443nm

[FrankenPC]

I wonder where the QTY price break occurs. We should email bomb companies like CNI requesting they release a line using these diodes.

[James Lehman]

I wonder where the QTY price break occurs. We should email bomb companies like CNI requesting they release a line using these diodes.

That's easy! When there is a whole factory full of people making thousands of units every day!

James.

[Alsone]

$ 3000 USD per....That's crazy !!! Why so ,so much $$$$$ R & D ...Yeah...right.......Because they can !!! I assume the unit/$will drop lika rock in production manufacture ??? Might as well " Bark at the Moon "" right ??? !!! Anyone have any insight into such a price policy ????

Bob

Personally I think the West is being ripped off by China over laser modules and the fact that so many laser manufcturers are prepared to buy them at that price is fueling the cost.

I fail to believe they're that expensive to make especially given that they are a mass production item.

You can buy a dvd player for £18 and the cost of that includes not only the laser but the casing, the tray mechanism, the motors, the transformer, all the other electronics. Which kind of leaves me figuring that the red laser module inside is costing probably less than a £1. Try and buy a powerful Red Laser module for that!

For a Blu Ray Player, you can buy a computer based Blu Ray player for around £150. Most of the additional costs are listed above under DVD. So again the Blu Laser module whilst more expensive is clearly costing only a few pounds (remembering that the retailer usually has 100% mark up (price £75), distributor 100% (£33), importer (I would think similar (£18)). Which kind of brings us down to a TOTAL component cost of less than £18 less import taxes and shipping costs which in turn probably brings the laser down to around a pound or two. Yet try and buy a Blu Laser Module and you're looking over £500, possible in the thousands. Even if I got the mark up margins wrong, you're still talking in the low tens of pounds.

[buffo]

alsone;

You're confusing the cost of a blu-ray player (low power diode - maybe 10-13 mw tops) with the cost of a blue ray *BURNER* (50 mw and up).

You can buy the entire PS3 laser module for around $30 on the Internet. For that you get the blue ray player diode (405 nm) , the DVD player diode (660 nm), the CD player diode (780 nm), plus all the optics and all the mechanical parts that make up the sled. Pretty cheap price!

Now, if you (carefully) take that module apart and harvest the blue-ray reader diode inside, you can build your own blue-ray laser pointer. It will make around 10 mw. (Whoopie...) But know that you can kill the diode *very* easily. Most people buy two or three of the sleds just in case. (I've personally killed two of them so far.)

Contrast that with the cost of a blue-ray burner... Last time I checked, those things were selling for around $500 or so. I've heard talk that you can buy the bare diodes that go into the burners for around $150 or so, but I haven't seen any links. And even so, those diodes are only good for around 50 mw or so. (Well, again, I've heard that some of the newest ones can be pushed to around 90 mw or so, but I haven't seen any proof yet.)

So there's your price difference. If you want a pre-packaged solution that you can unwrap, plug, and play, then you're going to pay extra for that. But if you're on a budget and are reasonably adept with both a soldering iron and a drill press (or better yet a milling machine), then you can just buy the bare diode, wire your own driver, and build your own mount for it.

As for the $3000 price tag on the 443 nm diodes, well, all I can say is that they're brand-new. The price will probably come down some, but as others have already mentioned, there is no "killer ap" that uses these diodes yet. The laser show industry alone can't provide enough sales volume to push prices much lower.

Now, if they start using these things in lots of consumer products (laser TV, laser cell phone displays) then the cost could drop by a factor of 10 or more. I'm not holding my breath though. (The Nichia 445 nm diodes have been out for several years, and they're still priced in the stratosphere as well - mainly because they're a lab curiosity outside of the laser show biz.)

Adam

[Alsone]

Hi Adam,

There's a Blu Ray Writer here for £155 (I thought I'd see one).

I appreciate that the modules in these instruments aren't exactly the same as the modules you'd get in a proper laser module designed for show use, but the fact that they obviously can be produced cheaply seems to rubbish the idea that its expensive manufacturing processes alone thats making laser entertainment modules so expensive. At least thats my take on it.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...rive%20-%20OEM

[Lasermad]

I suppose you can have all the same arguments in the medical industry ...research and development costs !!!

With no ready market im pretty sure they will be trying to recover some costs in the first few thousand units .. like anything if it goes mass production !! prices will hit the floor ....... the first ever green laser pointer i saw on sale was $1000 , the first ever Blue laser pointer $2000 ..... and prices have dropped hugely in the last 3-5 years .

Looks like handy bit o kit !

PAUL

[FrankenPC]

alsone;

You're confusing the cost of a blu-ray player (low power diode - maybe 10-13 mw tops) with the cost of a blue ray *BURNER* (50 mw and up).

You can buy the entire PS3 laser module for around $30 on the Internet. For that you get the blue ray player diode (405 nm) , the DVD player diode (660 nm), the CD player diode (780 nm), plus all the optics and all the mechanical parts that make up the sled. Pretty cheap price!

Now, if you (carefully) take that module apart and harvest the blue-ray reader diode inside, you can build your own blue-ray laser pointer. It will make around 10 mw. (Whoopie...) But know that you can kill the diode *very* easily. Most people buy two or three of the sleds just in case. (I've personally killed two of them so far.)

Contrast that with the cost of a blue-ray burner... Last time I checked, those things were selling for around $500 or so. I've heard talk that you can buy the bare diodes that go into the burners for around $150 or so, but I haven't seen any links. And even so, those diodes are only good for around 50 mw or so. (Well, again, I've heard that some of the newest ones can be pushed to around 90 mw or so, but I haven't seen any proof yet.)

So there's your price difference. If you want a pre-packaged solution that you can unwrap, plug, and play, then you're going to pay extra for that. But if you're on a budget and are reasonably adept with both a soldering iron and a drill press (or better yet a milling machine), then you can just buy the bare diode, wire your own driver, and build your own mount for it.

As for the $3000 price tag on the 443 nm diodes, well, all I can say is that they're brand-new. The price will probably come down some, but as others have already mentioned, there is no "killer ap" that uses these diodes yet. The laser show industry alone can't provide enough sales volume to push prices much lower.

Now, if they start using these things in lots of consumer products (laser TV, laser cell phone displays) then the cost could drop by a factor of 10 or more. I'm not holding my breath though. (The Nichia 445 nm diodes have been out for several years, and they're still priced in the stratosphere as well - mainly because they're a lab curiosity outside of the laser show biz.)

Adam

New higher power 6X blu-ray burners are 250$ in the US. Made by LG.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827136137

LG got a hold of a VERY large batch of 6X burning diodes. This is a pretty damn good deal.

[aijii]

problem is the blu-rays are 405nm, not 443. I don't think 3000 is really too high an asking price at all, considering how powerful the things are, and how much it costs for 1/2 watt in 473nm dpss of the same reliability as a simple diode based system.

[Banthai]

Da2001 mentioned erlier in this thread about HB laser

well ive just had a price list emaiiled to me and they are doing 20% off thier standard pricing ....

and as Da2001 said the prices are very good seeing its a complete module with cooling etc ...

half a watt of blue for £1700 uk pounds aint bad

and im sure prices will drop .............................. eventualy

http://www.hb-laser.com/hb-en-downlo...ich.html?v=207

all the best ..... Karl

[da2001]

thats true, but remember that you will need a lot more power as 473nm.
405nm Diodes are not usable for Lasershows. 150mW is for your eye like 5-10mW 473nm.. But you can build other beautiful colors with it!

If you see the beam or a spot, it`s like your drunk or like wearing eyeglases of an old man

2 friends of me got the Blue HB Laser. The lasers are very nice, but don`t forget the Beam Quallity. Its not a single Diode like an DPSS laser..