OK... hold on here guys...
First off, I did not respond earlier for two reasons. One, we don't spend all day on this or any other forum. We do have a business to run you know.
Second, we needed to chat with Laser Protector USA to find out if they knew what the heck Dave was talking about (which they did not). Now reading Horn's comments, this makes sense and his clarification is much appreciated.
I'll comment more on this in another post in just a moment... after this one....
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Originally Posted by mrcllusb  Ya know Dave i'm with you..Frigg that.I think the problem is that here and RD.Net,these businesses know that alot of us are enthusiast and are feeding off of that to come up with these crazy outrageous prices figuring hey these folks wanna be able to not get tagged period so lets overprice our product and see who bites.I mean really how much does it really cost to produce a product like this.The startup cost may be the only costly thing.After that it's cake.They aren't filing for any special fcc id or anything like that.Just patents.As long as folks want this stupid JTG scenario then these units will always be ridiculously priced. |
Mrcllusb, have you ever started a business from scratch? Do you know WHY people start a business? Many reasons, but chief amongst them are usually financial independence and personal (time bound) independence.
Would you expect to work for a company and not get paid for your time? I don't think it's reasonable to expect someone to invent or create something and not make any money at it. For that, we would not have these products at all.
Second, start-up costs these days are often quite high - especially for specialized industries like this one. And patents... they are much more expensive than you realize.
I do agree with your comment about people's expectations for JTG performance. That is an unrealistic expectation, because it leads to people thinking they are invulnerable, which leads to unwanted roadside conversations.
However, there is definitely a difference with regard to performance of the various products on the marketplace.
And third, allow me to give you a brief history lesson on laser diode based laser defense products. The first laser diode based system in the U.S. was the Lidatek LE-10, which was developed in the late 1990's - well before the advent of RD.net and the current "enthusiast" craze. The LE-10 was a Class 3b laser product, which is the main reason it didn't stick around.
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Originally Posted by mrcllusb I'll stick with my nice LED based system and call it good.There is no reason for JTG performance if people would just drive more respectable.You watch,if leos' continue to run into problems of not being able to acquire a reading from vehicles,soon you'll start to see me obstruction tickets,vehicle inspections wondering why they couldn't get a reading,and the biggest one of them all,new laser defense laws. |
That is already happening. Laser jammers are illegal in 8 states. One reason why you're better off with a parking sensor.
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Originally Posted by mrcllusb Forget these ridiculous prices i'll keep my money in my pocket.I know Belscort isn't high on everyones list,but atleast you get a full system for your money. |
Which is more ridiculous?
The price of good protection vs. Fines + Points on your license + higher insurance costs + extra fines in some states (e.g. NJ, TX, VA)???
And full system from Belscort? For $1,500 you can get a full system (SRX), which gives poorer performance than - for example, a dual head LPP + a V1 ($1300 MSRP) or STi ($1350 MSRP) - and the SRX setup will cost you more to boot. How is that keeping money in your pocket to go the Belscort route?
And btw, if you think the laser diode companies are raking it in, you should do some research on what it costs to purchase a laser diode (especially a high powered one) versus the cost of a similar wavelength IR diode. HUGE cost difference.