Einstein Price Increase August 1

Thought I'd post this as a public service (of sorts). Apologies if it's old news. From PCB:

"Einstein Price Increase:
Effective August 1, 2010, the price will be increased to $499.95. All orders placed before this date and any existing pre-orders will still receive the previous price of $439.95."

Let the second wave of ordering commence!

Dave F.

Hey Dave,
Thanks for the update.
Didn't they have overheating issues and a recall recently?
I have not confirmed this but someone told me all the Einstein's needed to be sent in to have internal parts fixed to get a better air flow to prevent overheating and damage. I also believe there are several other issues still on the table.

I'm still set on waiting for Version 3 even if the cost is much more.... Maybe 2011?
Couple more revisions and I believe it will be a awesome flash.

I've been holding out to place my order as I wanted to have money in hand, and it looks like I'll have I nice bank account for 10 days (plus however long it actually takes to ship). Thank you for the head's up.

And don't forget, if you have an Alien Bees flash that you bought recently, you can return it for full credit towards your Einstein purchase.

I'm not really surprised if PCB bumps up the price. Otherwise, he would be operating at a complete loss.

From FM:

With a new strobe at a much higher price point than PCB is known for, I'm not so sure that we're going to see that same loyalty continuing. I'll get flamed for this comment but lets face it, a huge percentage of the people that purchase(d) Alien Bees are doing so because of that great price and the ability to have a 4 light kit for $1160. If you wanted a 4 light kit with Einstein's you're now looking at about $2000.

I'm curious to see what happens down the road.

The PCB "E's" seem appealing due to such low Ws low rage settings and high 640Ws. I'm still saving my beans for a 300rx and 600rx.

The Einstien's seem to have a following but I think price point was one of them.

TMR Design wrote in post #10510697
With a new strobe at a much higher price point than PCB is known for, I'm not so sure that we're going to see that same loyalty continuing. I'll get flamed for this comment but lets face it, a huge percentage of the people that purchase(d) Alien Bees are doing so because of that great price and the ability to have a 4 light kit for $1160. If you wanted a 4 light kit with Einstein's you're now looking at about $2000.

I'm curious to see what happens down the road.

So true. Bees competed in the bantamweight division while Einstein will be duking it out in the middleweight division. Totally different sandbox to be sure. However, even at the $499 price point, there really aren't that many competing options offering an equivalent mix of features. I would guess the Elinchrom 500BXri at $575 might turn out to be the most considered alternative.

PCB seems to really be scrambling to get the Einstein's unfortunate teething pains addressed pronto; something he has no choice but to do if the E640 is going to make it against the big boys. Molten Lexan is frowned upon in the middleweight division.

Dave F.

tetrode wrote in post #10511094
However, even at the $499 price point, there really aren't that many competing options offering an equivalent mix of features. I would guess the Elinchrom 500BXri at $575 might turn out to be the most considered alternative.

AFAIK, the Elinchrom doesn't use IGBT tech for quenching the flash. The only monolights that do have IGBT are the Solaire, Einstein and some chinese clone that's lower power and isn't available yet...
And also AFAIK, the Einsteins are cheaper to repair than Elinchroms (from dropping on location and breaking flash tubes, etc.)...

seanzky wrote in post #10510656
I'm not really surprised if PCB bumps up the price. Otherwise, he would be operating at a complete loss.

From FM:
Paul Buff wrote:
Here is the straight info: All Einsteins shipped to date will function on all voltages. However, we have found and corrected three separate issues which can compromise the performance in some usages. Redesign of all three issues has been done and we are in the process of making new tooling and circuit boards to implement these improvements.

Here are the issues:

1. Operation at 240VAC 50HZ at repeated rapid recycle rates has caused some field failures of one specific charging capacitor. This has been completely resolved and stress tested in the power supply redesign.

2. Operation at either 120 or 240VAC with the modeling lamp at full 250Watts, particularly with no reflector in place, has resulted in excess heat on the front mounting mechanism sufficient to deform the Lexan housing. A complete redesign of the front end mounting plate and cam assembly has been completed and new tooling and molds are in progress. These changes will completely eliminate this issue.

3. Issues of EMI radiation from one of the power supplies has compromised the performance of Pocket Wizards connected to Einstein. Current shipping Einsteins contains improvements in this issue, but the new power board design completely eliminates the issue.

Our anticipated date for production of Einstein units incorporating corrections for all issues above is late August 2010.

All current Einstein owners will be offered a no cost replacement once units with the above fixes are available.

It is my hope that customers will appreciate that the cost to me in quickly addressing these issues and assuring all customers end up with the best product we can possibly make is in the range of a $300,000 Einstein loss, rather than profit. We consider this an investment in the future and in customer good will.

Wow...
I was not even aware of that issue.... Bummer for International customers until it's resolved.

This is the issue/recall I was referring to
Sent to the US owners