I got my tax refund and decided to get one of these cheap CNC routers from China. I got the 3018 Pro and a 5.5 w laser to go with it. I highly recommend getting some real safety goggles, the one it comes with do not seem to do anything. I got some from Amazon and now I can’t see the beam at all which is what I think you want.
It went together very easy and so far it’s worked quite well. I’ve cut some wood with it without any issues, and I am really liking the Easel software from Inventables to create tool paths and run the machine. I was thinking about buying the pro version, but honestly what they charge it’s really not worth it to me. It’s around $12 per month, every month, and you really don’t get a whole lot more. I’ll probably end up dusting off my copy of Cut-2d from Vectrix, and might even go ahead and get VCarve pro eventually. One thing I can see that’s going to happen is first I’ll be getting a real spindle and then build a larger frame for it.
The laser is pretty nice too, does engraving really well, and will actually cut 3mm plywood, so it will definitely be worth an upgrade. The laser module is a diode version and this actually has me considering getting a more powerful one for the full size laser cutter that I’m building.