Reply To: [unofficial weekender] Huh? Where is it?

[sundancer 42979xp 2]

Good morning everyone.

My pledge: prepare for Orktober and even the terrain building part!

Answers:

• No they are not.

And here is my long winded answer why I do not consider them hobby tools. Especially the one advertised on OTT yesterday.

Reason the first: Cost. Try to look at the xTool homepage and find the cheapest option for entry. It’s a nightmare. Especially since they don’t include basic safety features in their base price. It starts around 700€ and goes uphill fast.

Reason the second: Lasers are inherently more dangerous in a very direct way that a FDM or resin printer. Stray light from a strong laser is already dangerous to your eyes and skin and needs special equipment and safety measures. Hell, depending on your region you might even be restricted from buying certain levels of lasers if your not a professional. The higher the wattage the more dangerous!

Reason the third: Space. While you can get away with a rather smallish 3D printer (especially resin if you only what to print minis) a laser cutter and engraver always needs lots of space to make the most out of the material you’re cutting. So the basic footprint is huge!

So yeah, as much as I like the product from a laser cutter more then 3D printers, the device itself is even more “non hobby” in my book.

Now, let me get back to the xTool company and their weird pricing structures.

When I first clicked the link to their website I got bombarded with popups for “deal only lasts an hour”, “buy now to save money!!!” and all that shit you really don’t want pushed into your face.

From what I can tell from the horrible shop they have: if you buy the base model you only get the frame, electronics and the laser. That’s it. But what you really need at the very least is a honey comb mesh for cutting wood/mdf (you can get away without mesh when only engraving I guess). And what you really *REALLY* should have (IMHO) is an enclosure to trap fumes and stray light.

So I’m trying to come up with an order that is a “complete” kit. Here it goes, better sit down:

• D1 Pro 10W (1*xTool D1 Pro 10W Lasercutter, 1*1064 nm Laserhead) €1.158,00
• Enclosure €179,00
• xTool D1 Pro/D1 Air Assist Set €139,00
• xTool honey comb working plate D1/ D1 Pro €119,00
• xTool Professionale Laser safety glasses for 180nm-540nm wave length laser €32,99
• xTool D1 Pro Parts Kit €45,99

Technically I should add an air filter but I’m going to leave it at that. Have you done the maths yet? No? Let me help you: €1673,98

That’s not a hobby product in my book.

Do I sound a bit pissed? That’s because I am. Not because there is no Weekender that can happen. And it happened before and will happen again and it was always with good reason. (People being sick, big events etc). So why am I pissed? Because I feel that video is a paid for add. And in fact IT IS. Because if you look closely at the start of the video is say in the top left corner “contains paid for promotion” but that only pops up for a very short time at the first start. So if you blink, you miss it.

Look, I don’t want to be a negative nancy and I know OTT needs to make money but for the love of god stop treating sponsored deals as “a great hobby idea”. Be more open an honest about things. Just say it at the start of the article/video: “We/I have gotten this thing send to us to review. This is our/my honest thoughts on it and you’ll need to watch out for…”

The casual “oh and you need this and this and this to make it work” way is just rubbing me the wrong way. And yes, it’s about money. I hate it when I get the feeling people are trying to upsell me on things. I don’t want to know what a part of the deal costs I want to know TCO. Total Cost of Ownership.

A car is not just the car but car + fuel + maintenance + insurance.

A house is not just the house but fees when buying, insurance, energy costs, repairs, taxes.

And I think what drove me up the wall the most, what really put in the nail in that sponsored video: the background music. Yes, that’s a very much ‘me’ thing but come on! When has OTT every done videos with elevator music? It made it scream “THIS A PAID ADD” even more to me. At time it sounded like a show on QVC.

@warzan mate this is not against you personal but that video is bad. On a very basic business level bad. Maybe I am the only one with a very bad taste in my mouth with this but I feel sullied. I really do. I’ve thought about this since last night when the video dropped. And I was almost about to let it go but the more I thought about it the angrier I got. This isn’t BoW/OTT. That’s not what I come here for. And maybe someone else higher up at business daddy thought it was a good idea. I don’t know. But it feels wrong on multiple levels.

Well I said my part. If I am wrong please tell me CoGs. See you lot tomorrow at the XLBS.