This is my first and perhaps only review, I wasn't able to register on the WL forum because their registration system seems to be broken for me--which I'm now happy for because I discovered this forum instead.
May 7
It's my birthday and I have some cash that's burning a hole in my pocket. I browse the TechLasers website and finally decide on the Infiniti <95mw ($180) for its better dollar-milliwatt ratio and for the rumors that they didn't stock these and would send me a <125mw model. I have to register on their website to order anything, so I do and log in to place my order. It was very straightforward, I added the item to my cart and proceeded to the checkout, where I entered my shipping information and chose to use PayPal for billing, my shipping set me back another $25 (UPS Saver from Shanghai to USA) and I would have had to contact them if I wanted a different kind. After I complete my order, I go back the to TL website and click on "my account" and press "view" next to my order. The shipping status quickly goes from Preconcerted to Processing to Approved.
May 8-12
I check the status of my order on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. It says "approved" next to it all three days. I didn't check on Sunday because I didn't think UPS worked on weekends
. I posted here asking whether they would ever send it because I was becoming somewhat impatient, john_lawson suggested I get Nova X-100, I looked at it and decided it cost too much (about $30 more I think?) for me to just refund my current order. My order now says that it was shipped on May 11.
May 13
I receive a package at 6 PM, I'm very excited-- the UPS guy looked at me wide-eyed and asked me if it was really all the way from China ;D. I rip through the plastic bag surrounding the cardboard box and continue to rip through that as well. I dive through the foam packing pellets to a little navy-blue gift box with the TL name and logo printed on top in silver ink and quickly open it. It even has a magnetic latch. So anyway, I open the box and sitting in black, well-fit foam is a black and gold pen-looking thing wrapped in an anti-static bag. I tear through that and immediately check the label on the laser to see if they really sent me the <125 which costs more than a hundred dollars more than what I ordered, and naturally they did. It feels sturdy, the polished brass parts smudge easily but that's not a problem for me--the black finish, on the other hand, is very thick/durable and you can hardly see smudges or scratches on it. I put in some new (regular) Energizer AAA batteries and quickly found that it nearly blinded me just to look at the dot on my off-white wall. After depleting the batteries slightly burning holes in my black carpet, I went outside at about 8 PM and started pointing at stuff. I easily hit a cell tower that was a mile away, and a small house more than three miles away (I live in a rural area and I can see a long way from my house when the farmers around me don't have tall crops) and then I tried hitting some trees on the far horizon (probably 5+ miles) and was amazed that I could still see the dot and beam all the way.
Build
The laser feels pretty sturdy, like I said the brass smudges easily. I thought the finish must be lead-based at first because it was so dark and sturdy, but I really can't be sure. The beam is strong and is very straight--unlike my off-center, weak and crappy 5mw ebayser. The top and bottom caps come off easily, I'm very afraid that I might lose them although I read somewhere that you can swap them (one with a hole in it, one without) for safety when not in use.
May 14 - Conclusion
Great laser, even if I'm only a beginner and can't really judge this. If I could afford it I would get a dozen of these. Pops dark or darkened balloons instantly under four feet away and easily writes deeply on plastic (carved my name into several things I own). I looked at my dot through my Sony Handycam in "night shot" mode which uses IR light and couldn't see anything surrounding the dot. The customer service sucks, the shipping is long and expensive (my laser went through Alaska, apparently...). I'm soon going to order a set of safety glasses, because I've been caught off-guard by reflections of my laser several times and am very afraid of damaging my eyes.
May 7
It's my birthday and I have some cash that's burning a hole in my pocket. I browse the TechLasers website and finally decide on the Infiniti <95mw ($180) for its better dollar-milliwatt ratio and for the rumors that they didn't stock these and would send me a <125mw model. I have to register on their website to order anything, so I do and log in to place my order. It was very straightforward, I added the item to my cart and proceeded to the checkout, where I entered my shipping information and chose to use PayPal for billing, my shipping set me back another $25 (UPS Saver from Shanghai to USA) and I would have had to contact them if I wanted a different kind. After I complete my order, I go back the to TL website and click on "my account" and press "view" next to my order. The shipping status quickly goes from Preconcerted to Processing to Approved.
May 8-12
I check the status of my order on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. It says "approved" next to it all three days. I didn't check on Sunday because I didn't think UPS worked on weekends
. I posted here asking whether they would ever send it because I was becoming somewhat impatient, john_lawson suggested I get Nova X-100, I looked at it and decided it cost too much (about $30 more I think?) for me to just refund my current order. My order now says that it was shipped on May 11.May 13
I receive a package at 6 PM, I'm very excited-- the UPS guy looked at me wide-eyed and asked me if it was really all the way from China ;D. I rip through the plastic bag surrounding the cardboard box and continue to rip through that as well. I dive through the foam packing pellets to a little navy-blue gift box with the TL name and logo printed on top in silver ink and quickly open it. It even has a magnetic latch
. So anyway, I open the box and sitting in black, well-fit foam is a black and gold pen-looking thing wrapped in an anti-static bag. I tear through that and immediately check the label on the laser to see if they really sent me the <125 which costs more than a hundred dollars more than what I ordered, and naturally they did. It feels sturdy, the polished brass parts smudge easily but that's not a problem for me--the black finish, on the other hand, is very thick/durable and you can hardly see smudges or scratches on it. I put in some new (regular) Energizer AAA batteries and quickly found that it nearly blinded me just to look at the dot on my off-white wall. After depleting the batteries slightly burning holes in my black carpet, I went outside at about 8 PM and started pointing at stuff. I easily hit a cell tower that was a mile away, and a small house more than three miles away (I live in a rural area and I can see a long way from my house when the farmers around me don't have tall crops) and then I tried hitting some trees on the far horizon (probably 5+ miles) and was amazed that I could still see the dot and beam all the way.Build
The laser feels pretty sturdy, like I said the brass smudges easily. I thought the finish must be lead-based at first because it was so dark and sturdy, but I really can't be sure. The beam is strong and is very straight--unlike my off-center, weak and crappy 5mw ebayser. The top and bottom caps come off easily, I'm very afraid that I might lose them although I read somewhere that you can swap them (one with a hole in it, one without) for safety when not in use.
May 14 - Conclusion
Great laser, even if I'm only a beginner and can't really judge this. If I could afford it I would get a dozen of these. Pops dark or darkened balloons instantly under four feet away and easily writes deeply on plastic (carved my name into several things I own
). I looked at my dot through my Sony Handycam in "night shot" mode which uses IR light and couldn't see anything surrounding the dot. The customer service sucks, the shipping is long and expensive (my laser went through Alaska, apparently...). I'm soon going to order a set of safety glasses, because I've been caught off-guard by reflections of my laser several times and am very afraid of damaging my eyes.
