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KrisRoberts
Joined: 21 Jan 2007
Posts: 115
Location: San Diego
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StuntDummy
Joined: 08 Aug 2007
Posts: 59
Location: San Francisco, CA
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| Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 6:08 pm Post subject: |
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I got one of those but it ran away carrying on about some secret mission.
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ecrabb
Forum Moderator
Joined: 13 Mar 2006
Posts: 15909
Location: Utah
TV/Projector: JVC RS40, Epson 5010
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| Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 6:33 pm Post subject: |
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Finally, a digital projector that's worth owning!!!
SC
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kal
Forum Administrator
Joined: 06 Mar 2006
Posts: 18114
Location: Ottawa, Canada
TV/Projector: JVC DLA-NZ7
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ecrabb
Forum Moderator
Joined: 13 Mar 2006
Posts: 15909
Location: Utah
TV/Projector: JVC RS40, Epson 5010
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| Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 8:46 pm Post subject: |
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OMG!!! $2900?!?!?!? I figured they were putting a $600 projector in a $300 R/C doodad and selling it for $1299. At that price, they'd sell them to gadget nuts that have to have everything. But, almost $3k? Holy...
And yes, it's a 1024x768 DLP. So, basically a $1000-1500 (max) projector... Which means they're boning you another $1400 for the R/C R2D2. Wow.
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StuntDummy
Joined: 08 Aug 2007
Posts: 59
Location: San Francisco, CA
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| Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 8:57 pm Post subject: |
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I would think the Death Star plans this little droid is carrying are worth something...
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Person99
Joined: 09 Mar 2006
Posts: 4899
Location: Flower Mound, TX
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| Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 9:09 pm Post subject: |
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| ecrabb wrote: | | OMG!!! $2900?!?!?!? I figured they were putting a $600 projector in a $300 R/C doodad and selling it for $1299. |
Dude, you forgot to include the $60 DVD player in your parts list!
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Dave
A train station is where the train stops. A bus station is where the bus stops. On my desk, I have a work station....
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AnalogRocks
Forum Moderator
Joined: 08 Mar 2006
Posts: 26706
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
TV/Projector: Sony 1252Q, AMPRO 4000G
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| Posted: Fri May 02, 2008 12:18 am Post subject: |
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I don't recal ever owning a droid....
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Tech support for nothing
CRT.
HD done right!
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Joust
Joined: 05 May 2006
Posts: 2429
Location: Almonte, Ontario, Canada
TV/Projector: Marquee 8501LC
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| Posted: Fri May 02, 2008 12:36 am Post subject: |
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i like it. but I hate digital projectors.
we should build a new one. a BIG one and put a CRT projector in it. of course it'll have three eyes....
maybe build it into the power droid.
R5-D4 has three eyes, but he keeps blowing a gasket. maybe we'll have to put an Ampro in it 
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Tom.W
Joined: 09 Mar 2006
Posts: 6635
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| Posted: Fri May 02, 2008 12:43 am Post subject: |
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Have you no mercy for those poor Ampro owners ? 
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perisoft
Joined: 29 Aug 2007
Posts: 2920
Location: Ithaca, NY
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| Posted: Fri May 02, 2008 1:44 am Post subject: |
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| ecrabb wrote: | OMG!!! $2900?!?!?!? I figured they were putting a $600 projector in a $300 R/C doodad and selling it for $1299. At that price, they'd sell them to gadget nuts that have to have everything. But, almost $3k? Holy...
And yes, it's a 1024x768 DLP. So, basically a $1000-1500 (max) projector... Which means they're boning you another $1400 for the R/C R2D2. Wow.
SC |
Well, let's see - retail is 5x cost, usually. Proceeding from there:
If we assume (big assumption) that they can get the projector itself at cost plus a bit, that makes it a $500 part cost.
If we assume that DVD player is $30... and that the remote is another $40 (backlighting, etc), that gives us:
500+30+40 = ~$570.
If they take a bath on the projector and only mark it up to less than the normal retail for that unit they *might* end up with $700 for the projector, being VERY generous - then we add the marked up remote and DVD player and get $350, so that brings us to $1050.
This is not including: molding, hardware, power supplies, servos, servo controllers, assembly, tooling, amortization, or marketing costs.
All those get rolled into the $370 they have left before the 5x markup for retail.
So, you still think it's a ripoff? They're paying for EVERYTHING else with $370, AND doing it at minuscule volume (that is, probably low-thousands of units instead of high tens-of-thousands), so even overseas manufacturing won't help that much with tooling costs and production minimums considered.
It's kind of a miracle they can do it that cheaply. Next time you jump to conclusions, think about what it takes to actually bring a product to market. It's not as easy as you think.
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kal
Forum Administrator
Joined: 06 Mar 2006
Posts: 18114
Location: Ottawa, Canada
TV/Projector: JVC DLA-NZ7
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| Posted: Fri May 02, 2008 2:55 pm Post subject: |
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| ecrabb wrote: | OMG!!! $2900?!?!?!? I figured they were putting a $600 projector in a $300 R/C doodad and selling it for $1299. At that price, they'd sell them to gadget nuts that have to have everything. But, almost $3k? Holy...
And yes, it's a 1024x768 DLP. So, basically a $1000-1500 (max) projector... Which means they're boning you another $1400 for the R/C R2D2. Wow.
SC |
I'm not surprised at the price - they're doing a lot of "fancy" custom stuff here. Ex: Retractable remote drawer in the millenium falcon remote, and the detail seems to be pretty good. Definitely custom stuff.
EDIT: Didn't see Perisoft's last post. I definitely agree.
Kal
P.S. Is retail really x5 build price even for electronics like DVD players, receivers, projectors, etc? I would have thought it was less of a ratio.
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Clarence
Joined: 08 Mar 2006
Posts: 3827
Location: Smith Mtn Lake, VA
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| Posted: Fri May 02, 2008 3:09 pm Post subject: |
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They also offer the CRT version in a full-size AT-AT...
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Person99
Joined: 09 Mar 2006
Posts: 4899
Location: Flower Mound, TX
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| Posted: Fri May 02, 2008 3:28 pm Post subject: |
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| perisoft wrote: |
So, you still think it's a ripoff? |
Yes. Just because they need to mark it up that high to cover R+D and costs, does not make it a good idea. I can buy a much better player and projector for <$1200. So, from a cosumer perpective, I'm paying $1800 more to have an inferior projector and player put in a stupid case. Yes, that is the VERY definition of ripoff!
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Dave
A train station is where the train stops. A bus station is where the bus stops. On my desk, I have a work station....
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ecrabb
Forum Moderator
Joined: 13 Mar 2006
Posts: 15909
Location: Utah
TV/Projector: JVC RS40, Epson 5010
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| Posted: Fri May 02, 2008 4:13 pm Post subject: |
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| perisoft wrote: | So, you still think it's a ripoff? They're paying for EVERYTHING else with $370, AND doing it at minuscule volume (that is, probably low-thousands of units instead of high tens-of-thousands), so even overseas manufacturing won't help that much with tooling costs and production minimums considered.
It's kind of a miracle they can do it that cheaply. Next time you jump to conclusions, think about what it takes to actually bring a product to market. It's not as easy as you think. |
First of all, I didn't jump to any conclusions any more than you did. Your analysis, while more detailed than my off-the-cuff remark is no more valid than my own. Neither of us has any frickin' clue what they make or don't make on each one they sell. I didn't even say that it was a ripoff - you somehow jumped to that conclusion. All I was basically saying was that it was too damn expensive for what it is - the value isn't there.
Could we please remember this is a toy company we're talking about? That will give some clue as to the quality of the RC hardware - the servos, motors and batteries and such. There are similar quality R/C robot toys for in the low hundreds - Let's use $300 which is probably quite generous. That's RETAIL. An XGA DLP projector is easily $1000 - again at RETAIL. Throw in another couple hundred for a DVD player, backlit remote, iPod dock and media card reader - I'm being generous. That's $1500 worth of parts - at RETAIL. So, how do you throw $1500 worth of RETAIL pieces and parts (that also all have R&D, tooling, production, etc. built in to their prices) and then arrive at $2900?
You're right that it'll be low volume. At $2900, it doesn't have a snowball's chance of being anything else!!! $2900 for a collection of average-quality COMMODITY components and parts - wrapped in a custom package. It reminds of some of the CRAP Sharper Image used to sell. Neat and fun to look at, but COMPLETELY over-priced for what they were.
I could make and sell a $1000 custom one-off billet aluminum and titanium writing pen with a $5 laser pointer and a $10 refill cartridge installed in it. Even if all the parts and R&D cost me almost that much to make and I sold it at no markup at all (or even a loss!) - that doesn't necessarily make it a good value.
Oh, and nobody's even mentioned what Lucas' cut is out of each sale.
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CRT_Ben
Joined: 28 Aug 2006
Posts: 1684
Location: Northern Virginia
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| Posted: Fri May 02, 2008 4:20 pm Post subject: |
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| Person99 wrote: | | perisoft wrote: |
So, you still think it's a ripoff? |
Yes. Just because they need to mark it up that high to cover R+D and costs, does not make it a good idea. I can buy a much better player and projector for <$1200. So, from a cosumer perpective, I'm paying $1800 more to have an inferior projector and player put in a stupid case. Yes, that is the VERY definition of ripoff! |
You're coming at it from the completely wrong direction. This isn't intended to replace a home theater projector, where you invite your friends and sit down and watch a movie with quality A/V presentation. This product, with a mediocre projector and "virtual surround", but stunning physical presentation, is meant for the rich, star-wars loving kids who would like nothing better than to project princess Leia's plea message on the floor, or more likely, the bronze bikini from ep. 6. The intended audience isn't the home theater crowd, and this is apparent by the amount of time spent on showing the physical appearance of the product vs. projected images.
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Brooklyn
Joined: 17 Sep 2007
Posts: 494
Location: Morgan Hill, CA
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MYoung
Joined: 24 Feb 2007
Posts: 369
Location: Madison, WI
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| Posted: Fri May 02, 2008 4:51 pm Post subject: |
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Lamp Destroyer...
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Person99
Joined: 09 Mar 2006
Posts: 4899
Location: Flower Mound, TX
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| Posted: Fri May 02, 2008 5:01 pm Post subject: |
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| CRT_Ben wrote: | | Person99 wrote: | | perisoft wrote: |
So, you still think it's a ripoff? |
Yes. Just because they need to mark it up that high to cover R+D and costs, does not make it a good idea. I can buy a much better player and projector for <$1200. So, from a cosumer perpective, I'm paying $1800 more to have an inferior projector and player put in a stupid case. Yes, that is the VERY definition of ripoff! |
You're coming at it from the completely wrong direction. This isn't intended to replace a home theater projector, where you invite your friends and sit down and watch a movie with quality A/V presentation. This product, with a mediocre projector and "virtual surround", but stunning physical presentation, is meant for the rich, star-wars loving kids who would like nothing better than to project princess Leia's plea message on the floor, or more likely, the bronze bikini from ep. 6. The intended audience isn't the home theater crowd, and this is apparent by the amount of time spent on showing the physical appearance of the product vs. projected images. |
I get it, it is just stupid. Some of those other "whip out and set up a theater" devices are WAAAAY cheaper. Having it in an R2-D2 body is not that great. In other words, this is about as useless as a pet rock. But at least the pet rock didn't cost $3000.
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Dave
A train station is where the train stops. A bus station is where the bus stops. On my desk, I have a work station....
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ecrabb
Forum Moderator
Joined: 13 Mar 2006
Posts: 15909
Location: Utah
TV/Projector: JVC RS40, Epson 5010
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