GearBest Laser 301 High Power '405nm' Blue Light Zoomable Laser Pen

Here again, I think we have another winner.


High Power 301 405nm Blue Light Zoomable Laser Pen Pointer Lazer Beam - 1 x 18650-7.13 and Free Shipping| GearBest.com

http://laserpointerforums.com/f41/gearbest-new-arrival-5mw-laser-pointers-waiting-discounts-processing-91578

USE COUPON CODE LASERCM AND GET ONE,
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No one was 100% sure about the wavelength
of these, so I decided to get a hold of one
and do a little testing. This particular
unit does 415nm, confirming that most of us
are correct to assume these are ~405nm. It
is a lot closer to 405nm than 445nm anyway.

Output power is right around 90mW and
current is 196mA at the tailcap. The lens
appears to be an uncoated single element
acrylic or glass. I can't tell which and
don't want to scratch it to find out.

But enough with the numbers. How does it
feel and what is the overall build
quality? It seems to be a bit better than
some of the 301 lasers being sold on eBay.
Everything is pretty tight and the module
isn't falling out as it is in some of the
301s I have seen. The heatsink and lens
barrel are nice thick brass.



(NICE Solid brass module and lens barrel)

The battery tube is also in 2 pieces, so it
can be shortened to accommodate a single
18350. As for longevity, I don't really
see much of a problem, as the diode isn't
being driven excessively, unless it is
meant for <50mW and is really being pushed
hard.



Arrived beautiful, without a scratch
(Insert cell this way!)

The beam is actually fairly visible when it
is dark enough. The camera isn't sensitive
enough to pick it up, though, so no
beamshots. When focused, it burns black
plastic very easily and makes marks on
white thermal paper. Many objects will
fluoresce and a few will glow. GITD powder
and paint are no problem.



(Some fluorescent paint)



(This laser does pass the grain elevator
test. There was some shake as I was
holding the button down and I only briefly
hit it at the very top. Distance is 300m)

The only potential issue I can see is the
tactile pushbutton on the side. It is the
one common to all Chinese pens. Well,
there is that and the key switch. One
terminal is bent over to act as a battery
contact and the other is bent so that it
touches the host body. It seems to work
fine that way, though, at least on this one.



(I marked the tailcap with an ultra fine
Sharpie as a reminder of the polairty.
Here you can also see the arrangement of
the key switch contacts.)

So overall, I'd say it's worth the extra
couple bucks to get one of these. With
eBay or Amazon, it can be a real gamble.
At least this way you know you are getting
something fairly decent.

Interesting, 415nm! That's quite a big difference. Can you see the difference between its color and that of any other 405s that you have?

Yes, it looks like more of a pale blue, to
my eyes, anyway. It shows up fairly well
in the new pictures I just posted in the
OP, though "DeepSkyBlue" wood bee even more
accurate.

I wonder if this is a fluke with a higher
wavelength or if they are all like this.
It doesn't seem to affect the fluorescence
much. It will still fluoresce almost
anything 405nm does. It definitely looks
less purple than some of my other diodes
and more pale blue.

I was having some fun with it at the store
yesterday. There were some very
fluorescent plushies on one shelf I was
looking at, but they wanted like $12. All
the sudden this girl appears and kept
picking one up trying to figure out how
they "lit up". Most people have never seen
a laser that can "change color". It's
probably not a good idea to let the
untrained in on our "little secret",
though. These things can burn, as we will
soon see.

I updated the OP with some pictures and
there will be a video soon!

Interesting! Maybe someone should buy several of them and test the wavelengths.

Nice review!

There is a new video posted at the end of
the OP.

Thanks for the review just ordered one! My first blue/violet

Can't REP you yet for the review but my curiosity got the best of me as I want to see that color. Ordered 2

I ordered mine 2-3 weeks ago and it just got into the states today. Let's see if it arrives

Took a month to get mine and had to sign for them.
There's a VERY noticeable difference between the 2 of them and their outputs are basically the same at 58 and 60mW. I can't verify the wavelength but the 60 looks like a normal 405nm and the 58mW is WAY darker as in there's no way you wouldn't immediately notice the difference.

Mine has been sitting in a warehouse in my state NJ for 2 days.... wtf is USPS doing.... and that's after it arrived in NY and then got shipped to Springfield Massachusetts. ...

Now I'm seriously interested in one. Did you compare both of yours on a grating?

I screwed up what I wrote and edited it but apparently didn't hit the save button. It is now fixed.
The one unit is the same as other 405nm and the other is WAY darker NOT lighter.
The beam is difficult to see in dark with the darker one while the "normal" 405nm is pretty easy to see in complete darkness.

J53113 said:

Mine has been sitting in a warehouse in my state NJ for 2 days.... wtf is USPS doing.... and that's after it arrived in NY and then got shipped to Springfield Massachusetts. ...

Click to expand...

Hey, where in NJ?

Very central

This is awesome to know that there is a decent source for cheap 405 (or 415?). I'm provably going to try out one of their 303s to see if they're decent as well. A red and a blue/violet one will finish my laser 303 collection nicely.