Bitmain wouldn't sell the S4 at $1450 if BTC value was much higher. It'd still be much higher than it's competitors are charging, and history proves this.
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For comparison only 1 competitor:
SpondooliesTech SP20 price and shipping cost. $1,190.00+$160 (EU) +$119 (US) second half of October and no PSU only 1,7TH/s
Which one is cheaper?
if you had to pick what would you want the SP 20 or the S4
look at the resale value of the Spondoolies units vs the Bitmain units.. I use to be a die hard Bitmain fan, but its now obvious they don't want to compete they want to price fix and screw everyone
you can sugar coat it any way you want but thats the truth .. If I had to pick I would pick the Spondoolies unit hands down now because when I go to resell there is a far better chance of having a higher value that might help me get ROI even though at these difficulty level I doubt it. when you look at the life cycle of the both products Bitmain is not even in the same ball game as Spondoolies tech any more IMO
If I had the money I would have got the SP35 and called it good.