Quote from: Cheshyr on January 01, 2014, 06:04:30 AM

There's a pretty big difference between a good company and a reliably profitable miner.

BFL made the mistake of underperforming, delivering late, and having bad PR. I own a BFL device; it looks good at performs better than advertised. It will never be profitable.

Cointerra actually looks like a very solid company and device. They're the company I'm personally most inclined to trust, although I can't speak towards their schedule, pricing, or ROI. Their executive team inspires a lot of confidence as well.

BitMain is shipping products now, and they're the other end of the spectrum from Cointerra... small, simple ASICs that get the job done. Communication is a bit spotty, and they're not great about updating their github with appropriate documentation, but it works and you can buy one right now and get it next week. There's something to be said for delivering on time and on spec, even if it's nothing spectacular.

It sounds like HashFast dropped the ball on a couple things, and was a little inexperienced when it came to things like regulatory testing.

I wasn't really paying attention when KNC announced and shipped, but it sounds like they were in the right place at the right time with the right product. I get the impression they're advanced amateurs, but money could shore them up. We'll have to see if they can capitalize on their head start.

CoinCraft just posted positive news regarding their A1 chip, and it's looking promising. I'm hopeful that they'll be able to deliver, and perhaps become one of the first companies to provide moderate performance chips to the DIY crowd.

Black Arrow is another company I have high hopes for, but I don't have any facts to back that up other than some well established forum members vouching for them. Maybe someone else can help there.

ROI is a tricky subject, and I don't think you're going to get any help here. Any purchase if going to be high risk, whether it's mining equipment or market speculation.

Why am I unlikely to get help here? And, I understand purchases are going to be high-risk, which is a large part of why I'm walking circles around the market, analyzing it about to death before investing cash in it. Fortunately, I've already cleared $thousands in pure profit from bitcoin, and I purchased a mining contract on eBay with an additional portion /beyond/ that, so I think I'm fairly decently insulated, but....money wants more of the same, and my calculations and speculations are looking pretty good -- I'm just looking for a company that won't take my money and disappear into the ether.

You've confirmed some of the things I was already thinking, w/r/t Cointerra and BlackArrow being the potential frontrunners. I can't seem to find an actual website for BitMain, though -- all I see are forum threads here and one reseller site, apparently owned by Black Arrow.

Thanks for your post and insight, and I'm sure I'll have more questions.

I hope you had a good new year's eve, and may '14 bring us all good fortune.