I am looking for some clarification on the status of the M2.
I want to buy an UTH unit, but they are “backordered”. So they are still being produced, or you gathering enough orders to have some made or … ?
Estimated shipping: 30-60 days … so does that mean I will receive one in 1-2 months, or you will be sending them out in 1-2 months?
Cheers.
Here’s a summary of the email I got back from the company, for those interested.
We are currently still at a 20-30 day lead time for M2. We are at the beginning stages of our production run, which is moving more slowly than we anticipated. We expect to be shipping our first backordered M2s in around 30 days. Shipping takes only a few days whether it is a domestic or international shipment (not counting any customs delays).
I hear it’s going to be May before we see any UTH units. At least they could post something if they’re going to keep us waiting.
Shipping speed is rather quick… the one I got during the initial Kickstarter was a beta unit, and I received it within days of it shipping.
A lot of people jumped in and ordered the units, so it’s understandable that they’re backordered. From my understanding they should be catching up pretty soon.
They were saying 30-60 days in Oct. It’s now March and they’re still saying 30-60 days, so they don’t seem to have a very good idea.
I would imagine that’s because the orders are still coming in, and the 30-60 day estimate is from the date of purchase. Had you ordered one in October, you would likely have it by now. At least, that’s my understanding of backorder shipping.
No. They said “We have completed the UTD interface board run and now we are working on processor boards”
Goods are usually produced in batches.
Ah okay.
I was assuming the processor boards were still the ones that were expected sooner, as they were a single large batch. That aside, they should be catching up soon. I was one of the 100 who sprung for the beta board, but for the production boards there’s over 1000 orders to be filled last I checked. It’s understandable that they’re behind, considering that they received almost 6 times the amount of the goal, and getting PCBs done with all these components can be tricky with suppliers.
I’d get your order in sooner rather than later, personally. It’s not that expensive and it moves you further up the queue rather than potentially being at the end of it for a few months to come. From my use of the board it’s been quite worth what I pledged. I like it more than my Tech2 scanner that costs a lot more 
That’s just my $0.02 though.
Nah. I don’t pay for things that don’t exist.
I was told the production volume they have coming covers existing orders with inventory to spare.
Well, that’s understandable.
Production is never really as smooth as small companies and start-ups think it is. Most things I’ve backed through services like Kickstarter have experienced delays like this because of either difficulty attaining the required volume or shortages in at least one of the small components required for one or more of the PCBs. Just looking at the unit on my desk right now, I can tell you that there’s at least 5 components that have to come from outside vendors, probably out of the country in this volume. And, well, things happen.
I think you’ll enjoy the M2 once the backorders are caught up and you grab one.
@MountainManJoe - I appreciate the patience here, and you are right - time for an update:
We’ve got plenty of UTD interface boards in stock and we’re working on the processor board production run now.
For the processor board, we decided to make a couple minor improvements that delayed the production run a bit. For example, we replaced the SMT-only USB connector with a connector with thru-hole support pins for improved strength, replaced the 3.3V LDO with a higher current rating package, added a battery backup connection option and several other minor tweaks.
The UTH interface board production run is also in progress and we hope to have everything fully in stock towards the middle of April.
Again, thank you for your patience, and let us know if you have other questions.
I was going to suggest the through-hole port for the USB as I’ve already broken the SMD design on my beta board and had to re-solder it. That’s something to look forward to with the production design for me, then.
Any additional details for the battery backup connector? (sorry to hi-jack the thread)
Good stuff. I’m looking forward to having one in my hands.
Hi there,
Any update on the availability of the M2?
Yea! We just got a fresh batch of UTD M2s from our manufacturing partner here in Minnesota. These will ship right away.
We also just pushed a update to our website to make it easier to find things. Let us know what you think!
Thanks! The new outlook of the website is very nice!
Do you have an idea of when the UTH M2s will be available?
I have just destroyed my second M2 (plugging the 24 connector in the 26 socket…) and would like to replace it asap, but if I have to wait weeks I would rather order an UTD right now and adapt it to my setup.
@JeanLa - I’d suggest you order a UTD for quickest delivery. We are waiting on a couple longer-lead time parts to finish production, so UTHs may be a couple weeks still.
JeanLa, I destroyed an M2 the exact same way. As a bonus, I did it with my laptop connected and fried the laptop too. I would very much recommend being super careful not to mix up the sides on the UTH version of the M2. Plug the 26 pin plug in first so you can’t mix them up.
Ouch. It’s almost Oct, which will mark 1 yr since you guys advertised 30-60 days lead time on these. I think you should do something if you care about your business.