Techlasers... advice..?

Well, I ordered a Crossfire from Techlasers awhile ago and after much hassle and two returns, I'm getting a refund... I got two dead lasers in a row and they no longer want to deal with me

Sooo, now I have to ask what is a good site to order from..? I'm looking to spend about $900. It seems that Optotronics has been getting a lot of praise, any other suggestions?

My other question is, how visible is the beam on an RPL series? I would like to know if the beam is very visible when viewed laterally...? IE; if you point it across a 2000ft valley, would a person standing 100 or so feet below the elevation of the laser and 1200ft away from the laser be able to look up to the sky and see the beam shoot across the sky? I already have an Infinity 125 (Bought it before I read the TL horror stories), will an RPL be significantly more visible through the night sky?

Thanks!

Definitely go with Jack and Optotronics. I started out with a RPL-325 last August and as of January 2008, upgraded to the RPL-400. You will not be disappointed with the product or the customer service. The beam is super bright anyway you look at it.

:-X i'll take the 5'th

Well an RPL-325 would be atleast 3 times as powerful as it would be putting out an actual power somewhere in the 380s or higher, so it would most probably be visible .

Diachi

A RPL from Optotronics would be a safe and good buy. Positive reviews of these lasers are scattered all over this forum.

Definitely go with A RPL from optotronics.

Sorry if this is a threadjacking, but I really feel it would benefit the OP to check out my sale post here: http://www.laserpointerforums.com/forums/YaBB.pl?num=1213928982

Hi.

IMO Laserglow are a great company.

They base their power ratings on constant output over 5, 10 mins etc... and I honestly can't fault their customer service.

I'm in the UK and they not only respond to emails in a matter of minutes or hours, but called me a few times for the sake of speedy resolution!

I was unlucky enough to have a problem a few days after the sale and I was honestly blown away by their response.

I was all ready to kick off and ask for a refund, but was well and truly converted because of the way they handled it.

I can be a hard person to impress at the best of times too.

I did almost go with Optotronics in the beginning, but chose Laserglow over them because they were a bit better in terms of pre-sales enquiries, and they're better in the sense that they have a much broader product range and more established business.

They really are a customer-focused firm, and I would recommend them to anyone who expects highest standards of customer service.

There was also a technical reason for choosing Laserglow, and that's the power source; Optotronics lasers use Li-ion 18650's and they're really hard to get hold of in the UK, and IMO even if they were, I'd still choose mainstream C and D cells every time because they're a well edtablished cell type and rechargeables can come in huge capacities. They hold their charge higher over time too.

This, and the sustained output ratings won me over.

As for the exchanged laser, it's due to arrive in a few days and I'll give it a thorough workout before posting back

I was also looking at Laserglow as well, so if I'm correct, Laserglow's 'Aries 200' is pretty much the same as the 'RPL 260' I was looking at from Optotronics...? I will choose whichever has a more visible beam.

As far as batteries go; I do have a few 18650's and a couple chargers, however I do like the idea of using standard batteries. Though in the end, it'll be whichever product has the best beam visibility... From what I understand, I'll be able to point the laser (RPL 260?) across an entire downtown area of a city, and anybody will be able to look up and see the beam, correct? (Given that it is nighttime of course)

The super fast response I got from you guys is most appreciated!!

meh789 said:

I was also looking at Laserglow as well, so if I'm correct, Laserglow's 'Aries 200' is pretty much the same as the 'RPL 260' I was looking at from Optotronics...? I will choose whichever has a more visible beam.

As far as batteries go; I do have a few 18650's and a couple chargers, however I do like the idea of using standard batteries. Though in the end, it'll be whichever product has the best beam visibility... From what I understand, I'll be able to point the laser (RPL 260?) across an entire downtown area of a city, and anybody will be able to look up and see the beam, correct? (Given that it is nighttime of course)

The super fast response I got from you guys is most appreciated!!

Click to expand...

The RPL 260 will definitely be more visible than the Aries 200. Also C batteries are a huge pain and should be avoided at all costs. You can charge an 18650 thousands of times, they weigh almost nothing compared to 2 C cells and 18650's won't start sagging after 20 minutes of operation. Go with the RPL and you won't regret it. I'm not bashing the Aries series or laserglow...Just saying that they should use better batteries.

For your second question: If you point a RPL-260 up into the sky the beam will be visible from miles around and the dot will easily be visible on buildings miles away.

This may be a little more that what you budgeted for, but the best deal IMHO. Feihc has offered to get it tuned up by LaserGlow, you get the laser for less than 1/3 of retail (Regularly $3000+), it has a 6 hour duty cycle on max power, and has all the safety features you could want (It's 100% legal).

iewed said:

This may be a little more that what you budgeted for, but the best deal IMHO. Feihc has offered to get it tuned up by LaserGlow, you get the laser for less than 1/3 of retail (Regularly $3000+), it has a 6 hour duty cycle on max power, and has all the safety features you could want (It's 100% legal).

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The Herc is another great option. They are truly the most powerful potable lasers out there and only a small fraction of people have one compared to RPL's. It seems like 1/5 of the people here have a RPL or other optotronics laser. The best thing about the Herc is the 100% duty cycle. You don't need to turn the laser off every couple of minutes and let it cool down.

I've also had bad experiences with techlasers.com
aside from laserglow.com, you can also try warnlaser.com
I got my SWOT 300mW a week ago, and absolutely love it.

iamalloy said:

you can also try warnlaser.com
I got my SWOT 300mW a week ago, and absolutely love it.

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Say what?

Can you do, like, a full review of it in the reviews section? Most of us here think warnlaser is crap, so we don't buy their products. So it would be interesting to see a review on one of their lasers.

iamalloy said:

I've also had bad experiences with techlasers.com
aside from laserglow.com, you can also try warnlaser.com
I got my SWOT 300mW a week ago, and absolutely love it.

Click to expand...

Then surely you won't mind posting a review with pics/vids in the reviews section.
Please don't disappear now

How many accounts do you think are out there with only a 1 post count?