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Thread: The £500 ion gas laser myth

  1. #1
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    Laser Warning The £500 ion gas laser myth

    Hey all,

    I recently put on ebay a 4 watt argon ION gas laser and set a reserve of around £2500
    (english pounds)

    A user on here posted a link to my ebay auction which then had the usual replies of "its too expensive" !

    One "retardoface" commented that these lasers can be bought for £500 here in the UK.

    Well I have been looking for weeks now and still havent found any......

    I have seen plenty for the price range I wanted for mine.....which I did actually sell for what I wanted in the end away from ebay.

    Where are these cheap old lasers.... I want to buy !!!!

    Please dont even mention the word DPSS on this thread as I like to waste power and water..LOL
    Official "vag burner and big ass ION laser" fan club member

  2. #2
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    gashead is offline Admin Verified: Best Accent Ever(Tm)
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    Quote Originally Posted by Simon View Post
    Hey all,

    I recently put on ebay a 4 watt argon ION gas laser and set a reserve of around £2500
    (english pounds)

    A user on here posted a link to my ebay auction which then had the usual replies of "its too expensive" !

    One "retardoface" commented that these lasers can be bought for £500 here in the UK.

    Well I have been looking for weeks now and still havent found any......

    I have seen plenty for the price range I wanted for mine.....which I did actually sell for what I wanted in the end away from ebay.

    Where are these cheap old lasers.... I want to buy !!!!

    Please dont even mention the word DPSS on this thread as I like to waste power and water..LOL

    Hi Simon,

    I bought my SP Performa Whitelight for £350 off ebay, £500 if you include the transformer.

    I do believe I got a very good deal, the head is in great nick and very very low hours on it.

    I too have never seen them for under 2k on Ebay, but in my case perhaps I got a bargain.

    Cheers,

    Nige.

    PS: DPSS! :P

  3. #3
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    Nige,
    You are a lucky man !

    I am desperate to find some new toys in the 4 to 20 watt CW ION visble range for display use.

    Seems to be a fair few people advertising lasers they dont actually have anymore even at the higher price end which is very frustrating.
    Official "vag burner and big ass ION laser" fan club member

  4. #4
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    gashead is offline Admin Verified: Best Accent Ever(Tm)
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    Quote Originally Posted by Simon View Post
    Nige,
    You are a lucky man !

    I am desperate to find some new toys in the 4 to 20 watt CW ION visble range for display use.

    Seems to be a fair few people advertising lasers they dont actually have anymore even at the higher price end which is very frustrating.
    Hi Simon,

    Always seems to be a few going around the world.. but I wouldn't like the chances of it getting here undamaged..

    Apparently (Sams FAQ) the best way to ship a Gasser is in a Coffin, apparently people respect the dead. (read, don't want to get dead stuff on them)

    N.

  5. #5
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    Lightbulb

    Sir Simon -

    Quote Originally Posted by Simon View Post
    I am desperate to find some new toys in the 4 to 20 watt CW ION visble range for display use.
    http://cgi.ebay.com/Spectra-Physics-...item2c529119d2

    ...& also, FS, 171 Kr, and 1 of 2 Sabres, 16W (peak) WL w/ lo-divergence optics - awesome color-bal and amazing beam-specs for said-power:

    Click image for larger version. 

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ID:	23571 ... (and no-worries, know exactly-how to ship these babies successfully, worldwide; have sent systems to Bali, India, El Sal, Hawaii, etc - 100%-success...

    Shall we dance?

    Even-if price sounds high - - let's 'chat', eh?...
    cheers..
    j
    ....and armed only with his trusty 21 Zorgawatt KTiOPO4...

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by Simon View Post
    I recently put on ebay a 4 watt argon ION gas laser and set a reserve of around £2500 (english pounds) A user on here posted a link to my ebay auction which then had the usual replies of "its too expensive" !
    In fairness, E-bay is not the place to sell your laser if you're looking to fetch top dollar for it. E-bay is a place where people look for deals. It's also designed for folks that want to sell something fast. But the trade-off is that the price has to be low.

    Sure, every once in a while a nice laser will sell on E-bay for a decent price, but more often than not, lasers on E-bay sell for much less than they are worth.

    The other side of this coin is that a lot of the lasers that get sold on E-bay are, in fact, junk. "Untested" is often a euphemism for "broken", which is why people demand low prices.

    But sometimes an "untested" laser turns out to be perfectly fine. Buyers know this, which is why they'd rather hold out for a better deal. Even if they have to buy two or three lasers before they get a deal, that is still cheaper than paying someone several thousand dollars (or pounds) for a guaranteed laser. This drives down the prices of all lasers on E-bay.
    One "retardoface" commented that these lasers can be bought for £500 here in the UK. Well I have been looking for weeks now and still havent found any......
    Then you need to pay closer attention to the E-bay listings. It's not uncommon for a Lexel 95 to sell for between $500 and $1000 on E-bay. That's including the power supply, by the way. Several PL members have gotten deals like this on E-bay recently. (We had two such lasers at SELEM last year.) And a working Lexel 95 will do 4 watts all day long.
    I have seen plenty for the price range I wanted for mine.....which I did actually sell for what I wanted in the end away from ebay.
    That's the key: "away from E-bay". If you want top dollar for your laser, you need to avoid E-bay. Market your laser directly to the people who are most interested in buying it, and you've got a shot. You might find someone who has taken a chance (or two) on a cheap E-bay auction and ended up with junk. That person might be ready to pay extra to be sure he gets a working unit next time.

    Also, laser show professionals are often willing to pay more for a working unit, because they don't have the time (or the desire) to troubleshoot a broken laser. They just want it to work when they get it, and they've got the money to pay for that guarantee.

    But really, considering the recent drop in prices for direct-injection blue diodes *and* the relatively low prices for solid state green lasers, it doesn't make good economic sense to pay thousands of dollars for an argon laser that only makes 4 to 5 watts. You'll get longer life out of a solid state unit for less money, and you'll also have less hassle.

    I know you said you didn't want to talk about solid state, but ignoring the more affordable solution won't make it go away. The affordability and convenience of solid state lasers is another factor driving down the price of ion lasers, especially in the small and medium frame market.

    I'll grant you that Ion lasers are more economical once you get up into the 10 watt and higher range, but even so, there is still a huge trade-off in terms of complexity, fragility, efficiency, and sheer hassle verses a solid state unit.

    Adam

  7. #7
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    Mmm !!

    Some good advice here thanks


    dsli_jon,

    A very nice item but not in the UK unfortunately..

    However, you are highly recomended so I will consider the item you have there !

    Just going to do some research on that model
    Official "vag burner and big ass ION laser" fan club member

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by Simon View Post
    A very nice item but not in the UK unfortunately..
    No worries, I know a really good rowboat Co...

    Sure, both are 'high maintenence' GF's but they 'pay-back' very-well...

    cheers...
    j
    ....and armed only with his trusty 21 Zorgawatt KTiOPO4...

  9. #9
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    Well there is an I70 sat in the back of my car at the moment that I paid £500 for, clocked on a coherent meter at 5W (Which is hot for an I70).
    Granted I had to do a fair bit of work on the power supply, but that's only electronics.

    They are out there, but hint, look in the more 'industrial' and especially the specialist medical auctions (think Hilditch rather then Ebay), gassers sometimes go for stupid cheap there (But watch out for the buyers premium).

    LightForce in Germany are advertising a 3.5W ALC 909 with power supply for 600 eur (plus VAT, but they have had it a while so might be open to a deal).
    Note that ALC 909 covers a multitude of sins tube wise, some versions good, some not so much (But they are agreeably compact).

    So, yes, I maintain that £500 give or take for a used modest Ar gasser is entirely reasonable if you shop around a bit, maybe that makes me retardo for paying over the odds what with the stupid cheap blue diodes......

    Unfortunately the PCAOMs tend to go for more then the lasers (Grumble)!

    Regards, Dan (Who was the retardo that originally commented that £500 for an I70 Ar was reasonable, because I had just bought one for that money).

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by dsli_jon View Post
    Sir Simon -



    http://cgi.ebay.com/Spectra-Physics-...item2c529119d2

    ...& also, FS, 171 Kr, and 1 of 2 Sabres, 16W (peak) WL w/ lo-divergence optics - awesome color-bal and amazing beam-specs for said-power:

    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	DSC08296.JPG 
Views:	21 
Size:	75.6 KB 
ID:	23568Click image for larger version. 

Name:	DSC08291.JPG 
Views:	33 
Size:	96.6 KB 
ID:	23570Click image for larger version. 

Name:	Sabre_PSU_HEX.jpg 
Views:	21 
Size:	132.6 KB 
ID:	23569Click image for larger version. 

Name:	DSC08295.JPG 
Views:	29 
Size:	108.3 KB 
ID:	23571 ... (and no-worries, know exactly-how to ship these babies successfully, worldwide; have sent systems to Bali, India, El Sal, Hawaii, etc - 100%-success...

    Shall we dance?

    Even-if price sounds high - - let's 'chat', eh?...
    cheers..
    j
    Oh my god I'm in love *looks at argon laser picture*

    ... At the moment my wallet shouts "No you won't!" though.

    better luck later perhaps =)

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