mhakali
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Salute!
This is the review of one of the WickedLasers E2 532nm from Glenn's group buy, which was not unfortunate enough not to pass his strict QA, so here it arrives. Great thanks for this very unexpected (early) delivery!
(Problems loading images? Gimme a shout in the replies!!)
For full size non resized pictures (~4-6MB each), go here
Link to item: Laser Pointer Pen in Red, Green & Purple | E2 Series Lasers
As many of you probably know, Wicked Lasers have changed the E2 specs quite a bit since the order date. I cannot remember the original specifications, but I will baseline what I have received to what the official specs claims.
Great thanks to Glenn for delivering this painlessly to Sweden & arranging the whole group buy!
Package arrived in good condition. No problems with customs or declaration. Adequate packaging used. Nothing arrived in damaged or even tainted condition.
Glenn was kind enough to throw in a little bonus flashlight. Whops. Hope I did not ruin surprises for any other receivers ;-) Neat little thing that runs on 3x AAA and has a built in 650nm laser. :thanks:
This was kindly donated to my neighbor with two cats. Needless to say it was appreciated :wave:
Specifications
Wavelength: 532nm (~+-10nm), DPSS processed green lasing light
Power output: Guessing our version is the 75mW? Which according to specs gives 37.5 - 75.0mW.
Beam diameter at aperture: Max 1.5mm
Beam divergence: Max 1.5mRad
Size: 18.5mm x 183mm
Weight: 82g w/o batteries. (WL claims 62g in specs!)
Runs on: 2x AA
Claimed Duty Cycle: Continous (!)
Body material: 6063-T6 Aircraft-Grade Aluminum (sounds fancy, looks good, feels awesome)
It came delivered in a black protective case neatly branded Wicked Lasers.
Exploring the host
The body of the host is made of a black finished aluminum material. Wicked Lasers call this "6063-T6 Aluminum". When you hold the pointer it almost feels a bit oily.
This host has an excellent balance, which is completed by the 2x AA batteries. This is probably one of the best hosts I've held in my hands. It feels perfect.
The front of the laser aperture output is protected by a what looks like AR coated glass filter, probably to protect the inner workings of the pointer from dust & finger prints.
Having this protection will make cleaning smudges easy. This filter does not seem to have any IR blocking properties.
This protection can be unscrewed to access cleaning of the colamination lens one layer below.
Picture from the other side of the protection filter:
Nothing more can be easily removed from the front after this has been removed. And I don't want to experiment with this. :can:
Picture of the laser aperture without the protective filter:
Moving to the back of the host...
... you will find a safety pin. Presumably for FDA safety approvals (?).
Removing the pin will disable the laser pointer functionality.
The safety tail cap can be removed.
Examining the inside of the tail cap reveals the mysterious number 11040746:
Once removed, the mount of the safety pin construction will be revealed.
The safety pin construction can also be unscrewed, in order to insert batteries. The downside of the safety section looks like following:
Close up images of different outside features of the pen
Closeup on the warning label of the pen:
The E2 printed label:
The "Wicked Lasers" printed logo:
The push button is very easy to push and firm. It does not click when pushed, but rather have an even resistance all the way down to the "on" mode.
It is probably the best push button I have felt on a pen. I own a Novalasers X-series X150, and it does not compete by far to this 1/5 priced pen. :beer:
All components lined up in front of pen:
Measurement time!
All looking good for the E2 so far. But will the beam power output and quality work out in it's favor?
Test conducted after loading it with 2x fresh 1.5V alkaline batteries measuring 1.57V each.
Preparing the measurement on the laptop...
... and the whole setup is hooked up!
Power output & stability
Out of 5 runs each totaling 60s, with different resting times and storing in cool / slightly hotter places, I got the best measured values keeping the pointer in a slightly cooler place for about 10 minutes before starting the tests.
Slight peak at 107mW, quickly stabilizing and pending around 98 - 102mW throughout the test. Definitely a pass on the originally stated 37.5 - 75.0mW.
Putting in an IR filter in front of the E2 decreases power output with less than 3%, which is most likely 532nm light being blocked. This is the same IR filter that reduced the O-Like laser with almost 35% power output, which was an unacceptable amount of IR.
It would seem like the E2 has a built in IR filter. Either this or Very well constructed preventing IR leaking. This is pure 532nm powered output.
Transverse mode
The dot can at times be a bit jerky quickly switching between TEM00 and TEM01. This usually stabilizes after a minute's use or so.
The dot at 8m is almost a symmetrical circle.
Increased light & contrast on this picture to however demonstrate smudges and/or defects on the colamination lens from factory (beam without protective filter in front). Have not tried to remedy this as of yet.
However, definitely a Pass. If I manage to fix the smudges it will probably look awesome.
Divergence
The promised divergence of this pointer was 1.5mRad. This is probably the most qualitative property of a laser pointer. A laser pointer with a high divergence does not feel good using, in my personal opinion.
Measuring a beam diameter of 1.5mm at aperture and 15mm at 8 meters giving a divergence of 1.687mRad. This is probably slightly bigger than I hoped for. I would easily trade the aperture beam size for a smaller divergence.
1.5mRad feels like a "worst case" scenario from WL. Unfortunately this one steps above the worst case. Which will put down the total score.
Summary!
Oh, you made it this far. Cool
Host design: 5/5 (Total: medium weighting)
- Simply stunning. Sleek and smooth with nice details. Nothing to complain about. This is definitely what WL does good!
Host feel/performance: 5/5 (Total: high weighting)
- The well balanced host and push button is simply top class. It feels good in hand, and is easy and seamless to use. Feels sturdy and durable. For the price; Awesome!
Power output: 5/5 (Total: low weighting)
- Overspec by atleast 15mW at all times. Often more.
Beam quality: 2.5 / 5 (Total: very high weighting)
- With slight mode hopping and (in my very own opinion) too high divergence, and smudges (may be fixable) this is not a full pass. Comparing that I have spent $30 on DX and received pointers with measured divergence of 1.2mRad, I think that brand name pointers for over $100 retail shipped should put more focus on it.
Overall score (weighted): 3.5 / 5
- Motivation:
The primary factor for me when I rate a laser pointer is not the power output (as long as it's not severely underspec), but rather the beam quality and stability.
Unfortunately Wicked Lasers does not deliver on this. Then again arguable it may be a fully reasonable for the pricing of this unit.
This being said, the feel of the pointer is awesome. If the divergence was even 0.3mRad lower it would receive total score of 4.5/5.
It is definitely a keeper in my collection. And I do feel I have made a good deal.
Value for the money rating: 4 / 5
Glenn rating: 5 / 5
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