I just recently joined this site trying to get some information on which laser to buy. I have been trying to get all the information I can on different lasers. Checked on epilog laser and they have a store about 90 minutes from me, but I talked to a guy who has an epilog and he said that the rep. won’t call him back when he has trouble. I also called the rep. and left messages 2 times and never heard from him. I then called the main company and told them how much trouble I was having getting in contact with the area rep. I ask them if there was somebody else close by and they said they would check it out for me and let me know, 1/2 hour later the rep called me. Doesn’t sound like a very good person to do business with. Pinnacle lasers from sign warehouse have been calling me pretty regular and asking if I have any questions on there lasers. Now my question, the pinnacle is much cheaper then the epilog (about 5,000 dollars cheaper for basically the same laser, but you have to set it up yourself. Are they easy to set up or should I go with epilog who sets it up for you and you never hear from the guy again?
I thought someone on here had (bad?) experience with Pinnacle… We have a Universal laser and are very happy with it. Our rep goes above and beyond the call of duty with us.
I am very happy with my Pinnacle M-40, and it was a breeze to set up. The instructions were very simple. The rep. at Signwarehouse was very helpful and made sure I got all my questions answered. One of the selling points for me on the Pinnacle was its larger table size. (Work area =18” X 25” and the max. work piece size = 31.5″ x 22.4″ x 6.5″). One thing to consider with these larger laser cutters is the size and weight of the things. The shipping weight is nearly 500 lbs. You may have some difficulty if you have to move it up more than a few steps. On a flat area it was fairly easy to move about since it has built in wheels.
I have an epilog and the service has been great. They call right back and have gone the extra mile– then again, I have mostly basic questions, no technical problems– the mini I have works like a charm that the only time I had a “problem” was when I told it to vector cut insted of raster — so that was user error, it was doing just what I told it to.
Some of the Pinnacle’s are just GCCaserPro’s with a different name on them. I almost purchased from SignWarehouse but got a better deal on my LaserPro Explorer (same as Pinnacle ZX) from Jorlink (Jorlink.com). Jorlink came out and set mine up, but that is really just a minor part of the service that you could probably get by without. The othe part is that a Laser is a little more then a glorified printer. The basics are you just set a job up on your computer screen and ‘PRINT’ or send it to the laser, however there is a little more to it. Having someone who can go over the basics with and ask questions to at the early learning stages can be really helpful. What drawing software are you going to use? I use Corel Draw v12 which does a pretty decent job once you figure out how to use it in some detail (still learning). I also have Engravelab v6 which does some things really well, but seems to do the basics very poorly, I do not recommend it. There are other programs out there, but keep in mind that Corel seems to lead the market which means a lot of people publish templates and designs using it. Hope some of this was helpful.
Almost forgot, when I was looking at lasers I also had the same problem with EPILOG. Mine was actually worse, after they did contact me I couldn’t get them to give me a price, not even a ball park one to begin working with. If their not going to help you buy it, its a good bet they won’t help you maintain it.
And just to balance it, when I talked with epilog, they gave me prices of everything right away even though I said I was only curious. Gave good “discounts” on the “retail” prices, but then who sets those ;) ? They answered all my questions for months even though I repeatedly told them “just curious” thanks. They too, came out, set up the machine and when I told them I didn’t like set up at (ok, I don’t like work at all) they even asked how many computers did I want the software set up on or was it just one computer for the laser — they set it up on all my computers just in case I wanted to use a different laptop with it. They were great. No affiliation.
Your query piqued my interest because I was not aware that anybody just shipped the equipment and left you to set it up yourself.
I am a self-under-employed optical engineer with several years of experience designing UV and IR laser micromachining equipment. These designs almost always included a coaxial video microscope so that the machining in progress could be observed.
I have some knowledge of, but no actual experience with, laser engravers. I would like to broaden my education with some hands on experience.
So here is my offer. I’ll help anybody setup or align or repair or modify or dissasemble, or tinker with their laser engravers for free if there is no cost to me. In other words, free if it is local to the Baltimore, Annapolis, DC, Northern Virginia area.
We had some inital problems with our Sign Warehouse Mercury 25 watt laser. There were some driver/software issues, and ordering spare parts is a process. You have to speak with an inside rep to order parts. Don’t just fax a PO and expect parts to show up.
We purchased our laser in December of 2003, and they did deal very well in price and accessories to get the sale out the door in the current year. The laser was in stock and delivered quickly. (don’t buy their overpriced blower and air assist!)
Since most of our work is industrial in nature (putting barcodes on anodized aluminum plates with next day delivery), we would look for a bigger, faster, and more powerful laser than what we purchased. We would also arrange to test their drivers with our barcode software (major headache) and search the archives on this list for manufacturers quirks and driver issues.
I believe we would consider the Laserpro Explorer because of table size, speed, and there is a rep not far from my location. It is also much like our Mercury and we are more familiar with it. It would be nice to have a rep close to help during the startup of the laser with the driver issues we were having.
When you make a large purchase (laser) and your livelihood is at stake, service becomes a large part of the equation.
I have set my Pinnicle Mercury up myself and found it easy to do. The harder part is learning the settings to use with the different materials. It takes some experimentation, especially if you are going to use natural materials, wood, marble, etc. Tech support I can say is outstanding. If you have any questions email me and I’ll be happy to call and we can chat about it.