Thanks. I have the slipmats too and also some shirts and hoodies with the logo. I wanted to tattoo it on my arm, but unfortunately the DeeJay who created the logo in the 90s started again… =/
1 Like
Yeah Richie Hawtin is still around. I dont think he would mind =). I have a ton of friends that play DnB and have metalheadz tattoos etc. Everyone that saw them, even Goldie, thought they were rad.
Im a big fan of plastikman/hawtin. He was one of the first electronic artists I got into.
ooooh cedar smoke:) I may have to remove the filter for some woods…LOL
The tube is higher quality than you’d find in a typical Chinese import - if you’re a tube geek you may be able to see enough in photos to identify some differences (hint: we call them ‘pinkies’).
3 Likes
Sorry to add a reply to an old thread, but just seeing this now and kind of disappointing to learn that those of us who pre-ordered will have to wait for our glowforge longer than it will be covered under warranty.
No, I realize that and never meant to imply otherwise. The point was more to contrast the two time frames.
The feeling is we put our trust in them for all this time that they would deliver a great product, yet they aren’t putting that same amount of trust in us (or their product).
I’m not sure what you mean…
Not speaking for him but it sounds like he is saying we trust them enough to wait for a great product but they aren’t placing the same trust in the product. I don’t agree with the sentiment but that’s what I think he is trying to get across.
1 Like
Thank you @elsman18, to clerify, “trust in product” I expect refers to the warranty period, but “trust in us” is what I don’t understand.
Welcome @nicka to the forum. If I understand your comments, a sixth month warranty doesn’t seem like much, especially in relation to the long wait. I agree that it doesn’t feel right. However, as the discussions have developed around the length of the warranty and whether or not it is indicative of the quality of the product, it seems that as electronic devices go, this duration of a warranty is fairly common. My understanding of it is that warranties and prices are somewhat tied together in some esoteric commodity modeling. I was thinking about how warranties have developed in the auto industry, a very mature market. I expect my car to last for 10 years with no need for major repairs, just replacing tires and the usual oil change stuff. It is amazing how many miles I can put on my car without every thinking that there are thousands of parts that could go wrong, yet they don’t. Spinning the Glowforge thing in a positive light, yes it’s less than what I expect on a $2,000 computer these days, but not much. Since it is a new product, there is bound to be a draw up to a longer warranty. I know there are lots of folks with product development experience from the ground up that might chime in on the economics of warranties. Not having any business background, engineering degree or manufacturing experience, I can only comment on this from the consumer side.
1 Like
The topic of warranties is interesting. I am a Mac user and buy extended warranties for all Apple electronic products…partially due to what I read in Consumer Reports. I do not purchase extended warranties for any other products. Apple is one of only about two products for which CR DOES advocate purchasing an extended warranty.“Consumer Reports: Don’t Buy the Extended Warranty (Unless It’s AppleCare)”. "Apple’s normal warranty is only one year with 90 days of phone support. "Appleis policy of offering only 90 days of phone support for its Macs gives AppleCare value to those buying Macs."
I realize that I am talking about Apple specifically and that @nicka is not referring to an extended warranty.
1 Like
I can say with near certainty that @dan and team know all of the information below - but for others that haven’t compared warranties this is what I came up with:
Epilog: 1 year on platform / 2 years on laser tube.
Kern: 1 year
GCC: Mostly 2 years, but a few systems with 1 year
Gravograph: 2 years
Trotec: Depending on system, 2 years or 3 years. (Laserati system is 1 year)
Universal Laser Systems: 2 years for laser, 1 year for platform
Full Spectrum: 60 day full warranty/1 year limited extended (extended excludes consumables such as belts, wheels, tubing, lenses, mirrors, etc.)
As for the economics of providing a warranty, that’s a different ball game in figuring out and well beyond the scope of my knowledge. However, the entry price for Epilog for example is going to set you back about $8k. Full Spectrum is the closest entry price comparable to the Glowforge and many/most of those above will set you back a new car or more.
4 Likes
Thanks for posting that research.
2 Likes
The cost of the units are also going to be proportional to the amount of “white-glove” support you expect. All those corporations provide a great deal of support whose purpose is to reduce the user serviceability as much as possible in that time frame.
With the Glowforge and the price point it’s at, there is going to have to be some give or take. As an IT person, I’m willing to take on an increased burden of doing more user service for the reduced price.
If a power supply unit dies, those companies would probably* let you ship the unit back to fix whatever is wrong. Shipping an entire unit is perhaps the single most expensive corrective action you can take. (*)Never owned one, never had to try.
With Glowforge I’m prepared to say “my PSU is making a noise and not firing the laser” and get a response that says, “we’ll ship you a replacement PSU, here’s how you replace it yourself and RMA us the dead one back.” After 6 months, I might come into the forums for support to say the same thing, and have to buy a replacement PSU from Glowforge outright – No return shipment of anything.
2 Likes
Sometimes I have a bad habit of alluding to things but not fully specifying my thoughts. 
With any warrantied product, the price of the warranty has an intrinsic value in the total cost of the product. More warranty is going to add more $ to the final product price.
I would like to see an extended warranty option though.
And hopefully, being a gen 1 product, they will RMA at least some of the warrantied products instead of just issuing replacements, so they can analyze potential weaknesses moving forward with Gen 2.
3 Likes
Fair enough, I’ve been guilty of that as well. 
Shortly after I ordered mine I was a bit disappointed at hearing the warranty length was going to be 6 months, but 180-183 days is better than 90 days or even 30 days than some electronics get.
RMAs – especially for statistically determining points of failures – tend to help influence current and next gen products, absolutely. I just hope it’s not the most expensive module of the collection of parts, if it happens. 
Most of this has been hashed over, but - in addition to comparing against lasers, we compared against similarly-priced 3D printers (since there weren’t any similarly priced lasers).
5 Likes
Seems your nearest laser competitor is an entry-level Full Spectrum (who interestingly enough is running AdWords campaigns on Glowforge searches) and Glowforge Basic has double the warranty.
Wait - do EBay lasers carry warranties? 
Only 6 months of warranty ?? Are you afraid that your product is not good enough ??