Hey are one of these extractors better / worse than bubble bags?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1pVUIezuKc&feature=fvw
Oh damn.. it's $500.. but maybe someone could build their own
within the community there is a big debate as to what kind of hash is better. on the one hand many many people like "neder-hash" popularized by mila and her "ice-o-lator" process (in the states mostly it's bubble hash by the bubble man which is king. but it is all the same process so whatever...) that is where trim, plants whatever is agitated with ice and water and put through screens of decreasing sizes to give certain grades of ice extracted kief. that kief when pressed is referred to as bubble hash (though not all of if is as technically it should bubble when burnt)...
a similar but different method is dry sieving (which is the device which is in the u-tube video) that is a process which does not use water and extracts tricromes through a screen (there are different sized screens available but most people only use one per batch). the pollinator (also a mila invention) or the o-kief drum sieve is thought to yield higher quality hash as the terpenes (flavor molecules) from the herb are retained (as they are mostly water soluble), however per run there is only the one size of trichome sieved out and some people feel like this method also yields a lot of vegetable matter in the end product, and can be a bit harsh, especially if the plant was not properly flushed...
there is also butane extracted hash oil and iso hash which are processes which use a solvent (butane or isopropyl alcohol) to extract the thc from the herb... these processes are dangerous and potentially very harmful to you if not properly done (possible inhalation of poison in both cases as well as serious potential for loss of life in explosion in the case of the butane extracted hash...
as far as the drum sieving devices out there, they are expensive but worth the money if you: grow a medium to large amount, or can find someone who will give you trim to make into hash for them, plan on retailing or supplying a dispensary, or just are a bit of a hash snob... for the price you can get a washer, full set of bubble bags and all the accessories and be 20 runs deep before you hit 500$... it's up to you... but remember, as with all purchases, don't get what you'd need if you had all the money you want, space time storage you want, get for what you actually need... you may find that the one gallon set of bags is much more handy than the 20 gallon... or the 500$ pollinator, or the 1200 roor with the 12 perks and whatever... get what you need and see if it does what you want it to... just my 2cents... good luck!