LEDgardener

What is the difference between V3 and V2?

https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/ ... 59dc2qDsJU

https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/ ... 2dfcZM7fF1

Is it worth the price difference?

After glancing over that, it looks to me like their V3 uses lm301h diodes whereas the V2 uses lm301b. At almost double the price, I wonder if that's worth it too. Seems like HLG themselves are using lm301b diodes

I deal alot with China, upto you to if you wish purchase from Alibaba, I don't have trust that they will supply the claimed LEDs.
They know you can not test products to see exactly what the performance is.
I do not think the genuine HLG product is all that expensive and at least you will know you will get what you paid for.
Bins are difficult to control especially for a new model such as LM301H.
Chinese manufacturers always take the cheapest option it's just how they are.
When I manufacturer in China I buy the reels to see exactly what bins are being used.
I have trouble securing top bins because even major manufacturers can not keep up with my demand but at least I know what I am getting.
If I purchase 1 million LEDs then only around 10-20% are the top bin.
I think HLG have a deal with Samsung to buy all the top bins available and that leaves nothing left for the small companies on Alibaba.

I wouldn't buy anything on Alibaba except from Kingbrite. They have a solid reputation with tons of buyers feedbacks all over the internet. I haven't found any evidence that suggests they could be selling fake LEDs, but I'm not denying it is possible as most of the Chinese sellers does this.

I have asked Kingbrite to price match other Alibaba sellers who are selling QBs and drivers at a lower price, and they have answered me that they can't sell it cheaper because they sell original components and the other sellers are not original meanwell drivers etc. Maybe they are bullshitting me, but if they really sell original products it makes sense that their prices are higher than other sellers.

I do not think the genuine HLG product is all that expensive and at least you will know you will get what you paid for.

Sorry but I have to disagree. Kingbrite is selling qb288 v2 at $29 and HLG sells them at $79 which is nearly 2.5X more expensive

Even if HLG LED's could be better, I don't think this performance difference is worth spending 2.5X more money on the LEDs, especially if this theory can't be verified with reliable numbers.

Like I said, it's your choice.
If it uses enough electricity it will grow your plants no problem.
I don't personally like Chinese knock off companies so I will always be biased when it comes to these things.

I feel HLG shot themselves in the foot with their pricing. They were really in the position to push everyone to push everyone to the side and dominate through pricing achieved through scale. Instead they decided to cash in now. I guess its not a bad position to be in, and perhaps they made the right choice.

I definatly feel Teknik in wanting to go for quality. Do feel Jon though, I'm stingy as f#&k and feel HLG overplayed their pricing. In the past I usually recommended Atreum as a compromise, but having seen atreum beat HLG in a side by side I'm not sure how much compromise is involved. I do want to know my output, to allow for calculations. If I had a good PAR meter I might go full retard on alibaba.

Anyway I didn't buy anything from cutter, but feel they are a small company that fits my taste much better. HLG looks like a mcdonalds that charges fine dining prices, and cutter looks like real fine dining from where I'm standing. Can't wait to get the 3.3umol/j QB Teknik linked to the other day, and to start playing around with their exotics.

It is difficult for companies that pay taxes and have the large overheads in a western country. They need to make a profit in order to continue to develop and upgrade models, China does not have such large overheads and working conditions are often poor.
I think once Trump get a his way the gap between knock offs and HLG will close a fair bit as HLG plan to manufacturer everything in the USA. It won't make a lot of difference if you are in Europe though.
Cutter works off very low profit margins and rely on turnover. They are a very different company to HLG because they have such a wide range of options. They have so many options it's actually confusing to navigate the website at times.

qb288 rspec v3 is available in 3 different versions on Alibaba. Any thoughts? Which one would be the best for veg AND flower with same light?


126 pcs Samsung 301b 3000K
126pcs lm301b 4000K
+36pcs epistar 660nm

OR

Samsung LM301B 252PCS 3000K
+36PCS Epistar


OR

Samsung LM301B 252PCS 4000K
+36PCS Epistar

For flowering you are usually better off with 3k +660nm. I say usually as all strains react differently.

TEKNIK wrote: ↑

Sat Jun 15, 2019 7:05 pm

It is difficult for companies that pay taxes and have the large overheads in a western country. They need to make a profit in order to continue to develop and upgrade models, China does not have such large overheads and working conditions are often poor.
I think once Trump get a his way the gap between knock offs and HLG will close a fair bit as HLG plan to manufacturer everything in the USA. It won't make a lot of difference if you are in Europe though.
Cutter works off very low profit margins and rely on turnover. They are a very different company to HLG because they have such a wide range of options. They have so many options it's actually confusing to navigate the website at times.

Yeah, Cutter could definitely benefit from more focus on how they present to beginners, and have more focused product ranges... They are well on the right path though. Relying on turnover gives a tough start, but also has great potential for growth. ;Most western companies certainly have a different approach to overhead.

I've seen quite a few Chinese companies that will be posing competition in the near future. Lots of original stuff too, although the general Chinese approach of seeing whats going on and just jumping in will not likely change. I think everyone takes part in it though, perhaps to a lesser degree.