My First Impression

[redgoat]

Imagine this, you're in the market for a new car. The car is supposed to be the best in its class, but it's not sold at your local car dealership. So, you decide to order it over the internet from the manufacturer. When the new car shows up, you're as excited as a kid on Christmas morning. The first thing you want to do is jump in and drive the sucker. When you open the door, you expect to be greeted by the smell of Italian leather, but instead your new car smells of cigarette smoke. On top of that, you notice that the steering wheel for the car is missing with a note saying that you'll have to install it yourself. At this point you're starting to wonder if you'd make the best decision. Good thing you didn't order the more exotic version of the vehicle.

Anyone care to guess who's product I'm talking about.

*****************************************
This issue was immediately resolved by Bill
at Pangolin. This was a one time problem
and is not normal for Pangolin. Thanks Bill!
*****************************************

[allthatwhichis]

A LaserWorld laser projector...

[Xytrell]

You mean to tell me laser world projectors don't come with steering wheels??!

[redgoat]

In all honesty guys, I know I'm probably going to get flamed for this one, but my only real complaint is that the thing should smell like new electronics, not a cigarette. This may also be a one in a million for the company, but all that I'm saying is that if I paid $4000+ for LD2000, I'd be a little more pissed off right now. I don't want to piss anyone off, but cigarette smelling electronics is very unprofessional in my book. Also, I forgot to mention that the paint is cracked on the Pangolin logo. Oh, and he reference to the steering wheel is that I have to solder my own differential board into the FB3. I know that this is a DIY hobby, but from what I was told at the time of the order, it was going to take a day or so, because they had to solder the board in. I was quite shocked to see that it wasn't done at Pangolin. Anyone else have a similar experience?

Here's some photos of everything that came with my FB3. The differential board cost me $25.00 extra.

[allthatwhichis]

Before the flaming starts, I will ask a few questions... as I don't "see" anything wrong with what your pictures show; but this can't scratch and snift the screen yet either.

Where did you purchase this from? Direct form Pango, or a different source?
Have you spoken to anyone from the place of purchase?
<flame> Or are you just opening a flame thread for yourself?

[DZ]

Hey redgoat, I don't think you'll get flamed for your concerns with the FB3. They certainly seem valid. I'm curious, did you buy directly from Pangolin or from a Pangolin dealer? Bill (Pangolin founder) is a regular here on PL and I'm sure he'll take care of your concerns. If he doesn't log in and see this, you may want to try and contact him using the Pangolin contact form: http://www.pangolin.com/contact/

[300EVIL]

I've been to Pangolin HQ and I didn't see any ash trays.... Only smoke they probably make there comes out of a hazer. As for the non installed differential board and questionable paint job on the logo..... Pfft! Please.... How does the board/software preform?

[daedal]

Yikes!

I've also been to the Pango HQ many times... no smoking inside, and definitely no smoke smell...

--DDL

[redgoat]

This was ordered direct from Pango. I agree with all of the comments about physical appearance of the product. I really don't care about the cracked paint, but I'm sure that Bill would like to know that his case painter/supplier has some problems. I'll be calling Pango on Monday to find out what the deal is with this. Like I said, I'm sure that this is a first for Pango, so that's why I posted the info in the forums. I'm just glad to hear that this is not the norm. For a second, I questioned if the smell was really cigarette smoke, so I handed it to my pregnant wife and asked her to take a wiff and tell me what she thought.

Unfortunately I won't be able to test this unit yet, because I don't have my laser. It should be here by the end of next week, I hope. As you guys can see, I like to take a lot of photos of stuff, so I should be posting my build photos as soon as I get the laser.

[Pangolin]

Dear Redcoat,

Thanks for bringing this up, although contacting us privately would have been appreciated and would have gotten just as much results.

Pangolin US Headquarters is 100% smoke free as of January 2009. Let me do some investigating and see if I can figure out how your device might have come in contact with smoke. Tell me, are you located outside the US? If so, then the box might have been opened in customs, and who knows, maybe they were smoking there before they re-sealed the box.

Regarding the differential daughterboard, it is not needed for the FB3-XE. However, if you ordered it along with the FB3-XE then there would have been an assumption that you already also had a FB3-SE, and thus, you knew what you were ordereing.

We offer a 100% money-back guarantee (the only one in the business by the way...) so if you are dissatisfied with your order, you can return it for 100% of your money back. I've said before, and written on this forum, we'd rather have a happy non-client, than an unhappy client!

Best regards,

William Benner