@

What are the real limitations of the OL printers (Slash OL and Slash Pro OL)?

Updated on January 9, 2019 in General Discussion
Unfollow
13 on September 21, 2018

Uniz, can you please clearly tell here what are the limitations of the “OL” printers vs “Plus UDP” printers?

According to the Kickstarter page, the only hardware limitation of OL printers is a software-lock z-resolution of 150 µm (instead of 75 µm for non-OL printers). A limitation that however can be unlocked by a paid software upgrade, the OL having the same high definition LCD screen than other printers.

But some customers would have recently discovered that there would be other (yet unadvertised!) limitations for the OL printers:

  • After the initial 7-day trial period (which temporarily transforms the Slash OL in a Slash Plus UDP) the UDP feature would not work anymore on the Slash OL: right or wrong?
  • Also, after the same trial period, the Slash OL would not work anymore with 3rd-party resins, due to a DRM verification of the exclusive RFID chip present on Uniz resin bottles: right or wrong?

What is the reality of the situation?

Cancel
 
  • Liked by
Reply
Moderator
Andy T 0 on September 23, 2018

If you comb through the Kickstarter comments section, the lockout of third party resins was disclosed there. The rationale, to which everyone seemed agreeable, was that supporters were getting machines for inordinately cheap and that it was only right that the company got its money for its operations (that includes new resin & machine developments) from somewhere (contrary to the belief/philosophy of some people, they are running a business, not a charity).

Customers may have “discovered” this, and shame on Uniz for possibly not including some of these in updates (I don’t remember if they did or did not), but even bigger shame on these “customers” for not monitoring the campaign to see what they were getting. Part of Kickstarter is customer feedback and details…many of those are found in the comments of the campaign, which is where they should be (not on Facebook). I’ve been part of many campaigns to where comments resolutions don’t make it to the campaign page.

As far as the UDP not working anymore in any resolution, I can’t recall anything on that, one way or another, off the top of my head. Hope that helps in the event you don’t get a quick official response.

  • Liked by
Reply
Cancel
Cancel
flux_capacitor 0 on September 23, 2018

As you have said, Uniz is not a charity or a private club. They are an official company and they sell their products worldwide. As such they have rights and responsibilities. I don’t expect a firm to ask their customers to parse 800 messages on a forum to discover a little one hidden among all others, confessing they have put some DRM limitation on their own resin only.

I have read many many messages on the “KS forum”: almost disappointed customers complaining. I never saw the specific message you are referring to; some people refer to that message without being able to provide a link to such statements, and you are not the first. Actually nobody can seriously expect a professional company to sell a crippled product, if the limitations are not properly listed in the commercial description (technical specs) of that product; which is the Kickstarter page, as the OL printers were never listed on the Uniz web site.

Yet, the only announced limitation of the OL printers was the software-lock of the z-resolution from 150 to 75 µm, period.

Any other limitation of the “OL printers” vs “Pro UDP printers” that Uniz may have developed behind customers’ back, deliberately hiding such crucial information to purchasers (who are the people who precisely made the kickstarter campaign a huge success, the OL printers being the most sold versions), would a shame, would be illegal, and would expose them to individual lawsuits and class actions.

We are several people (also on the Facebook Slash user group) waiting for Uniz statement on these questions.

Uniz ? Can yo answer?

  • Liked by
Reply
Cancel
Cancel
Uniz Support 0 on September 25, 2018
After the initial 7-day trial period (which temporarily transforms the Slash OL in a Slash Plus UDP) the UDP feature would not work anymore on the Slash OL: right or wrong?From flux_capacitor

A: Wrong, it can work all the time but the resolution is 150 um.

 

Also, after the same trial period, the Slash OL would not work anymore with 3rd-party resins, due to a DRM verification of the exclusive RFID chip present on Uniz resin bottles: right or wrong?From flux_capacitor

A: Right, for the OL printer (include PRO OL), it only can work with the new resin bottle(with RFID).

  • Liked by
Reply
Cancel
Cancel
Steven 8 on September 25, 2018

Additionally, I would like to confirm another comment from Uniz during the campaign, which was important to me in deciding to back the project. In two different answers, Uniz said in January on the Kickstarter comments section:

“For UnizCloud printing and if the model goes through UnizCloud for sharing, this will allow full resolution prints, so OL users will always have opportunity to tryout full resolution prints or print their own models at full res by sharing it. This is another piece of the internet based business model.”

I haven’t received my printer yet (soon), but I’m definitely interested in this workflow, since I am a hobbyist/maker rather than a professional like a dentist etc. Is this in place currently with your online marketplace? If not, are there plans to make this available in the near future? As an OL user, I would still be locked to the DRM of the resin, which makes sense considering I paid a reduced price, but if I can contribute to the Uniz platform in exchange for full resolution printing of anything I’m willing to share, it would seem to work out well all around.

Uniz Support on September 25, 2018
“For UnizCloud printing and if the model goes through UnizCloud for sharing, this will allow full resolution prints, so OL users will always have opportunity to tryout full resolution prints or print their own models at full res by sharing it. This is another piece of the internet based business model.”From Steven

Yes, that’s correct.

but if I can contribute to the Uniz platform in exchange for full resolution printing of anything I’m willing to share,From Steven

It’s not like that, the truth is that  OL printer can print full resolution via our Cloud in our software, because the slices data in the unizcloud is full resolution, and uploaded by other users who have a full resolution software.

Cancel
Steven on September 25, 2018

Here is the full comment:

“Uniz Technology, LLC
Creator
Jan 10, 2018
@David
Limiting the printing speed is against our starting point of making 3D printing faster, as for resolution limit, this is placed on PC/MAC desktop application when printing private models. For UnizCloud printing and If the model goes through UnizCloud for sharing, this will allow full resolution prints, so OL users will always have opportunity to tryout full resolution prints or print their own models at full res by sharing it. This is another piece of the internet based business model. The printers are output terminals of design data, and PC/MAC desktop software are input, we want to construct a internet based system to connect all designers and printer users in the world and promote sharing of new ideas. As for the possibility of hacking, the OL upgrade requires internet connection and the license control is on a cloud based server, hacking a server could be much more difficult than sharing ideas and designs.”

 

So as an OL user, I would need to share my stl file with all Uniz users and just hope that someone with a fully unlocked printer license will take the time to orient, hollow, prepare etc etc with just the settings and resin I want, then share it back with the Uniz community. This is thought to be a valid workflow for OL users to share and therefore print their models at full resolution?

I find this highly disappointing and misleading if this strategy has changed. Again, this was important to me personally when backing the project. Even if I could fully prep the file myself and just have someone else slice it, I still think that’s highly misleading.

If hobbyists can, as that comment suggests, share non-commercial models in exchange for full utilization of the hardware while still being DRM locked to your ecosystem and therefore encouraging more users worldwide to use more of your resin, that seems like a win-win situation.

Cancel
Uniz Support on September 26, 2018

Hi, I confirmed with my colleague that ‘s correct, OL printer can print full resolution by uploading to our cloud and download the slices from the cloud. The important thing is that the slices should come from our cloud.

Cancel
Steven on September 26, 2018

Thank you for the reply and for looking into this, I am really looking forward to trying this out. I actually received my printer today. I haven’t had a chance to try setting it all up yet, but just a quick inspection of what I can see from the outside of the unit, this looks like a very well-built and impressive printer. I’m hoping I’ll be able to get up and running soon and start putting things up on your cloud service.

 

Thanks again!

Cancel
Dr_Jacques on September 26, 2018

Hello Steven;

I was also pleased when I received my SLASH OL two weeks ago. 

Now not so much…. since I have only been able to do one print with mixed results and the printer has failed to work properly since. I sincerely hope that your printer works exactly as advertised and you get great print in high resolution. Hopefully mine is a one off and not typical of the product.

Cancel
Steven on September 27, 2018

Dr_Jacques,

 

Thanks for the warning. So far I’ve had somewhat the same experience as you judging by the posts I saw on the resin sensor issues. Finally got the sensor calibrated (the problem was a lack of documentation on the expected process). Now I’m 0 for 2 attempted prints. I tried a safe, non-UDP print with the orange resin, and even that failed. I’m still hopeful that I’ll get it dialed in, as I’ve gone through the learning curve with several other resin printers and many resins before. 

Cancel
Jonathan on November 9, 2018

Hi, when I upload the model to the cloud, do I have to wait till it is approved before I can download the slices so I can print at full resolution?

Cancel
Kalinne on December 31, 2018

Hi, I confirmed with my colleague that ‘s correct, OL printer can print full resolution by uploading to our cloud and download the slices from the cloud. The important thing is that the slices should come from our cloud.

From Uniz Support

Any news about that? How can i send my model to the cloud to be able to print in full res??

Cancel
Show more replies
  • Liked by
Reply
Cancel
Cancel
Kalinne 0 on January 9, 2019

No answer at all??

  • Liked by
Reply
Cancel
Cancel
Loading more replies

© 2018 UNIZ TECHNOLOGY LLC. All rights reserved.