Effectiveness / Capabilities of WL Pulsar 200mW?

Hey everyone, new to the forums here. I saw that WL recently had a pretty significant price drop. As a result of that, the E1 Executive Pulsar 200mW Red Laser is down to $49.99.

Link - Red Laser Pointer from Wicked Lasers - Pulsar Series

I've just got a few questions about it.

What're the burning capabilities of this laser?
What will the beam / dot visibility be like in different conditions? (Well lit vs fog vs dark)
Is this a decent deal compared to other options?

Thanks in advance for all the help.

Hello, Welcome to LPF. there's a search bar for you to search info before posting, however this is new material, so...

To answer your question of brightness: The dot will be very visible, almost blindingly so on a white surface indoors, safety glasses are highly recommended. The beam, in most conditions, will be comparable to that of a 5mW green, of course it's harder to see because of it's power.

To answer your question of burning: This is a 200mW laser, so it should be able to do the regular burning tricks quite well, but this is wickedlasers we're talking about here and they have a knack for bulls**t lately. They also claim it to have a very tight beam for burning, again this may or may not be true.

And compared to other options: It's a competitor directly to the dilda, a 200mW red laser with better heatsinking and a focusing ring, so it comes right down to, do you want better heatsinking, focusing, and customer support, or do you like wicked's pen host that much.

Here's a link to the Dilda

Thanks, and enjoy your time with us here on LPF.

Haha, the host isn't that big of a deal to me, so I suppose the choice is fairly clear now.

In that case, I'm assuming the Dilda has similar visibility. (Clearly visible dot, but no beam)
Also, what is it specifically capable of burning? I'm assuming it'll light matches, pop balloons, and maybe do some damage to electrical tape / black cd cases?

In addition, I'm interested in a laser that has a visible beam, but won't break the bank. I know greens are capable, but I was wondering if there was either a blue (purple?), that displays a visible beam in some light, as well as burns, but while staying fairly affordable?

Yes, in addition to the usual tricks my dilda will go through tape, cd cases, even tough old vhs cases.

In terms of visibility green is always the best of course, the problem with 405nm (violet, purple, bluray) is it's not as visible as red, but is near the same power/price ratio, so you'd get more visibility and burning bang for your buck at the 650nm (red) wavelength.

Greens around your price range (50$ i assume?) can also be found at o-like.com (the Dilda website)

The dilda is a much better burner than the pulsar. It can do all the usual tricks, yes.

EDIT: Wood was faster

I can shoot for closer to $100. I can go up much higher from there, but for a second/third laser, I'd like to stay on the lower end for testing purposes. Any other you would recommend for that price range?

Also, any opinion on the New vs Old Dilda?

Grix said:

EDIT: Wood was faster

Click to expand...

@Grix;'tis why they call me "Quick Woody"

Yes, for 100$ you could go green (532nm) on o-like.com or rayfoss.com quite easilly.

DKNelson728 said:

In addition, I'm interested in a laser that has a visible beam, but won't break the bank. I know greens are capable, but I was wondering if there was either a blue (purple?), that displays a visible beam in some light, as well as burns, but while staying fairly affordable?

Click to expand...

Well 445nm is blue, easily visible in daylight at the power levels used with them, burns very well. However, it'll take around 200$ to build one, and I wouldnt try ordering one from a site atm since they're so back ordered etc. You can build one quite easily, all you need is a soldering iron, a jayrob kit (hot option) and a few components (diode, module). If you have 200$ and are thinking of it, I strongly advise you check safety info first. 445s have been running at 1W and over, at which power shining it onto a fairly close white wall can hurt your eyes.
you can also get 405nm lasers upto ~600mW or so. They wont be really visible since they're at the edge of vision though. You'd need to buy one from round here or harvest a 12X blu-ray diode yourself though.

i emailed wl for real power... and real beam spec. i will update you.

i am interested in the pulsar because i want an aaa red laser... instead of my dilda that i am trying to sell in other places.

the pulsar usa a nice host and is suposed to have 2mm beam. BUT I DON'T KNOW if it is real.....( real like the false arctic beam.. XD).

but if it is really 200mw or higher and 2m beam... i buy it with the full kit optics....line...cross.... so i can use them with other green lasers

I have the 125mw pulsar in a neat slim chrome pen host. The beam quality is excellent with a nice round spot and low divergence. Power is slightly over-spec at 136mw. It is significantly brighter than my 5mw green. However, the lack of focusing means that it is not much use for burning. I also have an old 200mw DX. The host has a rather cheap feel and the non-standard batteries are a pain, but it's a good burner and for the price you can hardly complain.

Welcome to the world of lasers (but my condolences to your wallet)

sorta late for the post but i wanted to add incase anyone still cared the new didla is much better because it buns bettert and the focusing head is metal so it wont go out of focus easily and if u drop it it wont break but the old dilda breaks and goes out of focus just make shure u get rechargables and charger for the cr2's no matter what

Fonduman said:

Well 445nm is blue, easily visible in daylight at the power levels used with them, burns very well. However, it'll take around 200$ to build one, and I wouldnt try ordering one from a site atm since they're so back ordered etc. You can build one quite easily, all you need is a soldering iron, a jayrob kit (hot option) and a few components (diode, module). If you have 200$ and are thinking of it, I strongly advise you check safety info first. 445s have been running at 1W and over, at which power shining it onto a fairly close white wall can hurt your eyes.
you can also get 405nm lasers upto ~600mW or so. They wont be really visible since they're at the edge of vision though. You'd need to buy one from round here or harvest a 12X blu-ray diode yourself though.

Click to expand...

You can build a 1w 445 for a bit over $100, you can find hosts/heatsinks for 20-30 all over, get a preset driver for $30 shipped, diode pressed into aixiz module and leads for around $56-$60 in the for sale area and battery + charger can be had for 10-20 bones. Ive been planning on building one but gotta get it one piece at a time, damned bills.