HMI Choices

I have been shopping HMI's since NAB this year. I really don't want to spend 5-6K on an Arri or Joker. The NILA Boxer or Varsa are pretty much my choices as of now. I was curious however if anyone has used any of the Arri knockoffs on ebay? They have a 1.2K for around 1300. I know the usual you get what you pay for speech I would like to know if someone has or knows someone who has had real life situations with any of these lights.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-2KW-HMI-Fresn ... 3cd0097aaa

I have one of the knock off 1.2Kw HMI lights - different ballast to the one you linked to.
For the price it's great but comes nowhere near the quality of my Dedo HMIs.
It will do for my purpose but I don't think it would last long on a every day production or rental.

The bulb that came with the unit produced a very noticeable high pitched whine, not good if you need to record audio. I replaced it with a name brand bulb and all is quite - so factor in the cost of a new bulb (& a spare)
I much prefere the light quality of HMI over any LEDs that I've used - but LEDs are quick & easy (but don't have the punch)

I own 3 old Strand Sirio II 1200w hmi that I got for free. They are a little bigger/heavier and not as efficent as a par HMI but the bulbs are cheap and they work great bounced indoor or diffused thru a window. One thing I like about them is that the lens is big and by that the light quality is a little "softer" straight from the fixture. As they are bulkier and not as efficent as the newer fixtures they don´t get any rental time and can be had real cheap from rental houses having them in a back room collecting dust.

There is a group buy thread on reduser about the chinese knock-offs and some had quality issues.

regards
Hans Engstrom