Smart String Costs

[mikedbom]

is there any indication that prices might come down for these smart strings?  or is there perhaps an alternative?  i was thinking of cancelling my hub and controller order when I saw it was almost $100 per 128 node string including shipping.  I understand shipping goes down as you add more sets but still, it is quite high.  I would still like to have the controllers in the event that they can be used for new stuff or if the cost comes down a bit.  Is there nothing in the states like these?  just trying to find a way to justify the purchase. 

[Rainlover]

The cost of 100 smart string nodes is about the same as buying 3 100 count strings of LEDs and you have all of the colors in one string. That is how I look at it and how I justified the cost to SWMBO.

John

[mikedbom]

yes, that makes sense.  i guess i was kind of hoping we could get something like these smart string nodes in our country.  i'm sure somewhere down the line it will happen. 

[scharbon]

I can't believe you guys needing permission from your wives to do this stuff.  Be like me,  "man-up" and just buy the stuff (at night when she is asleep, then beat her home everyday to get to the mailbox to check for packages, and then hide the stuff when it comes in, then don't work on it for 6 months so that the credit card statement is no longer available on line, and then tell her the truth, the RGB LEDs do in fact cost more than regular incandescent lights - about $1 more (say the "each" part really quitely so she cannot hear it) and that the cost of the hubs and controllers pales in comparison to the the RGB LED's, and that you don't remember what the total cost was anymore, but obviously the cost was not prohibitive since you went ahead and did it).  And I can sleep at night because there were no lies stated above and only one word was omitted (or slurred).  Oh yeah, and I haven't ordered the LED's yet because I do not foresee being able to beat her to the mail box for the next 6 weeks.

Just remember, it is a hobby, and you could be spending your  money on other frivolous things (like the mortgage, car payments, dinner, ...)  but instead you choose to spend it on DIY Christmas lights because you love to see her smile (she didn't buy it either).

And just in case you are wondering, no, I do not spend too much time in the doghouse (depends on your definition of "too much time").

Steve 

[Trepidati0n]

$100 for 128 nodes is for ONE string.  If you are only buy one string, you might want to find somebody here who is buying a lot more and piggy back with them.  However, when you buy more, the price pluments.  4x128 = $0.695 per node.

128*1 string = $0.76/node
128*2 string =  $0.72/node
128*4 string = $0.70/node
128*8 string = $0.68/node
128*16 string = $0.67/node
128*32 string = $0.67/node
128*64 string = $0.67/node
128*128 string = $0.665/node

the big difference for hte price now is the <1 week shipping.  you could probably set up slow boat shipping and reduce your price if you tried.

[mikedbom]

LOL @ scharbon.  not really a wife issue, i just like to make sure i'm not "wasting" money.

$100 for 128 nodes is for ONE string.  If you are only buy one string, you might want to find somebody here who is buying a lot more and piggy back with them. 

and thats usually the purpose of a COOP, which isnt happening anymore.  I will probably end up getting a couple of strings for now, just to play with.  If it turns out to be worth the money then it's on.  but i have only seen these things in videos so i'm a bit hesitant to drop good money on them.  the good thing about not having a COOP i guess is the all-the-time access to getting them. 

does anyone expect to see these things pop up in some of our vendors inventory?  certainly a company like CGI could have the ability to get these right?

[chrisl1976]

does anyone expect to see these things pop up in some of our vendors inventory?  certainly a company like CGI could have the ability to get these right?

Anyone trying to sell anything like these would be subject to the same licensing requirements with Philips.   There are currently sources available in the US for similar strings, but the cost is higher than this DIY solution.

[taybrynn]

I just had the discussion with my wife last night ... and it started like this: "I thought you said you weren't spending any money on lights this year ..."

busted

[tbone321]

I just put my order in today.  What pain!!!

[frankr]

I just had the discussion with my wife last night ... and it started like this: "I thought you said you weren't spending any money on lights this year ..."

busted

They are not lights!  They are diodes! (That just happen to emit a little thing called light...)

[Jeffl]

Back to the original question.  I look at it like this.

US Dollar value has been going down
Copper is going up
Gas is going up so shipping is going up
Essentially no competition on the light side yet

I don't see the price going down unless some of these factors reverse.  This is true for all good LED's however.

[inzeos]

Back to the original question.  I look at it like this.

US Dollar value has been going down
Copper is going up
Gas is going up so shipping is going up
Essentially no competition on the light side yet

I don't see the price going down unless some of these factors reverse.  This is true for all good LED's however.

And we also are not buying in quantities that fill a shipping container, which also drives up the price.  Domestic importers like Walmart / Home Depot buy inventory by the container and many of them, which lowers their shipping over head, which just gets bundled into their own price.

[deplanche]

Based on my calculations for the Smart Strings, the shipping cost levels off to about $0.10 per node once you reach the 600 node mark (regardless of the length of the individual strings).  If you order less than that, the shipping cost can increase significantly to almost $0.70 per node.

This all assumes their default shipping method and nothing else being ordered.  I just wanted to see if it was cheaper for me to order 5 - 25 node strings or 1 -100 node string and cut it down.

[rrowan]

Based on my calculations for the Smart Strings, the shipping cost levels off to about $0.10 per node once you reach the 600 node mark (regardless of the length of the individual strings).  If you order less than that, the shipping cost can increase significantly to almost $0.70 per node.

This all assumes their default shipping method and nothing else being ordered.  I just wanted to see if it was cheaper for me to order 5 - 25 node strings or 1 -100 node string and cut it down.

I had the same issue. My goal was to get 300 nodes. At first I thought I would just order 3 - 100ct but after some serious wood burning I decided to get 6 - 50ct. My reason was I needed to put my nodes on 5 different objects (pvc frames) and I wanted the almost 2' lead wire for each one. If I ordered the 100ct nodes than I would have to buy wire for the leads and do more work in soldering. On the 6th node string is a spare along with repairs if needed.

So my thought process is I got 4' of free wire and less work to assemble the frames.

Cheers

Rick R.

[taybrynn]

Good logic Rick, esp. since the price is the same either way ... and thats a few less cuts to make and some free wire as you said.