Those interested in the Tria may want to keep an eye on:

http://triabeauty.wordpress.com

Anyone know the best place to order it in the U.S.? Someone found it for $995 but didn't say where.

Hi all, new to the forum and I TOO am interested in the TRIA, but have yet to make the final commitment. I've read a lot of positive reviews but I'm still a little aprehensive since it's still a little too new to know the long term results. According to the website triabeauty.com you can purchase a TRIA through a physician or by calling them directly at 877-321-8742. or you can e-mail them. Thought I'd let you know.

If you're looking for permanent results, don't get your hopes up too high. If you're looking for hair removal that may last longer than other temporary methods currently available, then it's something you may want to keep following.

OK I took the plunge and ordered from one of the physicians on their list. It was $1000 + tax and shipping, which they weren't sure what would be yet. That's about the same cost as a laser treatment package, but I'll add my results in a few weeks to see if actually works.

You'll need to wait 4-6 months after your last treatment to be able to judge permanence. So it will take most people here at least 1-1.5 years to truly judge the results.

Vulpes, make sure you understand how much less powerful this machine is than the professional one that got you results. This only goes to 24J and 600ms.

That's true. I don't expect to know for certain for some time, but during my previous treatments I saw a consistent, noticeable improvement (10-15% reduction) starting around 2 weeks after each treatment. I'll try to take pictures during the process.

On a side note, why do many people believe a longer pulse width is bad? Wouldn't a longer pulse deliver more energy to the follicle? Quote:

"If a very long laser pulse is used, the pigment cells radiate the energy almost as fast as they absorb it, while the large hairs keep absorbing it faster than they can radiate it. As a result, the hair heats up much more than the pigment cells in the skin. The ability to deliver a long pulse of energy is a recent and welcome development in hair removal lasers."

http://pioneervalleyderm.com/services/lightsheer.shtml

Everything I've seen on laser FAQ's suggest longer pulse widths reduce the chance for skin damage.

SSLHR explains this in detail on this site if you run a search. The basic concept is that the zap is more powerful when the pulse WIDTH is shorter which means more energy is delivered faster to the follicle. The only benefit to shorter pulse width is making it safer for darker skin, i.e. it's also less effective, but there is no alternative for darker skin - something needs to be sacrificed. Part of the reason that GentleLASE alex is one of the best machines on the market is that it has a very low stable (not adjustable) 3ms pulse width (as well as a very large 18mm spot size).

Btw, in the article, they're talking about a different thing. They're talking about 810nm for diode (like LightSheer) vs 655nm on alex lasers and 1064nm on Yag lasers, which generally accounts for the depth of laser penetration. Also, they're not being completely truthful. They're being biased to LightSheer. A Yag laser is much safer for darker skin than a diode like LightSheer due to the longer pulse, i.e. 1064. Btw, all hair removal lasers are long-pulse lasers.

Congrats on your new TRIA!! According to the website, the TRIA has 125-650ms vs the Lightsheer which has 5-400ms. Is it really that big of a difference?? Does the pulse width coordinate with the fluence ie. The higher the jules the lower the pulse width?

That's referring to dark skin clients only, to protect their skin.

Lowest pulse is most effective. On LightSheer, even 100ms is rarely used. Mostly only on darker skin. Otherwise, generally 20ms is used. Once again, the reason that GentleLASE is one of the best machines around is that it has a stable pulse at 3ms. So yes, 125ms is too high. And at 24J, they use 600ms, which is not going to produce permanent results. It may be enough to cause temporary dormancy of hair. That's all.