would ruin the night vision. I would recommend you the green laser, it's brightness should be just right, while also being relatively cheap and safe. Of course a direct hit to the eye could cause serious damage, but while pointing outside without any reflective surfaces around, some caution should be sufficient to avoid injury. Goggles would of course prevent any accidental exposure, but you also can't see the beam through them, so it wouldn't exactly be ideal to wear them while poiting at stars. I don't have any momentary switch lasers in stock right now, unfortunately. Building one is possible, but few hosts support it, and I don't have any parts lying around, therefore it would take quite some time.
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433
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Economy / Service Announcements / Re: BitLasers.com - Handheld Lasers and accessories
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on: May 10, 2012, 09:16:29 AM
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Orders made yesterday will go out in todays mail.. Just an interest check.. It seems people are very interested in the blue lasers, but not so much in the others Why is this, I mean, what do you guys prioritize in a laser? Visibility? Burning power? Color? Price? Some time in the next few days I'll make some videos showing what the different lasers can do, for information and advertising.
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436
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Economy / Service Announcements / Re: BitLasers.com - Handheld Lasers and accessories
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on: May 09, 2012, 01:57:34 PM
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A couple of updates to the store:
New lasers in stock, reduced prices! Amongst others the blue 1300mW laser is now only $169! That's almost HALF the price of Wicked Laser's 1000mW arctic blue! Only one in stock right now, but as said, more will follow very soon.
I no longer sell complete lasers, instead I sell bundles with components that make up a complete laser. Don't worry, these are VERY easy to assemble, and requires no experience or tools, only a couple of minutes of your time. This way, they are legal to import as-is, and you do not have to worry about customs.
For you DIY'ers out there, I plan to start selling some parts soon, as well.
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438
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Economy / Service Announcements / Re: BitLasers.com - Handheld Lasers and accessories
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on: May 03, 2012, 09:11:34 AM
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If you could ship them in an almost-assembled state and guarantee they get through USA customs, I'd buy at least one.
+1 +2. Passing US customs can be challenging, though. Not in the planned not-so-assembled state. I would be very surprised if customs did anything then, as it's not illegal.
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439
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Economy / Service Announcements / Re: BitLasers.com - Handheld Lasers and accessories
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on: May 01, 2012, 03:50:26 PM
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That's what I thought, the customs part is the one thing that I feel has been in the way of this business idea. This would eliminate that "threat", as the bundles would be no more illegal than a DVD-burner. The assembly would be very easy too. It would take max a minute. I will post a little tutorial video on youtube. The current status, in case someone is interested, is this: I technically have enough parts to build two 445nm lasers, but the hosts are already used for the 405nm and 635nm lasers. I've got three more hosts incoming, and even more heatsinks. With the closing of one of my main suppliers, I've had to buy a lot of his rest stock bulk, that means I've got huge amounts of some items and almost none of others, such as diodes. When the hosts and heatsinks arrives (should be within a week if we're lucky, I'll have parts for one 445nm laser.. I'm also trying to figure out what to use for drivers. I'm thinking of buying parts for a hundred drivers, which is quite an investment, but at least I'd have more than enough for the future. I could even sell a lot of them separately. When I get another driver, I'll have parts for yet another 445nm laser. That could be some weeks from now. I will then have enough parts except for diodes, which I buy from a quick seller, meaning if they run out of stock, I could buy more and receive them within a week max. So then I'll finally have a stable supply of stock. I could have been better at planning this situation, but I've learned a lot from running this little store, and I can't wait to finally get a stable supply and do some actual business and hopefully get a return on my investments.
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440
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Economy / Service Announcements / Re: BitLasers.com - Handheld Lasers and accessories
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on: May 01, 2012, 02:31:23 PM
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I've been thinking of taking another approach here.. Instead of selling prebuilt lasers, I would sell bundles of components and some individual parts. Don't worry, the bundles would be made in such a way that would just have to screw them together, no soldering or any electrical work. So easy a child could do it.
This way: 1. The lasers would be completely legal to import and therefore no risk of customs at all. 2. A little lower prices 3. I could start accepting other payment methods which should increase the amount of customers, but I'm not so sure.. All other payment methods have those nasty fees and I've heard so many horror stories about accounts being shut down..
What do you guys think, is this something you would be intersted in? Do you think this is a good idea?
PS: Even more delays I didn't anticipate with the new blue lasers. It could be a few more weeks.. If the plan above sounds good to you, I would make those lasers that way instead.
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