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....
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.
That is already happening. Laser jammers are illegal in 8 states. One reason why you're better off with a parking sensor.
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.