daguin
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- Joined
- Mar 29, 2008
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I received a request from Bin Yu at WLASER to review some of his products. Yesterday I received the package of lasers. When I picked up the package, I wondered why it was so heavy. In an effort to what I believe was save some money, he sent all of the lasers in the same box! Luckily there was only some very superficial damage to one laser. I will probably add a little bubble wrap to the package when I return these 
For those of you who only look for the bottom line, here it is. ALL of the lasers I received were at or above specs. ALL of the lasers I received were in new condition (barring the scratch from the abnormal packaging). Dealing with Bin Yu was pleasant and he was timely in his responses to me. I have no problem at this juncture in recommending WLASER.
OK for those that want more, here we go . . . .
The outputs reported herein are derived from a fairly standard three burn average. I run the laser for 30 seconds, note the lowest and highest output, and record the average output of that 30 seconds. The laser is given a cool down of about 30-60 seconds. Then the next burn is recorded. This is repeated three times. The output I report is the average of all three burns.
(I don't know what happened to the color on this one )
The lasers are (from left to right);
1) 50mW (clicky switch)
2) 100mW pointer
3) 100mW waterproof (clicky switch)
4) 100mW focusable (keyed)
5) 200mW focusable (keyed)
The first is actually one of my favorites. This one is the 50mW laser. It is fixed focus. It appears to have an IR filter installed. It has a tail, clicky switch. It feels very solid in the hand. The body is ruber-coated brass. This one may have the best heat sinking of the lot. It is powered by a single CR2 size battery. Bin Yu provided a 3V lithium battery for it. I did not test it with a 3.6V battery. All of the threading was clean and tight.
For those of you who like to shorten your laser's life by "pot modding" them, this may well be your dream. The aperture cap unscrews and the module comes easily out of the body with it. I will recommend to Bin Yu that he add some thread lock to this joint to know if the laser has been opened or not for warranty purposes. You pot mod it, you own it forever
Output test: -- The beam and spot are clean TEM00.
Highest = 80mW
Lowest = 58mW
Three burn average = 67mW
The second is a 100mW "Newwish" style pointer. It has the rubberized black body. This is a "standard" Newwish style. The threading is good and solid. It operates on two standard AAA batteries. One of the good things about this particular pointer is that the aperture cap unscrews from the front. This allows you to expose the lens for cleaning. Most of these style pointers require the forcible removal of the module to do this. The batteries "rattled" a bit in the body, but this could be easily fixed (if it bothers you) by a single wrap of paper inside the laser.
Output test: -- The beam and spot are clean TEM00
Highest = 180mW
Lowest = 145mW
Three burn average = 152mW
Most people have seen what a "Newwish" style pointer looks like so I just focused on the superficial damage caused by the placing all five lasers into the same box. The rest of the laser was in new condition.
The third is a 100mW (waterproof) laser. This one has a tail, clicky switch. It appears to have an IR filter installed. The tail cap is double o-ringed for water resistance. You may want to add a little silicone lubricant on these. The threading is tight. It is powered by a single CR123 size battery. Bin Yu provided a CR123 (primary) battery. I did not test them with an RCR123 (rechargeable) battery. Bin Yu did not note whether he wanted me to test it for water resistance, so I didn't submerge it. I will if he responds in the affirmative before I ship these back to him. If I do, I will edit this review.
Output test: -- The beam and spot are clean TEM00
Highest = 160mW
Lowest = 140mW
Three burn average = 153mW
Both the fourth and fifth lasers are the same model with different outputs. I will review them together with the output test results listed separately.
These are focusable lasers. They have both a tailcap key switch and a momentary "pointer style" switch in the body. They are powered by a single CR123 size battery. Once again, I did not test them with an RCR123 battery. The threading is clean and tight in the tail cap and the key switch worked well. These have a larger crystal set and use a C-mount pump diode. This joint is another place I will recommend to Bin Yu that he add some thread lock. This is not a place where you want the average user poking around!
The focus mechanism is easy to use. At the farthest focus I would have liked them to produce a bit tighter beam, but they are not out of "ordinary" for this type of laser. At the closest focus position, the lasers burn best at about 4 inches from the aperture. As most of you know, I am not much of a "burner." However, I quickly test burning ability by simply focusing a laser on the front of my "distressed" desk. They both smoked my drawer front with ease.
The focus ring "rattles" a bit when the laser is not focused to the farthest or closest positions. The focus is not affected by this. The focus remains rock steady. It is just the ring that rattles a bit.
These lasers also have a second "safety" feature. The knurled portion of the body, that is around the momentary switch, rotates to cover the recessed button. This protects the user from accidentally pushing the button. The rotation is smooth, but requires a bit of effort so it will not move about randomly.
Output test: -- The beam and spot are clean TEM00
100mW unit:
Highest = 135mW
Lowest = 114mW
Three burn average = 118mW
200mW unit:
Highest = 225mW
Lowest = 190mW
Three burn average = 207mW
I have no knowledge of the pricing of these lasers. However, for quality, and specification, I recommend WLASER.
Peace,
dave
For those of you who only look for the bottom line, here it is. ALL of the lasers I received were at or above specs. ALL of the lasers I received were in new condition (barring the scratch from the abnormal packaging). Dealing with Bin Yu was pleasant and he was timely in his responses to me. I have no problem at this juncture in recommending WLASER.
OK for those that want more, here we go . . . .
The outputs reported herein are derived from a fairly standard three burn average. I run the laser for 30 seconds, note the lowest and highest output, and record the average output of that 30 seconds. The laser is given a cool down of about 30-60 seconds. Then the next burn is recorded. This is repeated three times. The output I report is the average of all three burns.
(I don't know what happened to the color on this one )
The lasers are (from left to right);
1) 50mW (clicky switch)
2) 100mW pointer
3) 100mW waterproof (clicky switch)
4) 100mW focusable (keyed)
5) 200mW focusable (keyed)
The first is actually one of my favorites. This one is the 50mW laser. It is fixed focus. It appears to have an IR filter installed. It has a tail, clicky switch. It feels very solid in the hand. The body is ruber-coated brass. This one may have the best heat sinking of the lot. It is powered by a single CR2 size battery. Bin Yu provided a 3V lithium battery for it. I did not test it with a 3.6V battery. All of the threading was clean and tight.
For those of you who like to shorten your laser's life by "pot modding" them, this may well be your dream. The aperture cap unscrews and the module comes easily out of the body with it. I will recommend to Bin Yu that he add some thread lock to this joint to know if the laser has been opened or not for warranty purposes. You pot mod it, you own it forever
Output test: -- The beam and spot are clean TEM00.
Highest = 80mW
Lowest = 58mW
Three burn average = 67mW
The second is a 100mW "Newwish" style pointer. It has the rubberized black body. This is a "standard" Newwish style. The threading is good and solid. It operates on two standard AAA batteries. One of the good things about this particular pointer is that the aperture cap unscrews from the front. This allows you to expose the lens for cleaning. Most of these style pointers require the forcible removal of the module to do this. The batteries "rattled" a bit in the body, but this could be easily fixed (if it bothers you) by a single wrap of paper inside the laser.
Output test: -- The beam and spot are clean TEM00
Highest = 180mW
Lowest = 145mW
Three burn average = 152mW
Most people have seen what a "Newwish" style pointer looks like so I just focused on the superficial damage caused by the placing all five lasers into the same box. The rest of the laser was in new condition.
The third is a 100mW (waterproof) laser. This one has a tail, clicky switch. It appears to have an IR filter installed. The tail cap is double o-ringed for water resistance. You may want to add a little silicone lubricant on these. The threading is tight. It is powered by a single CR123 size battery. Bin Yu provided a CR123 (primary) battery. I did not test them with an RCR123 (rechargeable) battery. Bin Yu did not note whether he wanted me to test it for water resistance, so I didn't submerge it. I will if he responds in the affirmative before I ship these back to him. If I do, I will edit this review.
Output test: -- The beam and spot are clean TEM00
Highest = 160mW
Lowest = 140mW
Three burn average = 153mW
Both the fourth and fifth lasers are the same model with different outputs. I will review them together with the output test results listed separately.
These are focusable lasers. They have both a tailcap key switch and a momentary "pointer style" switch in the body. They are powered by a single CR123 size battery. Once again, I did not test them with an RCR123 battery. The threading is clean and tight in the tail cap and the key switch worked well. These have a larger crystal set and use a C-mount pump diode. This joint is another place I will recommend to Bin Yu that he add some thread lock. This is not a place where you want the average user poking around!
The focus mechanism is easy to use. At the farthest focus I would have liked them to produce a bit tighter beam, but they are not out of "ordinary" for this type of laser. At the closest focus position, the lasers burn best at about 4 inches from the aperture. As most of you know, I am not much of a "burner." However, I quickly test burning ability by simply focusing a laser on the front of my "distressed" desk. They both smoked my drawer front with ease.
The focus ring "rattles" a bit when the laser is not focused to the farthest or closest positions. The focus is not affected by this. The focus remains rock steady. It is just the ring that rattles a bit.
These lasers also have a second "safety" feature. The knurled portion of the body, that is around the momentary switch, rotates to cover the recessed button. This protects the user from accidentally pushing the button. The rotation is smooth, but requires a bit of effort so it will not move about randomly.
Output test: -- The beam and spot are clean TEM00
100mW unit:
Highest = 135mW
Lowest = 114mW
Three burn average = 118mW
200mW unit:
Highest = 225mW
Lowest = 190mW
Three burn average = 207mW
I have no knowledge of the pricing of these lasers. However, for quality, and specification, I recommend WLASER.
Peace,
dave
