The secret of the dental scanners are more in the software, not in the hardware, we can be talking about this for many days, and that its not the point....
that is not always the case. and that statement is far from true.
however, it does not always mean that every chinese product is bad - sometimes real engineering goes into their products and sometimes some great things are made by the lowest bidder.
if we examine only the hardware we must remember that most current generation scanners are Fingerprint readers. with that in mind, yes Lenovo and toshiba were at the forefront of this technology as far back as the mid 1990's, but it never really got better did it ? the quality and accuracy were not much improved as time progressed. eventually fingerprint scanning became dull, in light of newer "identification" devices. anyway the point is a lot of companies used the same base product to create devices. its happening now in dental.
what i see when i look at this scanner is, to be blunt, garbage.
it is an item i expect to throw away after 12 - 16 months, and buy all over again.
from a technical standpoint that really doesnt bode well for this item's longevity. it means they want to sell many units - and they might - but not riding on the back of a name brand signifying quality. who else do we know in this quality bracket? DVD's? use it throw it away buy a new one... Kleenex? plastic forks? underwear?
if you have to buy it again soon don't count on this thing saving you money in any stretch of the imagination. paying a high price for a better unit may be hard to do, but it at least saves you re-buying in 5 years time; you have to know that at some point your unit will be obsolete and you will need to re-purchase into newer faster better equipment. this is how every industry revolves. we don't use windows 2000 anymore because newer better versions came out. we don't use iPhone3 anymore because iPhone4 came out. we don't use alumina anymore because better zirconia was invented.
what possible software feature could make re-buying this junk worth while? it offers nothing new or innovative as far as i can tell; besides which even if it produces STL data theres two problems with that: 1. we do not know its final data density (because each software produces different results) and 2. stl format (as a universal 3d file format) will soon be changing anyway.
this scanner may as well be made of platinum-plated unicorn horns. it offers nothing new, nor does it create an efficiency, and if the software of most other chinese products are any indication then its English interface is about as useful as attempting to stop a monsoon of rain using only an margarita umbrella.
with a scanner like planscan or iTero you are dropping more money up front sure, but when new software comes out or they update the hardware there are legit trade-up options. this is part of what makes German auto manufacturers so popular; the trade in value. drive a honda off the lot and its instantly worth nothing.
this is what makes Tesla such an appealing option now too; free updates, fantastic warranty, and round the clock service. you know who used to do that? Rolls Royce. never a mark against that maker either. apart from the obvious.
but enough of cars. i hope you understand my point. good evening.
