HDS Delivery times?

Anyone ordered and received their EDC light from HDS? I'm considering buying one, and wondering about lead time. They look like awesome little lights!

Mike

I wrote, and got an email back a couple of days ago. It basically stated that if you ordered today, it would be between 30 and 40 days before it would ship.
I hope that's not a too optimistic outlook on HDS's part.

HDS is about 0 for 13 in terms of living up to shipping predictions.

best regards

They might have taken a longer than anticipated time to get product to the market but i got mine 8 days after confirmation e-mail. I hope, suspect no actually know for a fact that they have a huge committment of product to non CPFer`s and that does take a while to fill.
In the meantime EDC`s are worth the wait for sure.

I have been waiting a long, long time. But now I am re-thinking my decision to buy HDS.
Both Cree and Lumileds have announced the upcoming release of more efficient LED's. And the HDS design does not allow the user to change the LED.
I am seriously considering buying another Aleph. That way, when the new LED's hit my hands, I can swap out and get the upgrade for a lot less than $160.---Marc

I know that HDS can produce 1,000 units a month once the initial surge of preorders gets shipped out. I already have mine due to a much earlier deal between Henry and me (several months before production) and must say I do like it, significantly better than my Arc 4+ first.

Archolic says he knows (how?) that HDS has a huge shipment to make (to whom?). MR Bulk says HDS can do 1000 units/month. But, following the HDS thread (part 2 here) it appears that about 5 CPFers have received their lights. To me this does not compute. Can anyone explain? I'm tempted by this light, and the reviews and reports have all been good, but the delays worry me.

If I decide to buy I will only order one when they are in stock and ready to ship. Period. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

I put my order in back in September and hear it should ship in a week or two. Not too bad I think. It sounds like a very good light. I think Henry has a very sizeable distributor on board too which will eat product. I know advance orders can really take a bite out of that first run of a product.

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powernoodle said:
HDS is about 0 for 13 in terms of living up to shipping predictions.

best regards

[/ QUOTE ]
What he said

I guess I'll wait until the day I go to their website and see something to the effect of "in stock and ready to ship". In the meantime, I'll just have to struggle through life with a Lionheart and a few other toys. Poor me. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

I know the wait time sucks but I believe it will be worth the wait. I trust Henry and believe he is doing the best he can with the limited time he has. I'm just curious but is Henry a one man company? If that's the case then that might explain some of the delays. Also just another point to consider, I'm not sure that it would be in Henrys best interest to grow his company to the size of what Arc used to be. The last thing I want to see is Henry going belly up before I get a chance to put one of his light s on order.

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Lebkuecher said:
I know the wait time sucks but I believe it will be worth the wait. I trust Henry and believe he is doing the best he can with the limited time he has. I’m just curious but is Henry a one man company? If that’s the case then that might explain some of the delays. Also just another point to consider, I’m not sure that it would be in Henrys best interest to grow his company to the size of what Arc used to be. The last thing I want to see is Henry going belly up before I get a chance to put one of his light s on order.

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We live in an instant gratification society, so of course there is going to be alot of disharmony...

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powernoodle said:
HDS is about 0 for 13 in terms of living up to shipping predictions.


[/ QUOTE ]

Which puts HDS in the same league as Bill Gates and Microsoft. Bill gets away with this because he lacks serious, first-tier competition. But HDS has a heck of a lot of competition. Speaking as a mere voyeur, without a dog in this particular fight, I'd have to say that there are far better business models out there for HDS to emulate. Maybe they will survive despite this. Maybe they won't. Either way, life will go on.

I think we all respect Henry for valuing quality over speed to market in all of his actions. The only reasonable complaint I have is that this should be reflected in the expectations that are set. It's one thing to take six months to deliver a product because you want to make sure it's perfect. It's another thing to keep promising it in 'one more month' six times.

It looks like none of you have ever been in a real production environment, or you'd understand the very basic idea behind delays that even a large company, or in this case, a mere individual is powerless to overcome.

Remember, this is not some massive company with multiple divisions, just an individual, using his resources to produce a light that he is proud of- for YOUR enjoyment.

Personally, I feel that there are some pretty selfish folks that do not understand the realities behind bringing a Work of Art that this flashlight is, to fruition.

This isn't some cobbled together light, using off the shelf reflectors from one company, a converter from another, then slammed into a simple HA aluminum body.

Would some of you would have preferred him to ship some half baked light with multiple quality issues, then do a tap-dance in front of you, all the while pulling you hook-line-and-sinker, into the deception?

Quit your whinning and just be grateful he just didn't drop the whole project, as I would have- if it was me.

I think Henry is doing a great job, although there was delays. it's better I wait some weeks for a new perfect light than I wait some weeks for the light has to reture to repaired.
look at this:
Action Light V1---Discontinued - sold June 1999 through February 2000
Action Light V2---Discontinued - sold February 2000 through December 2002
Action Light 24-3V---Discontinued - sold December 1999 through February 2000
it's lucky that I can order a EDC light now, maybe after several months, you won't get a chance to buy it.

SchaqFu nailed it!

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

best regards

PowerNoodle,

The only way not to be off on your estimates would be to never to make them in the first place. That is certainly one possible solution but most people would prefer to have some sort of estimate, even if it turns out to be wrong. Of course, once you have made an estimate, things can come up to make it invalid.

But I am happy so say we fixed the production problem that caused this last long delay and we are now manufacturing and shipping again. See the message over in the Manufacturer's forum for full details.

CPF is not our only customer and we do have to meet other delivery commitments. We are working hard to deal with the large backlog as quickly as possible. Thanks for you patience.

Henry.

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HDS_Systems said:
PowerNoodle,

The only way not to be off on your estimates would be to never to make them in the first place.

[/ QUOTE ]

Making accurate estimates is another way not to be off on your estimates.

I'm /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/dedhorse.gif .

best regards