AixiZ

[illuzion]

I feel the need to post my experience with Aixiz, as it is relevant, and there seem to be a LOT of people buying from him stateside, and he is getting pretty big in US markets. I called him around november of 2006 for a 473nm 200mW unit. He told me that he could sell me one of his brand of units (which I have heard plenty of people complaining about beam quality on here) or he also offered me a "great deal" on a unit that he ordered from GUOKE (www.gklaser.com) which is a previous distributor of his prior to what he sells now, only catch was it was a 220v unit, not a big deal for me, I have stepup transformers that can easily handle that, and it had analog 10k modulation, LED current display, etc. So I bought this unit, got it around december, I tested it on the bench, the unit was behaving very erratically, the TE cooler gave strange readings, and the head got warm but would not lase, turned off power supply, and turned it back on, and unit started lasing. Power output was within spec after minor adjustment (the diode was actually being overdriven to the point where output would peak with 4.1vdc of modulation input and would fall off after that), so I backed the drive down and it made peak (rated) power with 5v modulation input. Now this thing has been behaving erratically since day one, and also I should note the power supply runs hot enough you cant touch it (like 90degC or so). Also when it worked the beam quality was poor. I called numerous times and spoke to the owner of company. He was very receptive, and he was willing to work with us. He pretty much told me that the power supplies with these units were "quirky" and he doesnt sell them anymore, and he gave us a great deal on it, and if we didnt like it we could return it. Price was right, so we figured we'd make the best of it. Meanwhile we ordered a 1W CNI from him, no BS, we asked for a CNI, and aside from a long wait (4 wks), which during the long wait he kept offering to ship us "their own manufacturers" brand unit which they had in stock and would overnight to me, we choose to keep waiting for the CNI, when we got our CNI unit it worked great. Meanwhile, the GUOKE unit finally dropped dead, and would not power back up, appeared to be some type of TE controller fault, the power supply for that thing was a nightmare, 3 PCB's inside, switchmode powersupply and laserdriver were integrated, TE board, modulation board, everything wired point to point, it was a real mess, so we called AIXIZ, and he told us to send the unit to him. We sent him the unit back with a laundry list of complaints, and he confirmed the unit had "an electronic problem" and had to go back to china. So he returned it to the manufacturer, and they basically didn't want to do anything with it, becuase Aixiz really doesn't buy from them anymore. So I kept calling for weeks and all I got was a bunch of BS excuses (ie Waiting for parts, testing, etc). I spoke to owner again and he told me that they would fix it in "their" factory who makes the units they are selling now, basically what they were trying to do is interface one of "their" power supplies to this GK head. After months of waiting (after all this whole thing started in november, the whole thing wasnt their fault, chinese new year held it up), I finally demanded resolution, and told him that I wanted a new unit. All he offered was "their brand of units". I requested a CNI unit, and we agreed on an "upgrade charge" (he credited everything I paid for this unit toward a FAIR price for a CNI with analog modulation). After several weeks I got the CNI unit, and the damn thing was DOA (when modulation was applied it lased for like 50mS and shut off). I called him, and he was shocked (as was I too) as this was the first CNI he has seen trouble with. I sent him the unit back again, and he worked it out with CNI and got it exchanged (weeks). I just recently got the replacement (in April 2007), and it works really nice, great beam quality, modulation performance, etc.
Anyways, long story, but if anyone wants details they are here. But the end result with Aixiz is this.
Rule #1: YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR (wanna buy a cheap laser they will certainly be happy to sell you one)
Rule #2: IF YOU ASK FOR QUALITY PRODUCTS THEY WILL GET THEM FOR YOU (ie CNI)
Rule #3: THEY HAVE *EVENTUALLY* RESOLVED *EVERY* PROBLEM I HAVE HAD WITH THEIR PRODUCTS (it just requires lots of patience and diligence in keeping on top of them)

They have NEVER turned their back on us, or refused to help with their products. A lot of stuff they sell is not made terribly well (not their fault they are primarily a distributor for offshore companies), and if you demand quality products and are willing to pay the premium, they do sell them as well. The owner is very helpful, and will bend over backwards to help you. I was really waiting to see the end of this story before posting anything about this company. I see a lot of people bashing AixiZ on here, but they really are a good company, they just sell a lot of low quality products.
-illuzion

[allthatwhichis]

1 good for Aixiz...

total: 3 bad, 1 good...

I actually need a smaller <50mW red module for a toy I'd like to make. They have a 10 to 40mW adjustable I bought before and killed I "may" try another from them again but... Chuck and I have not really seen eye to eye on anything I have bought there, but with your review I may give em another chance.

[illuzion]

Like I stated in my post, I'm not campainging for them, just posting personal experience. I have really not heard any good experiences with their brand of products, everyone seems to have some type of complaint about them (divergence, power, beam quality, etc). But if you look at them as purely a distributor, I think they are good at that. When something has to go back to china, they don't charge us the overseas shipping as other vendors have tried to do in the past. As far as product goes you get what you pay for, if you want the cheapest blue lasers around, they will happily supply them them for you, just be prepared to deal with the problems if you go that route. From personal experience with 200+ mW DPSS units, I highly recommend CNI, IMHO it is the best stuff coming out of china and it is not really priced that much higher than everyone else (except in low power range).
-illuzion

P.S. I'll try and get some pics of the latest projector posted soon, looking pretty good, just need to do some enclosure work, and I need to convert all the shows I put on the HDADAT from RGY to RGB.

[PNjunction]

Could be due to faulty memory circuits, but overall... I think I've seen more good, or at least halfway decent personal reviews about Aixiz across various sites, than bad.

Funny, but Illuzion essentially states the gist of my impression of Aixiz thus far... The customer service is friendly, and helpful. Things may move a bit slow at times, but seems they always come through to do the right thing. Again, that's just what I seem to remember. Haven't actually sought to read up on what's said to be "bad" experiences.

As for my personal, but non-direct experience, I'm quite happy the deals they've provided in regard to a couple group buys on CPF. Both times involved their case/lens modules at excellent prices.

[jeejeedr]

1 good for Aixiz...

total: 3 bad, 1 good...

I actually need a smaller <50mW red module for a toy I'd like to make. They have a 10 to 40mW adjustable I bought before and killed I "may" try another from them again but... Chuck and I have not really seen eye to eye on anything I have bought there, but with your review I may give em another chance.

I bought a green 100 mW from them.

Put's out 140 and no problem at all.

Got a REALLY good price.

So for the moment: 3 bad, 2 good...

[allthatwhichis]

I bought a green 100 mW from them.

Put's out 140 and no problem at all.

Got a REALLY good price.

So for the moment: 3 bad, 2 good...

You sure that greeny has an IR filter? That is one of my main problems. I was told my 30mw should have one and it didn't. That and they need a receptionist of some sort to answer emails and mail stuff in a timely manner...

still havn't gotten that red.

[andy_con]

my green from aixiz has lots of IR!!!

[jeejeedr]

You sure that greeny has an IR filter? That is one of my main problems. I was told my 30mw should have one and it didn't. That and they need a receptionist of some sort to answer emails and mail stuff in a timely manner...

still havn't gotten that red.

It has an IR filter. The only thing is, that it's not one of their regular selling version. I think they must have been short on their own lasers so they sent me one they probably bought elsewhere...

[AixiZ]

Its not easy being the new kid on the block so to speak. I appreciate all the good and comments where we could do better. My direct cell is 713-240-4929 for anyone who has any issues with our products. Chuck

[carmangary]

I ordered a 30mw green. I got a scuffed up 50mw green. Not sure why. But, considering I got 20mw for free I don't complain. It seems to have an IR filter. It looks exactly the same as the 50mw that dave is selling on ebay.