I don’t tend to hype products, usually because I find most mediocre at best. On rare occasions I come across a product - usually tools - that are truly worthy. This is such an occasion.
Glowforge is a Laser cutter, much like any other, however, these guys have got the process and the software spot on, IMHO.
This referral link is good for $100 off.
[url]Your At-Home 3D Laser Printer | Glowforge
I’ll post a review when mine arrives.
-CF
I almost bought one, but the idea of all the software residing on their servers gives me pause. If they ever go under, I have a very expensive paper weight. I also question the filter and how well it “cleans” the air coming off the cutting material. Plus I would want the pro, and can’t swing the $4K at the moment as I have a BB-8 droid in the works and looking at a new 3D printer.
This looks great until I saw all the complaints about shipping costs so I checked them out and for me to Indonesia is $1189.
That is downright ridiculous pricing. Factor in the 30% duty and VAT (I couldn’t find any HS CODE for it on the site so taking the worst case based on a laser printer) when it lands and the basic model with filter would cost me nearly $4800 
We ship 45Kg industrial computer based systems by air around the work for around $500 so I just don’t get the shipping costs here.
Emmm… SPAM?.. :
@ Dave McLaughlin - Really? Whose your shipping provider?
This is from the UK and we use air cargo to ship the boxes to the Middle East and Singapore. Company in Aberdeen does the handling. Last price in Sept was around $532 I believe.
Not sure it is as CF has been around since 2011. Maybe just trying to get his $100 off 
I am dubious of the unit all the same and the shipping cost is scary as hell.
I don’t think it is spam as the glowforge had been a big topic for some time now and it is really being hyped up now with the presale. I am waiting for someone to tear it down and make a copy and open source the software so it isn’t a door stop when you lose internet service.
@ Dave McLaughlin - They are prob hiding some of the costs of the machine within the shipping and handling costs. I thought about doing that as well to make it seem that my project was cheaper than it actually was. I decided against it though, I just raised to price to show the true cost in the end.
EDIT: Wait the product requires internet to run?
This was not intended as spam, just excited and spreading the word… Though I did think about it as I linked my refferal code, as It’s half price during the pre-sale.
FWIW, the firmware is open with a GPL license.
-CF
[quote=“Mr. John Smith”]EDIT: Wait the product requires internet to run?
[/quote]
All the software is on their servers, the machine only has a button to start. So all the great features that everyone is talking about is not a program you run. You have to login to their servers and setup there, then hit the button on your machine. If their servers go Dodo or are just overloaded, then you are out of luck.
Also, from what I have read, is the filter and the laser tube is proprietary. If you modify the firmware all support is gone and until there is software to run it locally, I don’t think I would be touching it.
In the end, If they can sell this many preorders, then they should be able to sell @ 60%-75% and still make money. If not, I am sure someone will reverse engineer the thing and a true opensource option will come out. That is what I think I will wait for.
$1383.00 shipping to Australia… and for just 45 cents more you can ship it to new zealand. ($1383.45)
For that cost of shipping I’d buy a round trip ticket to the us and pick it up and bring it back. Round trip flights can be had for around $1200.