EasyLase USB DAC. Where to buy?

[stanwax]

$500 is still a lot of money for a beginner.

I agree it is still a lot - but not as much as $50k of optics....

Rob

[DixiScan]

@ Laser Ben:
Please do NOT try the free software and demo's !!
Go for the first tip you had here. Buy LA Freak now. Today!
Please do not compare laser software! It will confuse you.
All demo's contain spy software and are not made to give an idea of the functions of that laser software.
Do not try the free software (like HE-laserscan) that can work with your Easylase.

[buffo]

ScanTechHolland;

Do you think we're trying to mislead LaserBen? I know you operate a website that has a lot of information about free laser software, but I wonder how much experience you have with each one of those products listed on your site. Have you ever seen a Pangolin controller in operation? How about a Pangolin controller side-by-side with an EasyLase USB controller?

I *have* seen them side-by-side. And let me tell you, the Pangolin controller is vastly superior. I only wish I had learned my lesson earlier. I could have saved myself a lot of time and money, not to mention a good bit of frustration.

I spent a lot of time trying out free laser solutions. Then I tried some of the cheaper controllers. I can't tell you how much work I did trying to get my Alphalite XC Pro to work right. I even played around with the basic version of the X-29 software. I finally broke down and bought Mamba. Then I upgraded to Mamba Black because Mamba couldn't sync shows to music. I was seriously frustrated by this point, because I was still having problems. This is about the time when we decided to have our first Laser Enthusiast's Meeting in Orlando, Florida. (FLEM - in January 2007)

At FLEM I saw a very nice RGB projector that was running the Easylase USB controller and Mamba Black. The projector worked quite well, but there was a slight jitter present in some of the images. Bill Benner suggested that we disconnect the controller and plug the projector into DZ's Pangolin board, just so we could see the difference that a good controller would make. WOW! What a difference! The jitter was *gone*.

Now, LaserBen was about to purchase the EasyLase controller. (See his first post in this thread.) They cost $400 plus shipping from Europe. Then you need software to run it. Now, the LA Freak package is just $100 more than the EasyLase controler alone, and for that extra $100 you get a world-class software suite, including Live! Pro, plus the FB3 controller and Pangolin's unbeatable customer service... So you tell me: which one do you think is the better deal? Are you really going to argue that LaserBen should buy something else?

Finally, your statement that $500 is a lot of money for a beginner is naive in the extreme. Lasers are expensive, and we all know it. Now, I'll grant you that $1500 for a Pangolin QM-2000 intro board might be a lot of money for a beginner. But $500 for a FB3 controller *and* software is a HELL of a deal for anyone.

Mamba Black and the EasyLase USB controller is the closest competitor, and that package costs $800 and still can't do all the things that the LA Freak package can. Hell, even the Alphalite XC Pro controller costs $400, though you do get the software for free. But that package won't do a fraction of the things the LA Freak can. (It can't even sync a show to music.)

Bottom line - the LA Freak package and the FB3 controller are the *best* value on the market today. You don't need to be an economics expert to see that. I strongly suspect that Pangolin could sell almost as many units (and make a lot more money) by pricing the LA Freak package at the same price as the Mamba Black and EasyLase USB combo. But Bill Benner wanted to give something back to the hobbyist community, and this is it.

Furthermore, I take issue with your statement that we discourage comparison. Search through the posts on PhotonLexicon and you'll see that the pros and cons of different packages have been debated to death already. I'm sharing the abbreviated results of those discussions, not because I'm somehow involved with Pangolin (I'm not), but rather because I made lots of mistakes early on BECAUSE I didn't have anyone to give me good advice. Like I said, I wish I could have purchased a FB3 controller 2 years ago.

I suggest that before you start complaining about other people's advice, you share some of your own experiences regarding software that you have actually tested yourself. Just because you have lots of software available on your site doesn't mean we should all start using it. And if you really believe you've got some free software that is better than what we're taking about here, then prove it... Post some details about it. We're all listening.

Adam

[allthatwhichis]

Hey, how bout this... I have a paralelle DAC for popelscan I will sell you for $100 and you can get popelscan for free... It can sync to music and has a half dozen or so shows with it. I think there is also a freeware version of some slightly more robust software you can use with it also. HE-something...

You're still going to want to get LA Freak in a few months. I went about 3 months before I had to have something better. I sold the farm and went for the LD2000 intro kit mainly because LA Freak was a month or so out and I would like to someday go semi commercial... someday.

[DixiScan]

Thanks for the compliment! Yes, my website gives a lot of information about lasers! If you are new in The World of Lasers, you can find out what's on the market . People can not download demo's at this site, it has only links to other download pages. Its independent and every new link is welcome. This page is not made for myself, but for YOU, the laserist! . Laser Ben is asking what kind of freeware software can do basic displays and beam shows. I'll give him my link to (almost) all the (free) software.

My experience: 10 years of laser scanning, trying a lot of laser software, do suggestions to the programmers, and make party people go crazy on low cost laser stuff every two weeks in RGB colors.
Conclusion after 10 years: you can have a lot of laser fun without spending a lot of money .

The question right now to Laser Ben is:
What kind of laser do you have already, does it have a analog modulation input, how fast, what kind of scanners do you have, how fast, what do you want with your laser set. And most of all: what is your budget?

[cruch]

Buffo:
I must say, I just love youre posts. LOTS of information

[stanwax]

Buffo:
I must say, I just love youre posts. LOTS of information

here here
Adam is truly gifted in putting the point across - I always enjoy his posts

Rob