I sat back and thought about it for a while after the last announcement and finding out the new projected date for our unit is March 22nd.
Keeping in mind the unit is coming to Canada via UPS (who are, in my experience, the worst shippers):
- At this point I see too many posts about damaged in shipping units with some people needing 3 tries to get a working one
- Posts about units failing or having issues shortly after receiving them
- Incomplete software and features
- high cost of returning the unit if there is an issue
These are all just the posts we can see, not what they actually handle in private - maybe we see the worst of it, maybe we don’t.
At this point I’m not convinced the unit will make it a year without an issue that requires it being sent back. Understanding that broken in shipment units will be replaced at Glowforge’s expense, I’m looking purely at a warranty issue.
I’m also assuming Glowforge won’t directly sell me components to repair it on my own since there’s been talk of repair centers (future plans kind of thing). I’d be willing to buy parts and replace them myself even if it voided my warranty - see shipping units back below.
From what I can tell the software and the Glowforge’s abilities aren’t what was pitched in the initial sale. It’s better in some regards, worse in others, and making progress, but it’s not there yet.
Cloud services seem somewhat unstable and will probably get worse as more people get their units. It will eventually get better I’m sure.
An estimated 500 (CAD) shipping each time it doesn’t take long before the preorder price savings is eaten up in shipping costs and down time.
Looking at all this, and as much as we’ve been looking forward to the unit, I think it’s best to cancel and see where Glowforge goes and if we like what we see purchase at full retail price. Perhaps when the unit reliability, cloud, shipping and repairs are all stable and known.
So blah blah blah, why haven’t I cancelled? The Canadian dollar is down compared to when I preordered in October 2015. As of this posting it’s about 3 cents on the dollar difference (1.29 today vs 1.325 in October 2015). Granted that works out to about 84 dollars or something in difference, but I don’t feel like I should lose on money I could have invested, or left in the bank, or used to make items I could have sold for more.
What I need in the next 5 or so months is for the two countries to narrow this gap - that’s not too much to ask, is it?