eBay + DSP upgrade vs Lightobject Hummingbird cutter

[jeckardt]

Hi. I'm new to this forum, and just getting started into buying a laser cutter.

I have questions regarding buying K40 from eBay and updating it myself vs buying the already-updated "Hummingbird" from Lightobject.

I can get a K40 off eBay for $650 plus the DSP upgrade for $580. And it sounds like I need to also plan on a replacement power supply for another $205. Not sure what other "surprises" will be involved. That's about $1450... and a fair amount of my time doing the upgrade. (I have total confidence that I could successfully do the upgrade, but finding the TIME to do it may be challenging.)

The Hummingbird is more, of course, but presumably it's ready to go out-of-the-box. I presume I still need to add a water pump, air pump, and exhaust fan to the package?

Comparing the "upgrade kit" to the Hummingbird description, clearly some of the upgrades in the kit are not included in the cutter -- specifically the "emergency push button switch" and the "LED ammeter"... not sure if I care about not getting those or not. Is everything else in the kit also in the cutter?

Given that I currently do not yet have a cutter, any recommendations if I'd be better off buying the ebay cutter and the update kit vs buying the pre-updated Hummingbird?

Thanks,
Joe

[NickWL]

I went the eBay route - not intentionally, simply because I thought I was buying a cheap and effective laser cutter.
I'm actually petty glad I did and that I went for the DSP upgrade - I learned a heck of a lot about how my machine works, how the various components work, why it goes wrong when it does and so on.
My vote is for K40 + DSP upgrade!
Nick