Purpl Scientific - THC Potency Measurement System
https://www.purplscientific.com/
Retail Price (US): $1995
- I don't have one (yet)
- I know (or heard) of someone that has one
- (I think) I want one
- I think you do too (or something similar)
- I think everyone on AFN should have one (or equivalent)
- One of us should review it for us (if they already have one)
- One of us should buy one (and review it for us)
- Let's get one for one of us (free sample)
- All of the above
- I didn't read any of this
I want your data.
More specifically, I want to know just what exactly each of you is getting out of your grows for each strain / grow style / etc.
No more of those subjective / qualitative 'smoke reviews' or pages of grow journals - I want numbers and spreadsheets, people!
So, I guess that means I need to start testing my own grows, too.
There's a local grow shop in my area that offers potency testing on the side for $20/test, and they use the #Purpl Pro.
Huh. Seems reasonable, given how much I'd like to start testing. Is it worth it? Is it a sham? I'll ask AFN...
Approach & Strategy
First,
- If you already have or own a Purpl, you should create a post / comment / join an existing discussion over in the Equipment Reviews forum.
- If you see someone ask a question about this product elsewhere, you should refer / link them back over to this thread or to an existing equipment review.
- If you talk about this product elsewhere on the site, you should hashtag the brand name #Purpl if you remember
At least, that's what Gemini told me. I just want to be able to test my final product and make a spreadsheet.
Now then,
Since this is a new(ish) product, there are no authorized vendors or existing equipment reviews or pre-existing user base on AFN.
So, we'll have to start from scratch.
Goals
My goal is to approach this specific thread more from a basic general 'market research' perspective rather than from a specific detailed 'how-to guide' or 'product review' perspective.
So, let's try to talk in this thread around the following basic questions based on what info we can find elsewhere online:
- What is the current 'state of the market' regarding both home and lab-based testing?
- What else is out there for this application?
- Does this look 'real'? Or, does it look like a scam?
- Is it accurate enough? How accurate do we need these things to be for home use?
- How accurate / how costly are commercial test labs in your area?
- If you were to do testing, how often would you do be needing this or a commercial test lab?
But...I make absolutely no promises in that regard, and it's probably best you forget you ever read that.
Objectives
My objective is not to spam this thread, but rather to start beginning, to coordinate discussion around this product for now.
Below, I will start off by taking a 'skeptical' position based on review of their website. You can take a look into it and respond to agree / refute / provide more info / etc.
As the community and people begin to actually start purchasing and using the product, we should eventually create other guides / threads for general discussion, how-to guides, reviews, etc.
In the meantime, we can start surveying the community's interest with everybody's favorite - a poll!
The "Disclosures and Poll Responses" above are meant to be ranked in order of 'level of interest' for people who do not already own the product (and, therefore, are potential customers here at AFN). If we do eventually show up on a vendor's radar screen, those survey results can be used as data for their marketing teams.
I'll let someone else create the actual poll, though. I'll just end up Bruce-ing it up.
Position & First Look
So, now we finally get to how we would normally start a post, thread, or discussion on AFN.
Below I am going to take more of a 'skeptical' or 'critical' approach based on a first look at their website.
Then, I would like others to add to the discussion based on the questions above, any other research they can find on the web, etc.
Let's see if we can get this thread and the AFN community to #Purpl without them having to come to us.
1. Price - $1995
I mean, yeah. I could build an extra grow room for that. But, testing is something that is important to me personally. But just for THC / potency testing?
I mean, I guess they are a new company, planning to add other options, etc...
Ah, here we go:
And, I can't find anything immediate on their website - but...I'd expect those to be software upgrades on the analysis side rather than hardware upgrades on the actual sensor / instrument side. Could be wrong, though.
2. Call now and get a free travel case with every order!
That is actually kind of nice. Especially given the lack of testing options in the community. I could see myself taking this around to friend's houses to help them out. And, as they mention a few times - it is meant as an actual piece of scientific test equipment.
4. Psst...Hey! Got #Purpl ?
Yes, please! I'm ready! Shut up and take my money!
Wait...direct to consumer point-of-sale website right next to solicitation for distributors? Nice try - I know how those price points work. Imma just check google for distributor e-stores instead of vendor's website. May as well just be giving those distributor prices to us as AFN promo codes.
4. Oooh! It's FDA-en...wait, what now?
Yeah, "FDA-endorsed technology" doesn't really mean anything. It just means the FDA has approved use of the near-infrared spectroscopy method for some use in some applications related to something. Nice try marketing team! But, I won't hold that against you...every company does that.
Let's check their FAQ...
Ok, it's the 'quick and dirty' method used on the front-end R&D by labs and commercial entities (not the 'final testing of record' on the backend before sale). Still, that's fair enough for home use.
5. So, how accurate is it?
So, it gets less accurate above 20% THC. Godfathers and bruce banners - you've been warned. Still, may just be the best we can get with that technology.
6. Good enough?
But 2% on a 0-20 range? How accurate is potency testing in general?
Ok, so that's perfectly reasonable. And, given this from the interwebs:
So...definitely better than trying to rely on dispensary labels if you're a medical user.
6. Got papers?
They do have a white paper available for download on their website - No email-wall, either, so no need to worry about marketing newsletters.
It's your typical 3-pg corporate / PR / marketing overview of their developmental validation testing, but better than nothing.
7. FAQ Me!
They do have an FAQ and Knowledge Base with some more info.
Don't ask me how I got to that knowledgebase page from the homepage though. (Seriously, I clicked some link by accident and couldn't find my way back).
I'm not gonna go through those in detail in the OP here, though - the rest of AFN can and let me know below.
8. Worth it?
Ummm...that's not the point of a first look write-up like this.
We haven't even addressed overall usability, operator error on accuracy / repeatability, durability, etc yet.
For sure, the price point will make it a non-option for most people. Does seem worth having the community keep an eye on it, though.
But, $20/test + drive to nearest grow shop?
Definitely worth checking out in a couple months when my current grows are done.
I'll snap some pics and see if the owner will let me
9. Community Input
So, I tried to be critical but not overly critical above.
I think I landed on 'worth checking out if you have access to one.'
10. I like lists with nice even numbers.
Yes, me too.
