- Joined
- Oct 12, 2010
- Messages
- 7
- Points
- 0
This is my first green laser. It took about ten days to arrive at my house. When I looked at the packaging, it said "Flashlight for gift" on it. Probably to deter customs from looking into it.:na: When I turned it on, it was very bright and I was very happy because of the the price. After about an hour of playing with it, it started flickering and wouldn't turn on completely. 
Just a faint green dot would come out of it. 
After a bunch of testing on it, I found that the problem was with the push button switch on the end-cap. I was able to connect the + side of the battery directly to the housing and the laser would be working fine and bright. However, when I put the end-cap back on, it would be dim until I push the switch lightly until it became bright again. I was so happy when I found out it wasn't the driver or the diode. :yh: Now I don't mind this malfunction too much because it is pretty easy to make it work even when the end-cap is on. Also, I was kind of expecting something would be wrong with it considering it was only $35. You can take off the front of the laser to access the collimator lens. After the collimator lens and focus ring, there is a spring that pushes from the diode housing onto the lens housing so the focus adjustment ring doesn't move by itself. I don't really like how the spring is so loose, but it gets the job done, and it's really easy to put back together. The diode housing and driver are all glued inside of the aluminum housing which would make it really difficult if I wanted to harvest the diode.
Lets talk about beams and dots now. The dot is visible to the user from over a mile away and if you collimate it well, it will go really really far. It is also pretty bright if you point it at a white surface. It can also make somethings smoke like my black cotton sweater, but only if you focus it right. The beam is really cool at night. Even on a clear night, the beam is pretty easily visible and will amaze non-laser enthusiasts easily.
Overall, this laser is great... for the price. When buying lasers, knives, guns, flashlights, there is always one thing to remember. You get what you pay for. Aside from the switch problems, I think it is pretty well made. The negative contact for the battery could have been a bit better, but it works fine so I am happy. I would not recommend this laser to people who do not like tinkering with their lasers, because I had to open and test mine several times to find out that problem was the switch.
Overall Pros and Cons:
Pros:
Bright
Small
Cheap
Able to collimate
Cons:
End-cap switch
Click on the photos!
Just a faint green dot would come out of it. After a bunch of testing on it, I found that the problem was with the push button switch on the end-cap. I was able to connect the + side of the battery directly to the housing and the laser would be working fine and bright. However, when I put the end-cap back on, it would be dim until I push the switch lightly until it became bright again. I was so happy when I found out it wasn't the driver or the diode. :yh: Now I don't mind this malfunction too much because it is pretty easy to make it work even when the end-cap is on. Also, I was kind of expecting something would be wrong with it considering it was only $35. You can take off the front of the laser to access the collimator lens. After the collimator lens and focus ring, there is a spring that pushes from the diode housing onto the lens housing so the focus adjustment ring doesn't move by itself. I don't really like how the spring is so loose, but it gets the job done, and it's really easy to put back together. The diode housing and driver are all glued inside of the aluminum housing which would make it really difficult if I wanted to harvest the diode. Lets talk about beams and dots now. The dot is visible to the user from over a mile away and if you collimate it well, it will go really really far. It is also pretty bright if you point it at a white surface. It can also make somethings smoke like my black cotton sweater, but only if you focus it right. The beam is really cool at night. Even on a clear night, the beam is pretty easily visible and will amaze non-laser enthusiasts easily.
Overall, this laser is great... for the price. When buying lasers, knives, guns, flashlights, there is always one thing to remember. You get what you pay for. Aside from the switch problems, I think it is pretty well made. The negative contact for the battery could have been a bit better, but it works fine so I am happy. I would not recommend this laser to people who do not like tinkering with their lasers, because I had to open and test mine several times to find out that problem was the switch.
Overall Pros and Cons:
Pros:
Bright
Small
Cheap
Able to collimate
Cons:
End-cap switch
Click on the photos!
