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- Dec 30, 2007
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Well I finally received my DX-200mw green on Friday and was able to give it a good test this morning. The news is good & not so much...
As for packaging, it's the same as the DX150 reviewed here elsewhere. Very nice box with foam cutouts for all the bits and a magnetic closure. Protected it well in transit and no problems at Customs. In fact, this is the fastest shipment from DX I have ever received. 5 days from "shipped" on the site to my door. Awesome.
The box also contained a hilariously mis-translated manual which is difficult to understand, even with knowledge of lasers. Newbies will be sorely kerfuddled. The "manual" is marked with the company name "Shenda Photoelectricity Co. . Ltd." (sic), which I assume is the manufacturer. www.shendaguangdian.com is their website.
The unit itself is nicely made of black anodized aluminum and the threads are deep and smooth-turning. The tolerances overall are quite tight and the pig-tail safety lanyard is high quality and easy to orient into it's opening. That being said, the tolerances are a bit too tight around the focusing ring which only moves 1/2 turn before becoming very tight. I will try to remedy this but it has not allowed me to experiment with the focusing ability for fear of breaking it. There is an o-ring behind the ring so I will try a bit of lube on that to free up the movement. The shutter on the front of the unit works well with a satisfying indented click at either open or closed state. Overall the unit looks well made and feels solid with nice attention to the straightness of the label etc.
Now for the meter test:
I installed the supplied battery (an LC 18650 2400mAh cell) backwards at first. (Luckily the unit has reverse polarity protection) It is intended to have the + pole at the end of the unit, although the contacts would lead one to assume otherwise and the manual is unintelligible in this regard. This battery is about 2mm shorter than what I consider to be a "standard" 18650 cell, leading me to believe that it is not a protected cell. My DX TR 18650 2500mAh Trustfire protected cells are too large to allow the end to fully close, however the unit still works fine, with the high-tolerance threads being an asset here.
With the unit and battery fresh out of the box, (apart from 5 min. of use at work, who could resist?) I tested it on my trusty Kenometer and was pleased to see it climb to 205mW+ in about 10 seconds. It hovered above 200 mW for about 10 seconds then began a slow decline to a stable state in the 160-170mW range, which it held for the 2 min. duration of my test. It seems to be heat-sinked nicely as when it does stabilize it does not get too warm or drop power erratically like the DX200mW pen-style does. The beam is thin and nicely visible even in a lit room. I will report on burning & popping abilities when I work around the focusing ring problem, but it should have no problems given it's power.
Subsequent tests have failed to reach over 200mW again though, and my 18650 charger registers the battery as fully charged still. I'll try a long-duration test to deplete the battery more in the hopes that a top-up charge will push it over 200 again. I guess the standard Chinese practice of rating lasers for their maximum achievable mW power and not stable average power is still prevalent. I really should have tested the battery's voltage before the first test as well, perhaps it was overcharged as well. I'm a bit rushed doing this review and it shows!
So to summarize: I have bought a really nicely manufactured green laser with a stable average output of 165mW and a potential peak of 205mW. Considering the lengths I had to go to to get my DX200 pen-style to output 200mW (and which subsequently ruined it) I'm pretty happy to have a greenie that stays stable and doesn't overheat in 20 sec. It's nicely made and portable with a good battery so I'd have to say it's worth the $200, considering what an equivalent RPL or LG costs. The focusing (if it works) will be a bonus as well.
I've got to get back to a house & yard full of chores now, so I'll let y'all know if I find a fix for the focus ring problem and the requirements for getting max power out of this unit when I have a chance to experiment further.
Cheers, CC
As for packaging, it's the same as the DX150 reviewed here elsewhere. Very nice box with foam cutouts for all the bits and a magnetic closure. Protected it well in transit and no problems at Customs. In fact, this is the fastest shipment from DX I have ever received. 5 days from "shipped" on the site to my door. Awesome.
The box also contained a hilariously mis-translated manual which is difficult to understand, even with knowledge of lasers. Newbies will be sorely kerfuddled. The "manual" is marked with the company name "Shenda Photoelectricity Co. . Ltd." (sic), which I assume is the manufacturer. www.shendaguangdian.com is their website.
The unit itself is nicely made of black anodized aluminum and the threads are deep and smooth-turning. The tolerances overall are quite tight and the pig-tail safety lanyard is high quality and easy to orient into it's opening. That being said, the tolerances are a bit too tight around the focusing ring which only moves 1/2 turn before becoming very tight. I will try to remedy this but it has not allowed me to experiment with the focusing ability for fear of breaking it. There is an o-ring behind the ring so I will try a bit of lube on that to free up the movement. The shutter on the front of the unit works well with a satisfying indented click at either open or closed state. Overall the unit looks well made and feels solid with nice attention to the straightness of the label etc.
Now for the meter test:
I installed the supplied battery (an LC 18650 2400mAh cell) backwards at first. (Luckily the unit has reverse polarity protection) It is intended to have the + pole at the end of the unit, although the contacts would lead one to assume otherwise and the manual is unintelligible in this regard. This battery is about 2mm shorter than what I consider to be a "standard" 18650 cell, leading me to believe that it is not a protected cell. My DX TR 18650 2500mAh Trustfire protected cells are too large to allow the end to fully close, however the unit still works fine, with the high-tolerance threads being an asset here.
With the unit and battery fresh out of the box, (apart from 5 min. of use at work, who could resist?) I tested it on my trusty Kenometer and was pleased to see it climb to 205mW+ in about 10 seconds. It hovered above 200 mW for about 10 seconds then began a slow decline to a stable state in the 160-170mW range, which it held for the 2 min. duration of my test. It seems to be heat-sinked nicely as when it does stabilize it does not get too warm or drop power erratically like the DX200mW pen-style does. The beam is thin and nicely visible even in a lit room. I will report on burning & popping abilities when I work around the focusing ring problem, but it should have no problems given it's power.
Subsequent tests have failed to reach over 200mW again though, and my 18650 charger registers the battery as fully charged still. I'll try a long-duration test to deplete the battery more in the hopes that a top-up charge will push it over 200 again. I guess the standard Chinese practice of rating lasers for their maximum achievable mW power and not stable average power is still prevalent. I really should have tested the battery's voltage before the first test as well, perhaps it was overcharged as well. I'm a bit rushed doing this review and it shows!
So to summarize: I have bought a really nicely manufactured green laser with a stable average output of 165mW and a potential peak of 205mW. Considering the lengths I had to go to to get my DX200 pen-style to output 200mW (and which subsequently ruined it) I'm pretty happy to have a greenie that stays stable and doesn't overheat in 20 sec. It's nicely made and portable with a good battery so I'd have to say it's worth the $200, considering what an equivalent RPL or LG costs. The focusing (if it works) will be a bonus as well.
I've got to get back to a house & yard full of chores now, so I'll let y'all know if I find a fix for the focus ring problem and the requirements for getting max power out of this unit when I have a chance to experiment further.
Cheers, CC
