FYI, came across this last night (might have been out there already/others seen it, but first time I did on a “commercial” on youtube), so found this review:
Tested: Dremel Digilab LC40 Laser Cutter
(haven’t yet finished watching it as I get this link posted so can’t comment on any comparison yet, apart from same power/type as Basic).
OK, just checked the price. Ouch. And some features that address no need for wifi/cloud, but requires water cooling & thus more setup…
But these reviewers provide a really good discussion of set up in general for any laser cutter!
Previously for quite a while:
Thanks–I suppose I should have searched first 
Have to say after watching it, if price were equal, I’d still go with the GF! Though it’s great there are more choices available!
Definitely the more than the price of a Pro and less of the capability of a Basic. The dynamics of Glowforge upgrades in capability are a bigger thing than most realize as many Glowforge limitations that are their reference points from when they tested it are far more advanced now.
Seemed the main benefit was not being dependent on wifi/cloud and if you do a lot of the same job on the same material… so may be better for those running a business working with a limited set of materials…
And given how the head based camera stitching 9 regions together is presented as being better than a lid based camera–yet it had alignment issues that could not yet be explained… and likely way more complicated issue to resolve than what GF has done.
But biggest downside seemed to be the cheap crumb tray that didn’t even fit in snugly (though perhaps they couldn’t legally do a drop down front door like GF) so even if you pin warped material to the tray, the tray itself may be more likely to move! As well it looked like it might have been AL, not steel, so magnets wouldn’t work to hold down thin sheets–but then again, wasn’t clear if there was any air assist at the head, so maybe less chance of light weight stuff blowing around? As nice as the machine looked, the crumb tray seemed like was an afterthought or done by an intern…
Oh how I wish Glowforge had external water cooling, it is better in every way at keeping a machine of this type cool. Still, it only matters if the ambient temperature is low enough to absorb said heat. I wonder if anyone will ever make a laser with a dual external exhaust/heat exchanger window unit.
Stitching images together is much for accurate and easier computationally than attempting to remove the distortion from a fisheye lens. None of that is related to potential alignment issues.
We looked at this machine a long time back. The thing that turned me off immediately was that builtin touchpad/android tablet. I’ve never in my life found this to be a good idea: it either breaks in a short amount of time or requires multiple presses to actuate. I’m so glad GlowForge went with a simple button.
Also, what, your crumb tray fits snugly, mine has at least 3-6mm of travel in any direction with only the top lid open?
As probably the most vocal user on this forum against forced cloud-based software. I don’t understand this sentiment at all. Having the ability to run the software locally to do work offline is very different than saying I won’t use the “cloud”. Having cloud-enabled features for let’s say, sharing settings, or other social features is something that myself and am betting other"anti-cloud" software advocates are in favor of.
edit: clarify that it’s an external water cooler, rather than implying it based on the prior discussion in this thread to satisfy @evansd2
the first thing I noticed about that is that with more light to the camera’s left and back the stitched area had distinct light-dark differences at the edges. Also, the new math rework that the calibration unwraps the image is probably more recent improvement than they are aware of,
It is interesting that the machine keeps all its old jobs, but they do not say just how big the memory is. No matter how big really high res images can overflow anything
It does.
And if you got a pro the peltier cooler works very well. I’ve never had a single thermal issue.
Yeah, it’s been out for awhile, but the GF was a clear winner for me when I purchased. The good part is that they’ve partnered with JPPlus, so now we can get GF sized materials from there.
This is like saying my CPU is water-cooled because it uses water-based heat pipes…a Peltier cooler that exchanges heat between two warm zones does very little in terms of cooling.
Also so glad you get to live in an environment where you don’t have thermal issues, obviously others on the forums do. It would be of great use to them if you could inform everyone how to replicate the environment at zero cost. I’ll even buy you a 
Zero cost is the unrealistic part. Even water cooling will fail if you don’t cool it down too. Using a basin of 90 degree water will be a poor heat exchanger.
The peltier pulls heat from the coolant and vents it with the exhaust air, it’s an active cooling system. You’re cherry-picking to support a poor analogy.
Further, not that I need to even have this conversation with you, I live in Atlanta GA where it’s too hot all summer and too cold in winter. The pro cooling helps out but I also keep my working environment to the recommended temperature range. I knew all this going in, it was a major factor in my decision about what machine to buy.
If you don’t keep your environment within specs, I don’t know what to tell you. You had all the warning in the world.
So are you, we all know the Peltier cooler in the GF is a terrible implementation and you cherry-picked a half-sentence. To make some grand statement that you don’t have cooling issues.
edit: darn mobile autocorrect, have → half
And this is why I’m adding you to my ignore list. Peace out, you’ve been on my “maybe” list for a while.
It’s actually a pretty good analogy, the heat pump in a CPU fan functions almost identically to the liquid + Peltier in the GlowForge. They are both direct air-cooled in a warm environment and they both provide minimal heat reduction.
Does the reduce heat: yes! Would and external heat exchanger do a better job most certainly.
I’m still not even sure why you felt the need to even jump in. No one said anything “negative” about the GlowForge in this topic. I stated some opinions and you felt the need to respond with random conjecture, dare I say “fake news”.
I too have never had thermal issues, which is odd that you felt the need to express that about your own experience. So I guess: yay us! 
it’s terrible if you can’t keep the environment in the recommended range. but if you keep it in range, it works fine.
hell, i have the basic and it’s in my finished attic office, and i use a portable AC to keep the temperature in the proper range (sub 75 in the summer).
if someone doesn’t look at that range and tries to put a GF in an environment that is outside of that range, that’s not on GF, since they advertise it clearly.
is an external cooling system more effective? sure. but it’s also uglier, takes up more space, requires more maintenance. GF chose to go a different way to avoid those things. i’m glad, since i’d rather not have to deal with external cooling and just keep my office in the 72 degree range.
so if that doesn’t work for you, then obviously the GF isn’t the right machine for you. that doesn’t mean that they did it wrong, that just means it wouldn’t fit your needs. it fits mine just fine.
Just wanted to comment on the tray: did you see the video? (they only show installing the tray toward the very end). Mine tray’s fit is similar to yours, though may be a bit less side to side–if I really try to move it. But key is the weight for being a stable & flat surface to pin/hold down material to keep it flat. It doesn’t shift without effort. And mine rarely moves when taking off my magnets (I don’t use super strong ones, but strong enough to hold the material down) or if a pin gets wedged in (I like them tight, but usually not so tight they lift the tray when I try to remove them!).
And then the Dremel, which by comparison…
Understanding that their target audience is a typical Joannes customer, maintenance would be a huge deal breaker so it makes sense that they chose a Peltier for the Pro. It does a few degrees to the operating range so yay!
Similarly to you, cooling my office is a far simpler solution than anything else. Knowing what I know now, I would have bought the original Plus or maybe a Basic and used those initial savings to put AC in immediately rather than in the summer when the marketed “Enhanced cooling for all-day use” didn’t work as intended 
My only complaint about their operating temperature is the looseness of the wording they use to advertise it, “recommended.” 
It should either be dropped or changed to required. Then again this is US-based marketing it doesn’t have to be scientifically accurate, just enough to pass legal muster.
p.s. It’s funny how everyone defends GlowForge tooth an nail when someone has an opinion such as: “I like external cooling.” I’m not saying they should have it, just pointing out that we as a community shouldn’t dismiss its usefulness when discussing (trying to find flaws in) other devices.
There are so many people in this community still unwilling to accept that there are other machines that are just as good, and may even be a better match for some people. I literally accepted what we purchased the day we funded, in my eyes, it was only 50/50 it would even materialize. However, I no longer recommend it as the best machine for everyone and I make sure anyone that asks knows what is just marketing noise and what is real information. After all, there are a lot of great features in a GlowForge.
@bansai8creations Thanks! I always figured that it was related to how the passthrough door shoves it around when installed. I will take a look at the video and see if I’m just seating it incorrectly. I’ve never had an issue with anything moving on me, the honeycomb pins make sure of that!
I’m gonna dismiss external cooling as an individual. Had it on an FSL model and it was ridiculous (back in the airbrush compressor + lots of tubing + 5 gallon bucket + make sure the water doesn’t get moldy days)
I too wouldn’t want it if I needed a 5-gallon bucket that was molding. 
Luckily my desktop has never molded.