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- Apr 29, 2008
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I recently purchased the 5mW and 10mW units from LEDShoppe. The package arrived in great condition. I am a little disappointed that it was packaged in a flimsy envelope, but after opening the package up I found the lasers individually wrapped in bubble wrap. Neither of the lasers were labeled. I opened them both up, and powered up each laser.
**WARNING: SPECTACULAR RESULTS AHEAD!!**
The 5mW powered up nicely. It is slightly brighter than my Lyra G5, however, it is an IR spewing monster. It leaks out IR like an elephant with laxatives. Using a camera, I checked for IR. It was everywhere. You can see a ring of IR around the dot with goggles on. I also noticed that the divergence is terrible. Over twice the diameter of my Lyra at 2 meters. The only indication that this was the 5mW one, is that on the sticker (on the laser) it says <5mW (Which it obviously is over
)
Now onto the 10mW unit.
I slapped the batteries it came with in the laser. It didn't turn on. I tried using new duracell batteries but, alas, no luck. I received a suggestion to check if any IR is coming out, in case of a misaligned crystal or whatnot. So I get my cell phone, and viewed the laser through the cell phone. I didn't see any IR, but I did see LOTS of 532nm! (Under 10mW, according to the sticker) All of a sudden it worked. And this thing is BRIGHT! Beam is visible in a dimly lit room. The divergence on this one still isn't as great as the Lyra, but is much better than the 5mW unit. IR spill isn't as bad as the 5mW one, but still is very noticeable. I actually smoked some electrical tape with a lens with this laser .
Overall:
I am very satisfied. I am a little disappointed about the 5mW's terrible divergence and IR leakage, but I'm sure that the new owners are going to love them. (I got these lasers as gifts.) These lasers also get hot very fast, a little faster than my Lyra. If you want a cheap alternative to a Lyra or similar, BUY!
Update:
I received another 5mW pointer from LEDShoppe today. Same look as the other one. However, this one was nowhere near my expectations. The laser slowly turns on, and while doing so a few blobs of green are outputted, and combine into one bright beam. However, output is incredibly unstable, and sometimes will randomly dim and flicker. It seems that if you shake the laser around, the laser will also flicker. At no time is the laser brighter than my Lyra. Divergence is a little worse than my Lyra. I noticed that when the laser is dim and flickering, it is still spewing out the same amount of IR.
I will try to return this laser. Hopefully I will get a new one that works a little better.
Update:
The last 5mW laser I received broke, as a generic button failure. LEDShoppe is sending me a new one, without question!
Update: 1/27/09
Another 10mW LEDShoppe green laser received today. This one looks exactly like the other one, however is much different. After inserting the stock batteries in and turning on the laser, I noticed that it was exceptionally bright, compared to my Lyra. Not quite as bright as the other 10mW though. It leaks IR roughly just as much as the other 10mW. Divergence cannot be topped, as this laser has better divergence than my Lyra! However the beam, unlike my Lyra's 1mm, is around 3-4mm wide. And it is not even centered. Some of the beam is cut off by the aperture cap. The beam does not appear to be at an angle though. Battery life is very shaky. After around 30 minutes of usage, the dot was dimmer than my Lyra's. New batteries seems to fix this. It also appears to have a slow start-on, but I cannot confirm this. I am very satisfied with this laser and am sure it's new owner will enjoy it.
Update: 1/28/09
The replacement 5mW green laser arrived today. LEDShoppe said that they would test this one, and it sure looks like they did! This laser is bright, brighter than the two other 5mW's I've had. Not only that, but divergence and beam diameter is similar (but a little worse) than my Lyra! IR is still spewed, and diverges very quickly compared to the other lasers. I can't be too sure on this, but this laser seems to be more powerful than any other laser I've gotten from LEDShoppe. (The 5mW and 10mW ones). The beam is visible in a well lit room! The beam, like the other 10mW laser, is not centered with the aperture cap, but is not blocked like the other one. This laser has a 1 second warm up time, where it goes to what appears to be full power. Another thing to note is that when I rotate the laser, it changes brightness. The change is noticeable, but even at lowest power it is still very bright. I wish I could keep this one, but I promised my friend I would give it to him. I'm sure he's going to enjoy this laser, especially because of the fiasco I put him through by having to replace the other one.
**WARNING: SPECTACULAR RESULTS AHEAD!!**
The 5mW powered up nicely. It is slightly brighter than my Lyra G5, however, it is an IR spewing monster. It leaks out IR like an elephant with laxatives. Using a camera, I checked for IR. It was everywhere. You can see a ring of IR around the dot with goggles on. I also noticed that the divergence is terrible. Over twice the diameter of my Lyra at 2 meters. The only indication that this was the 5mW one, is that on the sticker (on the laser) it says <5mW (Which it obviously is over
)Now onto the 10mW unit.
I slapped the batteries it came with in the laser. It didn't turn on. I tried using new duracell batteries but, alas, no luck. I received a suggestion to check if any IR is coming out, in case of a misaligned crystal or whatnot. So I get my cell phone, and viewed the laser through the cell phone. I didn't see any IR, but I did see LOTS of 532nm! (Under 10mW, according to the sticker
) All of a sudden it worked. And this thing is BRIGHT! Beam is visible in a dimly lit room. The divergence on this one still isn't as great as the Lyra, but is much better than the 5mW unit. IR spill isn't as bad as the 5mW one, but still is very noticeable. I actually smoked some electrical tape with a lens with this laser .Overall:
I am very satisfied. I am a little disappointed about the 5mW's terrible divergence and IR leakage, but I'm sure that the new owners are going to love them. (I got these lasers as gifts.) These lasers also get hot very fast, a little faster than my Lyra. If you want a cheap alternative to a Lyra or similar, BUY!
Update:
I received another 5mW pointer from LEDShoppe today. Same look as the other one. However, this one was nowhere near my expectations. The laser slowly turns on, and while doing so a few blobs of green are outputted, and combine into one bright beam. However, output is incredibly unstable, and sometimes will randomly dim and flicker. It seems that if you shake the laser around, the laser will also flicker. At no time is the laser brighter than my Lyra. Divergence is a little worse than my Lyra. I noticed that when the laser is dim and flickering, it is still spewing out the same amount of IR.
I will try to return this laser. Hopefully I will get a new one that works a little better.
Update:
The last 5mW laser I received broke, as a generic button failure. LEDShoppe is sending me a new one, without question!
Update: 1/27/09
Another 10mW LEDShoppe green laser received today. This one looks exactly like the other one, however is much different. After inserting the stock batteries in and turning on the laser, I noticed that it was exceptionally bright, compared to my Lyra. Not quite as bright as the other 10mW though. It leaks IR roughly just as much as the other 10mW. Divergence cannot be topped, as this laser has better divergence than my Lyra! However the beam, unlike my Lyra's 1mm, is around 3-4mm wide. And it is not even centered. Some of the beam is cut off by the aperture cap. The beam does not appear to be at an angle though. Battery life is very shaky. After around 30 minutes of usage, the dot was dimmer than my Lyra's. New batteries seems to fix this. It also appears to have a slow start-on, but I cannot confirm this. I am very satisfied with this laser and am sure it's new owner will enjoy it
.Update: 1/28/09
The replacement 5mW green laser arrived today. LEDShoppe said that they would test this one, and it sure looks like they did! This laser is bright, brighter than the two other 5mW's I've had. Not only that, but divergence and beam diameter is similar (but a little worse) than my Lyra! IR is still spewed, and diverges very quickly compared to the other lasers. I can't be too sure on this, but this laser seems to be more powerful than any other laser I've gotten from LEDShoppe. (The 5mW and 10mW ones). The beam is visible in a well lit room! The beam, like the other 10mW laser, is not centered with the aperture cap, but is not blocked like the other one. This laser has a 1 second warm up time, where it goes to what appears to be full power. Another thing to note is that when I rotate the laser, it changes brightness. The change is noticeable, but even at lowest power it is still very bright. I wish I could keep this one, but I promised my friend I would give it to him. I'm sure he's going to enjoy this laser, especially because of the fiasco I put him through by having to replace the other one.
