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I told some people I would post a review a while ago, but I've been busy and shipping did take a while, but let's get down to business.
My new LED Shoppe pointer arrived a couple days ago, specifically:
http://www.ledshoppe.com/Product/ledp/LP1076.htm
It took about 4 days to process the order, then I got an email that said my order had shipped, and would most likely arrive 10-20 business days later, it arrived in the chicagoland area on the 14th business day, so no surprises there.
*As a side note, if you want to order one, they checked the "signature required" option for shipping. I was out of the house when they tried to deliver it, so I needed to go pick it up at the post office, so try to be home if you want to save yourself the trip.
On to the eye candy:
Obviously, the battery compartment is black, not as pictured on the LED shoppe page, but pretty frivolous. The laser arrived in a padded envelope wrapped in bubble wrap. The two halves of the barrel were unscrewed, and they included some cheap batteries. Upon using the batteries they gave me, they were terrible, but no surprises there. After some fresh batteries, it perked right up though.
Warning label says 50mw, I checked because the coloring got me worried that I was sent the wrong laser, but everything looked good here.
I'm sorry, I do not have an LPM (yet...) but for comparison sake, I will compare to a cheap 5mw pointer found on ebay for a couple bucks. I have a couple of these, and since I do not have an LPM, and these are all over the place, I chose the middle power of the "5mw" ebay lasers I have, and I'll hope it is actually close to 5mw, but at least you'll get an idea of comparison.
The 50mw LED Shoppe laser is considerably brighter than the 5mw ebay pen, the picture doesn't show it wonderfully, but the dot is much more intense.
Here the left beam is the 50mw, and you can see it a bit better.
Both beams are visible in the dark, though, the 50mw LED Shoppe is much thicker and brighter.
Between the two lasers, only the 50mW beam is easily distinguishable in a decently lit room. When the lights are bright enough to drown out the 5mW, the 50 is still quite clear. The 50mW is not visible in full strength daylight, then again, almost nothing is I would imagine. The 50mW beam is visible in most indoor lighting conditions, in the exception of bright bathroom or kitchen lights.
Overall, I'm rather happy with this pointer. The construction is nothing special, very similar to other cheap pointers, though the clicky button has a bit less play in it, and the click feels a bit more solid. The dot is very bright, and I would not recommend looking at at without eye protection when it is incident on a light surface. When the laser is incident on a black surface, it looks about as bright as a 5mw dot on a light surface, but I still would recommend staring at it all day.
I would say the laser is too powerful for any sort of presentation giving, but it would be wonderful for astronomy, or just a little fun.
Bottom line: The laser isn't spectacular, but it doesn't claim to be. There are other places where you can get a 50mW pen for less then $25, but I would guess you get what you pay for, you might get a good one, you might get a bad one. All I can say, is that I'm happy with my purchase, and I think it was worth the cash.
Any other questions/picture requests let me know, and I'll gladly put up pictures or respond when I have time.
Best of luck, happy lasering :beer:
My new LED Shoppe pointer arrived a couple days ago, specifically:
http://www.ledshoppe.com/Product/ledp/LP1076.htm
It took about 4 days to process the order, then I got an email that said my order had shipped, and would most likely arrive 10-20 business days later, it arrived in the chicagoland area on the 14th business day, so no surprises there.
*As a side note, if you want to order one, they checked the "signature required" option for shipping. I was out of the house when they tried to deliver it, so I needed to go pick it up at the post office, so try to be home if you want to save yourself the trip.
On to the eye candy:
Obviously, the battery compartment is black, not as pictured on the LED shoppe page, but pretty frivolous. The laser arrived in a padded envelope wrapped in bubble wrap. The two halves of the barrel were unscrewed, and they included some cheap batteries. Upon using the batteries they gave me, they were terrible, but no surprises there. After some fresh batteries, it perked right up though.
Warning label says 50mw, I checked because the coloring got me worried that I was sent the wrong laser, but everything looked good here.
I'm sorry, I do not have an LPM (yet...) but for comparison sake, I will compare to a cheap 5mw pointer found on ebay for a couple bucks. I have a couple of these, and since I do not have an LPM, and these are all over the place, I chose the middle power of the "5mw" ebay lasers I have, and I'll hope it is actually close to 5mw, but at least you'll get an idea of comparison.
The 50mw LED Shoppe laser is considerably brighter than the 5mw ebay pen, the picture doesn't show it wonderfully, but the dot is much more intense.
Here the left beam is the 50mw, and you can see it a bit better.
Both beams are visible in the dark, though, the 50mw LED Shoppe is much thicker and brighter.
Between the two lasers, only the 50mW beam is easily distinguishable in a decently lit room. When the lights are bright enough to drown out the 5mW, the 50 is still quite clear. The 50mW is not visible in full strength daylight, then again, almost nothing is I would imagine. The 50mW beam is visible in most indoor lighting conditions, in the exception of bright bathroom or kitchen lights.
Overall, I'm rather happy with this pointer. The construction is nothing special, very similar to other cheap pointers, though the clicky button has a bit less play in it, and the click feels a bit more solid. The dot is very bright, and I would not recommend looking at at without eye protection when it is incident on a light surface. When the laser is incident on a black surface, it looks about as bright as a 5mw dot on a light surface, but I still would recommend staring at it all day.
I would say the laser is too powerful for any sort of presentation giving, but it would be wonderful for astronomy, or just a little fun.
Bottom line: The laser isn't spectacular, but it doesn't claim to be. There are other places where you can get a 50mW pen for less then $25, but I would guess you get what you pay for, you might get a good one, you might get a bad one. All I can say, is that I'm happy with my purchase, and I think it was worth the cash.
Any other questions/picture requests let me know, and I'll gladly put up pictures or respond when I have time.
Best of luck, happy lasering :beer:
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