WarnLaser 5mW Blue SWOT series

warnlaser surprised me with a 5mw blue SWOT series laser!! they offered to send it free for review.

here is a link to the SWOT series lasers:

http://warnlaser.com/green_lasers.html#swot

as soon as i find the right drivers for my webcam im going to post some pictures of the laser. it came packaged safely w/ a lithium ion charger. the beam is easily visible at night.. the blue color is spectacular!!

the laser seems to be built very well, it feels strong and sturdy. i dont think it is the same laser in the pictures of the SWOT series on the warnlaser website -- my laser has grooves in the middle, and has tiny blue beads embedded circularly around the bottom of the laser. the laser has a serial number and warning sticker, and a QC passed sticker.

the laser dot is very bright indoors to the point i wouldn't want to stare at the dot on the wall.

with the lights out in my room, the laser lights up most of the room in blue when i shine it on the ceiling or wall. the laser is bright enough that i should probably get some goggles.

to be honest, i don't think i could want much more in a laser...

the beam is blue (my favorite color) and visible at night (the main thing i care about, im not into burning stuff). it has rechargeable lithium ion battery and seems to be built nicely. the laser itself looks good. i love the little blue beads/crystals embedded in the laser. since it is labeled 5mW it doesn't need any annoying safety features.

thanks for the great laser WarnLaser

i hope this review was helpful-- it is my first one. i will get pictures posted as soon as i get my webcam working. if any of you all want me to do any tests with the laser or have any questions about it let me know.

regards
-avery

Hey. great first-time review!  

If you get some goggles, can you do a divergence test and tell us what mode(s) it runs in?

Do you have a meter to test it? Check for IR output vs blue output.

Sounds good! You sure they didn't send you a '30mW' instead to make themselves look good? ;D

[highlight]Edit: WarnLaser have now linked this review from their website. To anyone coming from that link, WarnLaser is NOT the sort of company you want to deal with. They're spammy scammy sob's. You can get the same laser off DealExtreme.com (a much better seller) for $80 less and with free shipping as well! [/highlight]

That's what I'm afraid of. With companies like warnlaser you need to anonymously buy one of their lasers to see what the average customer is going to get. Of course they will send a good unit out for review. It's like how wicked sends out decent units to their favorite forum posters on LC.

Razako said:

That's what I'm afraid of.  With companies like warnlaser you need to anonymously buy one of their lasers to see what the average customer is going to get.  Of course they will send a good unit out for review.  It's like how wicked sends out decent units to their favorite forum posters on LC.

Click to expand...

Wicked sent out an Elite that needed to be RMA to their contest winner who was a huge LC forum poster.

Do you know if this laser is IR filtered? You can test it by folding up a few pieces of film negative, put it on the front of the laser, and point the laser in to a webcam/digital camera. If you see light on the webcam, the laser isn't IR filtered, the film negative blocks the visible light but lets the IR light through.

^that's a really cool way of checking! +1 for you.

MB500 said:

[quote author=Razako link=1208662686/0#4 date=1208703867]That's what I'm afraid of.  With companies like warnlaser you need to anonymously buy one of their lasers to see what the average customer is going to get.  Of course they will send a good unit out for review.  It's like how wicked sends out decent units to their favorite forum posters on LC.

Click to expand...

Wicked sent out an Elite that needed to be RMA to their contest winner who was a huge LC forum poster. [/quote]

OT, but it's true. I personally tested it, and both units, pre and post RMA, were far under-spec in several ways. :-/

styropyro said:

Do you know if this laser is IR filtered? You can test it by folding up a few pieces of film negative, put it on the front of the laser, and point the laser in to a webcam/digital camera. If you see light on the webcam, the laser isn't IR filtered, the film negative blocks the visible light but lets the IR light through.

Click to expand...

would this method work for green lasers as well? or only blues?


EDIT: Warnlaser is a crappy shady company, buyer beware. Site design was stolen from WickedLaser and all the review ratings (ie 4.6 out of 5 by 83 customers) was made up, i doubt they have more than 10 customers of any laser.

sk8er4514 said:

[quote author=styropyro link=1208662686/0#6 date=1208711565]Do you know if this laser is IR filtered? You can test it by folding up a few pieces of film negative, put it on the front of the laser, and point the laser in to a webcam/digital camera. If you see light on the webcam, the laser isn't IR filtered, the film negative blocks the visible light but lets the IR light through.

Click to expand...

would this method work for green lasers as well? or only blues?[/quote]

It will work on any DPSS laser that uses IR to pump a crystal. (Green, Blue & Yellow most common)
but over 100mw of power might melt the thin film negative! lol

i usually shine the laser through my goggles and look through my camera to see the ugly IR dot.

Well those who remember where this thread was going... cough Razako...cough ( ), we are still waiting on cOld's review. We had gone on a rant of speculation of this company being fraudulent, and I tested their "pre-customer service" and although they were late, they responded with good information, they said they do provide certificates and they do send their lasers to the lab for testing. They said 1% of their lasers get damaged through shipping and that if I were to be the "lucky winner" of this 1% laser that they would either provide a full refund or swap with a new unit. Their English and grammar seemed good too.

Razako had his personal concerns too, which I will leave up to him if he wishes to re-post them.

Peace - Ace

i still need to post some pics of my laser and do the IR testing. im hoping later this week i'll have some time to do this and get my webcam working again.

the laser is still working great; it's perfect for star pointing. i can't wait to see it next winter in the snow.

Most of my rant was just about their poor site layout and Engrish skillz. I do have one serious concern though.
Here is a picture of the notorious spymodex crap laser. Aka ebaysers/scamlasers/IR spewing craplaser. This is the original scam laser.
http://www.spymodex.com/laser002.htm

Here are some pictures of the Warnlaser tiger series


See the similarity?
I would like to know why their Tiger series looks EXACTLY like the spymodex/ebay scamlasers.

Another thing that annoys me is the price glitches on their site. Look at this picture and tell me what the problem is.