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New big boy toy! Jetlasers PL-E Pro 300mW 532nm review

Gabe

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Jetlasers Pl-E Pro, 300mW at 532nm! More aluminium, more better!



Welcome to my review of the Jetlasers PL-E pro! I will try to explore as many factors as possible, so if I miss something, don't hesitate to let me know ;)

Part 1: Shipping
My order was placed on the 2nd of August. Order was promptly accepted, and stayed in that state for seven days until it shipped out from their warehouse. It felt like the longest week of my life. It turns out, the reason for this relatively short wait was a hurricane and severely inclement weather in their area :eek:. By no means their fault, but they deeply apologized for the wait and after that, my package flew at light speed to my front door. Here is the log:

As you can see, it went from Hong Kong to Ohio, left Ohio and made it to Alberta in one day. Holy frig! The next day it made it to my house, but I had just left for a week long camping trip. Timing's a bítch. So eight days from Hong Kong to Canada, really good. It would've been even faster if conditions were right.

Part 2: Packaging
It arrived in a dhl yellow shipping bag. Nothing special.

Idk what mini flashlight is this big, but I'll take their word for it. They also seem to like first person shooters:

Inside the bag is this beat up, smushed cardboard box:

Says "Lasers n shít" in Mandarin. Jk it just says "Canada". Box is 10" by 8" by 5.5" tall. Or 25 by 18 by 14 cm tall for you people who use the real measurement units.
Slight movement when I shake the box, but it sounds well padded. Open up the box and we find at first look:

Some pink foam and what I assume is anti-static bags. Spread it all out:

We got a battery charger and a black plastic case. Case is 9" by 6", or 23cm by 16cm.
Open up the case and we find:

Three yellow paper packages. What could they all be..?

In 1 we find a tailcap, a lens cloth, and a set of keys. In 2 we find the main laser body, this is the heavy part. 3 has the battery compartment, a battery condom for 18650 batteries, and a warranty guide. This part of the warranty exceptions made me laugh:

Everything was in an anti-static bag, and the main laser bit was also wrapped in more bubble wrap. Ain't no way anything is gonna get damaged during shipping.

Part 3: Firin 'Er Up!

Lighting this bad boy up is simple. All's you gotta do is screw the battery compartment onto the important bit, slide the battery condom in if you're using 18650s, or don't if you're using 26650s. Then you put the battery in negative end first, and screw the tailcap on. Then you insert the key into the back and turn it, and watch those lovely indicator lights blink into existence. Make sure the focus adaptor is focused right, and press that button! Wait, no... Ah that's right. Don't forget to unscrew that aperture cap first. Then you select which button you want, momentary or constant on/off, point n shoot! I think that means it's picture time!








Part 4: The Laser in All Her Glory
Oh boy, where do I begin. This laser is a beast. I mean just lookit it! Banana fer scale!

Machining is pretty good, there are some sharp edges on the bezel and such that cut my fingers while unscrewing the aperture cap, this is a common problem. I sanded it down so my baby soft hands don't get injured no more ;)

Heck, even the dust cap is well machined and knurled! There is a gap where the light from the indicators is visible, slight annoyance but it's tolerable:

Everything is metal, and that makes it skookum as heyul. By all means skookumer than a cheap mass produced laser, and even skookumer than the tripod I'm using with it, it feels out of place. So solid, in fact, when I accidentally dropped the tailcap over my hardwood table, it dented it! Hey, speakin of tripods, here's the side opposite side to the buttons:

The left hole is for a tripod mount. I wish this was a little deeper, this makes it sit weird on my tripod and sometimes it spins, as its top heavy. No big deal, I can just saw/file my tripod threads shorter. The middle is for AC power, which is an awesome feature to have if you're charging your batteries or if you just don't feel like using them. However, an adaptor doesn't come with it! So what do, eh? Well, I recognize it takes the standard adaptor plug, that's a start. I go to the product page and I see it runs off 5V. Bingo bungo, I need a 5V wall adaptor. I have a box of cords n stuff, figure I'll get two birds stoned with one bush and thin out the collection. But, I find zilch. When I think I'm SOL, I find a plug with a USB end on it, it's a start. Now mama didn't raise no fool, I gotta make myself a solution. So I think to myself, what wall plug takes a USB... A phone charger! And if I remember correctly, they output 5V right? So I walks on down to the kitchen, grabs me a cool drink and I find one of them little cube plug ins for charging iPhones. I try it, but it seems like it's just barely not enough jooce to get er going, the lights flicker on for a second and fade out each time I unplug it and plug it back in. I do some googling and find out those iPhone chargers output 1 amp. That ain't gonna cut it. But howdy hey, an iPad charger outputs 5.1V and 2.1 Amps, what a deal. I have one of those, so I plug it all in and Robert's your mothers brother, 532nm coherent light! The plug doesn't fit solidly in the port, but it does as it do and it does fine. The 18650 battery seems to run it fine, but it looks like it runs out of jooce pretty quickly, that's what I get for using el cheapo ultra crap batteries. Soon I'll order some real 26650s, get maximum bang for my batt. Anyways, I'm actually not sure what that last port is for? Maybe for a different type of plug in, not sure. If someone could do me a solid and inform me, that'd be great.
Here's the front button side:

We got three red indicator lights to let us know something's burning at the other end of the beam. The smaller button is a momentary switch, and I see they've changed it from rubber to metal, which I'm glad for. I'm happy they put both momentary and constant on switches on, it's a feature I didn't think I wanted but did. I did briefly have some issues with the momentary switch, for a short bit it kept on getting stuck down in the in position, staying down and not clicking when I press it again. This went away, and I hope it doesn't recur. Finally there's the constant on/off side clicky, also made of metal and feels quite solid, as does the momentary. When you press down on the momentary, blue LEDs light up alongside the red, looks like this:

And when the clicky is on, very faint green LEDs turn on:

Not sure of the purpose behind these, but it's neat.
The internal focusing mechanism is a dream, smooth like buddah to turn:

The closest it'll focus to is about 7 inches (18 cm) away. I'm also very grateful they marked where infinity is, saves me a lot of time.
Now, I have another 300+mW laser. But this one absolutely destroys it in a burning competition, thanks to its much thinner beam diameter. It doesn't even need to be focused to burn any dark plastic, leather, foam, wood, you name it near instantly! And when it is focused, oh boy she's a scorcher. With a little time it melted clean through this Sharpie cap:

This is a bright laser, as you've seen from the beam shots. Safety m'glarses are required when doing close up work, and maybe even just from pointing it around your parents basement! Safety squints ain't gonna cut it this time. But oh man the beam is a thing to admire, paired with the cool, smooth aluminum in your hand(s) it's a wet dream, but before you wake up. Sure to attract all the ladies within a 5 mile radius. All the threads are very smooth and clean, and came lubed for maximum pleasure.

Other Stuff

Customer service: Jetlasers is known for their great customer service, and their reputation stands. Gray helped answer all of my stupid questions, stayed with me throughout the whole process, responded in a super timely fashion, and gave me a coupon code to ease the wallet woes. What a guy, cheers to Gray :beer:

Technical specs: I'll try to do as many as I can.
Beam diameter at aperture: 1.325 mm. They claim 1.3 mm. Accuracy is on point.
Divergence: 2mRad. They claim around 2mRad. As claimed, alright.
Host size: 11 7/16 inches long by 1 9/16 inches thick (29 cm long by 4 cm thick). Almost a solid footlong.
Current draw: Seems to draw @ 1.53 Amps. So it'll suck those cheap 18650 _____-fire batteries dry pretty quick fer sure.
Operating modes: I don't know enough about the modes to name it, but it seems to hop every 5 or so seconds before settling into TEM00. Sometimes it's two dots, other times it's one, sometimes a crescent around a dot, sometimes it's thinner and sometimes it's wider. Not very noticeable at all from the operating end, or while burning. Noticed it once while pointing down the street, the dot hopped from small to bigger, to small again.
Output power: so I did not get an output graph from Gray, but that's fine cause it was an extra request and by no means did they have to complete it. I guess we will have to wait until the day I buy an LPM :D. Something tells me this laser isn't underspec ;)

Price/Was It Worth: so, I ordered the laser with everything plain at 300mW, price came out to be $320 after shipping and discounts. However, that's $320 AMERICAN. Because our Canadian pesos are in the shítter, that slapped on an extra $100 for me, making the total $420. Heheh. Blaze it. Was this laser worth $420? In my opinion, so far, yes. Absolutely. It's got more features than I could dream of, wonderfully machined, awe inspiring beam, it's totally worth imho even with those minor flaws.

Conclusion
All in all, I give Jetlasers and their product, the PL-E Pro 300mW 532nm laser, a 97% grade. Would recommend, and I surely will be buying from em again. I've been eyeballing that 515nm Ti B.... ;)
Any questions, comments, etc., leave em down below! Thanks fer readin.
-Gabe

p.s. I named it the kush-saber because it looks like a light-saber, is green, cost $420, and smokes nearly everything ;)
 
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wow awesome that host insane crazy looking!.. best review ive seen here so far i had to give thread 5 stars because of that.
 
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Hey Gabe,
That looks like a beast! It is big enough to club someone in the head if need be. Best of luck with it.
 

BowtieGuy

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Hey Gabe, Nice unboxing and review, plus some sweet pics! :beer:
Glad to see you like it, but to be honest, I've not seen too many J/L buyers who were unhappy with their purchace; once you go J/L, you're hooked!
If you think that laser is a beast now, wait till you throw on a 10X beam expander.

Now, barring any lightning, or acts of God you're good to go with your "Mini LED Flashlight". :crackup:


:gj: +rep!
 
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Davidx

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Congratulations on your PL-E Pro. Great review too. I'd never noticed the lines for infinity focus on mine. So, I looked, then looked again. I don't have one, but my JL . 405 and 473 both do. I just fiddle with the 532 to find infinity. Be cool to have the dot, but I love mine.

+ rep
 
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APEX1

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stunning.. I love my PLE as well! Jet lasers are definitely one of a kind!
 

Gabe

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Hey Gabe,
That looks like a beast! It is big enough to club someone in the head if need be. Best of luck with it.
Thank you Bruce, blunt force trauma is definitely not out of the question with this laser ;)
Hey Gabe, Nice unboxing and review, plus some sweet pics! :beer:
Glad to see you like it, but to be honest, I've not seen too many J/L buyers who were unhappy with their purchace; once you go J/L, you're hooked!
If you think that laser is a beast now, wait till you throw on a 10X beam expander.

Now, barring any lightning, or acts of God you're good to go with your "Mini LED Flashlight". :crackup:


:gj: +rep!
Thank you bowtie! Yeah, it's hard to imagine anyone not being satisfied with this beast. And I couldn't imagine it with a beam expander too, I could already see the dot on the bottom of the clouds last night!

Congratulations on your PL-E Pro. Great review too. I'd never noticed the lines for infinity focus on mine. So, I looked, then looked again. I don't have one, but my JL . 405 and 473 both do. I just fiddle with the 532 to find infinity. Be cool to have the dot, but I love mine.

+ rep
Thank you David, that line shouldn't be too hard to add on, yknow. Could be anything from a sharpie line to tape to acid etching, depending on how fancy yer feelin :)

stunning.. I love my PLE as well! Jet lasers are definitely one of a kind!
Stunning indeed! They're incredible pieces of technology.


Sincere thank you to everyone for the kind words (and the reps shh ;) )
 
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Gabe

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They ship COD, that surprised me. Cool toy!

Thank you Alaskan! Okay yeah I searched up and found what cod means, and yeah that was strange. I thought I already payed for shipping... :huh:
I tried lighting my sisters candle for her because she didn't have a lighter, no fire just smoke. Although I think about ten more minutes and it would light.
 
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Encap

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Thank you Bruce, blunt force trauma is definitely not out of the question with this laser ;)
Thank you bowtie! Yeah, it's hard to imagine anyone not being satisfied with this beast. And I couldn't imagine it with a beam expander too, I could already see the dot on the bottom of the clouds last night!
Thank you David, that line shouldn't be too hard to add on, yknow. Could be anything from a sharpie line to tape to acid etching, depending on how fancy yer reelin :)
Stunning indeed! They're incredible pieces of technology.
Sincere thank you to everyone for the kind words (and the reps shh ;) )

Excellent beyond outstanding review! Comprehensive/detailed and lots of great pictures!

Great laser in all respects-outstanding high quality professional level laser with many useful features not found in any other make. You can't go wrong with a JetLasers product. All of them are great. The PL-E Pro series being the grail of JetLasers hand held units with many useful and well considered features that no other handheld/portable laser offers.
I can't say enough good things about them either. You can always bet a JetLasers 532nm has an excellent IR filter and mW output exceeds specifications. They build them over spec so that after years of use they will still meet or exceed original output specifications output.

Everyone who owns a JetLasers product loves it.

Are the JetLAsers products more expensive than other hand held lasers? Yes , but not by a lot.
Are they worth every penny spent to obtain one? Yes and then some considering the exceptional product at a reasonable price + the best customer service/support in the business and not just before you buy---you get the same attention after you buy.
Any problems are always addressed quickly made right.

Gray and Jetlasers only want happy customers who feel they received something of value that they enjoy for their hard earned money spent with JetLasers. They will do whatever it takes to accomplish that--they have been known even to allow produvt to be returned for full refund several months after the sale if the customer is simply not happy with the product purchased for whtever reasons.
The JetLasers guys are a different breed---not in it just for for the money. The founders are all engineers and laser enthusiasts themselves and they do the best job they can do and at reasonably affordable prices.

Good luck with it---enjoy it--you are a lucky guy to be able to own/have one!
 
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Nice review! That looks like an awesome laser, lots of fun. Might have to look into one myself, everyone seems to like JL pretty well.
 

Davidx

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Thank you David, that line shouldn't be too hard to add on, yknow. Could be anything from a sharpie line to tape to acid etching, depending on how fancy yer

I just may mark it with a Sharpie. Thanks. Gray is such a pleasure to do business with. I'm awaiting a 462. :)
 

Gabe

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Thank you to everyone for the kind words, it's really helping me out right now. Encap, I couldn't have said it better myself, the Jetlasers team truly goes above and beyond the call of duty. Man, I admire the host itself nearly as much as the beam that comes out of it. Vanillah, I think you'll be quite happy if you get one ;), they are lots of fun. Thank you. David, I marked the armed positions for the key on the tailcap, as well as the proper battery orientation inside the tube with a sharpie, it doesn't seem to be able to rub off very easily.
 
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Awesome laser you got & 1-4 days for shipping from Asia ain't half bad!

Hope you enjoy it & keep us updated with beamshots :yh:

-Alex
 

Gabe

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Awesome laser you got & 1-4 days for shipping from Asia ain't half bad!

Hope you enjoy it & keep us updated with beamshots :yh:

-Alex

Thanks Alex! More beam pics you say? If you insist... :)
 
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