Would this be worth it? -Butterfly Labs

[BitshireHashaway]

I have heard a lot about butterfly labs not delivering on time, however I have also heard that they have finally started some shipments with their products. I was wondering would the 5 gh/s one on their website (listed at $274.00) be worth it, and what is a conservative estimate on its arrival time? Seems like a good deal to me, if you could get your hands on it and get it working, but thats what I'm worried about.

[BitMagnet]

I have a Single SC on order since January. I would be elated to see it before July.
The Jalapeno cost per hash is lower than then all their other options so I'm not sure that it's such a great investment.  Of course you're risking less money

Based on what I've seen Butterfly Labs will ship your product but it may be next year when it won't be profitable anymore.

[BTCAviator]

I ordered one this week, for good or ill - we shall see. BFL has repeatedly stated that orders done now can expect a delivery date of July, but as they have had delays in the past, I would only treat this as an estimate.

I doubt I will be racking in the 'coin with a single 5gh/s module in July, where the difficulty will have most likely doubled (or more?) by then. But, perhaps by joining a pool, I will be somewhat productive.

Also, even if I don't make anything off of this device, I want to support the bitcoin network, and the ASIC is the way to do this without a huge power bill.

[dmelj]

I have been reading a ton about them, and there are some youtubes out there of unboxings.  Wired even got one.

http://www.wired.com/wiredenterprise/2013/04/butterfly/

[seishin]

damnit...couldnt they post a video...stupid pics everywhere

found one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6mmTRheUzg

[roozifus]

I ordered one in Feb, but it's really hard to say when delivery will be.
There's been a huge number of orders over the last year, but also a lot of people have cancelled so it's hard to know where in the queue I am.
I think BFLs current estimates assume a final production rate of 400units/day but it's not clear how accurate this will end up being.

For what it's worth I've just written mine off because it's too much stress constantly waiting for updates. If/when it does arrive I think I'll probably mine some alt-currencies just for fun

[pinger]

I have been reading a ton about them, and there are some youtubes out there of unboxings.  Wired even got one.

http://www.wired.com/wiredenterprise/2013/04/butterfly/

  Wired doesn't know what to do with this box 

[neil_mccauley]

The general consensus is that if you don't have an order in already, by the time you receive your unit, 5Gh/s will be too slow considering where the difficulty will be at that point.  The ROI would take too long to make it worthwhile.  If you think the price of BTC will go up, it's better to buy the coins and hold them.

[Addz]

I have one on order too, the question of if it is worth it or not is going to come down to how far down the que you are, when they finally ship the units and how long it takes to get to you once they do ship it.

If you're looking for a solid yes or no, I don't think anyone can say for sure right now.  But if you want to be competitive in the later parts of this year you will definitely want to have an ASIC miner of some sort.

[Blueberry408]

I'm not a big stock nerd, so what's the fun in holding btc? I wonder how many people who canceled bfl orders wish they hadn't now that devices seem to be materializing, some where.

[neil_mccauley]

I'm with you as well.  I don't want to buy and hold and have a lot more fun mining it myself.  I repurposed some computer gear and bought 2 7950s and started mining myself.  I know I won't be rich, but I really enjoy learning all of this and especially the crypto side of things. 

[xenn]

I ordered one in Feb, but it's really hard to say when delivery will be.
There's been a huge number of orders over the last year, but also a lot of people have cancelled so it's hard to know where in the queue I am.
I think BFLs current estimates assume a final production rate of 400units/day but it's not clear how accurate this will end up being.

For what it's worth I've just written mine off because it's too much stress constantly waiting for updates. If/when it does arrive I think I'll probably mine some alt-currencies just for fun

Alt-currencies like litecoin use scrypt that the ASIC is well-suited for..

[cetern]

I ordered one in Feb, but it's really hard to say when delivery will be.
There's been a huge number of orders over the last year, but also a lot of people have cancelled so it's hard to know where in the queue I am.
I think BFLs current estimates assume a final production rate of 400units/day but it's not clear how accurate this will end up being.

For what it's worth I've just written mine off because it's too much stress constantly waiting for updates. If/when it does arrive I think I'll probably mine some alt-currencies just for fun

Alt-currencies like litecoin use scrypt that the ASIC is well-suited for..

Isn't well-suited for.  An understatement, since these ASICs can't mine scrypt based currencies at all.

[BTCscraper]

I'm on the fence with Butterfly Labs.  I'm willing to buy, but won't do so until I know they have shipped regular commercial units in quantity.

[cetern]

I'm on the fence with Butterfly Labs.  I'm willing to buy, but won't do so until I know they have shipped regular commercial units in quantity.

Indeed, it's a bit of a Catch-22.  By the time they've proven themselves and I would be willing to buy, the unit won't be worth buying.

[CJPOLO]

I'm on the fence with Butterfly Labs.  I'm willing to buy, but won't do so until I know they have shipped regular commercial units in quantity.

Indeed, it's a bit of a Catch-22.  By the time they've proven themselves and I would be willing to buy, the unit won't be worth buying.

Agreed It is a big Unknown.

[jeffp86]

I have heard a lot about butterfly labs not delivering on time, however I have also heard that they have finally started some shipments with their products. I was wondering would the 5 gh/s one on their website (listed at $274.00) be worth it, and what is a conservative estimate on its arrival time? Seems like a good deal to me, if you could get your hands on it and get it working, but thats what I'm worried about.

well, it's a small gamble... 80% odds you'd get it ... but the question is "when"

[MooC Tals]

I'm not a big stock nerd, so what's the fun in holding btc? I wonder how many people who canceled bfl orders wish they hadn't now that devices seem to be materializing, some where.

Really I don't regret it at all. I put my 600 dollars into a new computer and 2 7950 gpu's for litcoin and made about 500 litcoins a month instead of waiting since Oct. At 4 dollars a litecoin basically paid for the computer and some. If I didn't cancel my order my 600 dollars would be sitting with bfl now and I would be out of a great deal of revenue.

So I don't think BFL really is a great deal if you ask me. But hey good luck guys cus the way I see it BFL has screwed you guys.

[cypher1024]

The general consensus is that if you don't have an order in already, by the time you receive your unit, 5Gh/s will be too slow considering where the difficulty will be at that point.  The ROI would take too long to make it worthwhile.  If you think the price of BTC will go up, it's better to buy the coins and hold them.

It all depends on how much you're paying for electricity (and what the USD/BTC exchange rate does in the future).

Even with a total network speed of 5 petahashes/sec, the 5GH miner will be producing about 0.11 BTC/month. At current rates, that's around USD$15. It would still pay for itself in 18 months (plus a few extra months for shipping).

Obviously if the exchange rate takes a dive that $15 could very easily become $1.50/month.

I'm not really worried though. In the long term, Bitcoin will almost certainly appreciate well past the current US$130 price.

[Addz]

Most of it is going to come down to the time that you physically have it in your hands and all hooked up and hashing.  If you could go down to the store and buy one right now and have it hashing away within an hour then I'd say hell yes go for it. 

But since we have no idea when that would actually be I'd say that if you don't have one on order already and you'd be at the back of the que, start looking elsewhere