Guardian 1,8W 462nm Sanwu

[murrat]

I always prefer to keep one laser that I can use often. This is my latest laser by Podo. It is one of the best build laser since Legendary forum member IgorT builds. This is also a compact, powerful and cool loking laser :drool:
About the color of 462nm I can tell the difference but if you are not familiar to lasers you need to put them side by side with 445nm to tell them apart.

Here is my promised review Podo. :angel:
It is late and a fast one as it getting more and more difficult to have time for reviews as we get busier every other day.

However some info I received by Podo are incorrect. I asked about the single mode and multimode drivers. He replied that even single mode has the safety feature however I discovered that it doesn't when I receive it. Not a big issue however it is strange that he never warned me about it even I remind him many times to send the laser in safety mode for customs check. By leaving in safety mode they cannot see the full power.

Everybody who bougt from Podo always told about their havng perfect finish so my expectations are so high. I noticed some stains on. It can be because of the plating. Not a big issue though

It has G7 lens (This is what Podo told me). Its divergence is good for a 462nm. My measurement is 1mm at aperture and 12mm at 7m. It makes 1,57mRad if I am correct. I can easily see the laser dot on a wall at 300m which is enough divergence for me. One superior feature is being focused to infinity when fully secrewed. You don't need to adjust again and again like other lasers with focusing ring screwed in the middle.

I can light a match at 7m easily without focusing

Podo shipped it so fast that my batteries delivered after 3 weeks which were ordered at the same time

I also have to mention that it is the heaviest laser I have compared to its size. I will let you know when I measure its weight.


Here are my photos showing its size, what it looks like and how it performs

Size: 83mm x 24mm (I think Podo measured wrong. As he said it is 75mm
Battery: 18350
Duty cycle: Not unlimited but not even get warm in 60 seconds
Heatsink: Copper
Lens: G7 glass lens
Built by: Podo
Shape: Round and engraved(means it rolls when you put on its side)
Driver: ????
Current: ???A
Power: 1,8W
On/off: Tail switch
Mode: Single mode
Tail stand: Can tail stand

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[vortish]

nice review. looks like a fun laser but please watch were your pointing it. a couple of them look like they could be unsafe

 

[Deleted member 16589]

https://flic.kr/p/Gbk2wE


https://flic.kr/p/FGzbR4

Dude Unsafe laser use don't be shining a laser of that power (Edit: or of any power) at a random building.

 

[Razako]

Before everyone freaks about pointing at the buildings, they should consider that the beam would've probably diverged to the point of being relatively harmless at that distance. Would probably look like a bright spotlight to someone in the building. Not saying that it's good to point at buildings, but it's hardly like pointing at cars or airplanes.

 

[RedCowboy]

SANWU quality is awesome, that unit looks good.

 

[VirtueViolater]

Awesome review, :drool:love the pictures

 

[murrat]

I agree with you vortish and lazerman121 however I am the one who says even pointing lasers to planes are not dangerous if you don't plan to blind the pilots. You have to be almost in the airport to do that.
All laser enthusiast knows about divergence and that lasers are like spotlights as distance increases. At 300m even a best divergence lasers(green can be the color as most idiots use it ) spot has a diameter of 30cm. If you are aiming a plane in the air passing by (not just took off) minimum altitude is about 1000m. It won't be so distracting.

Don't worry I am always very carefull where I point the lasers. I don't point it to near buildings, I use the far ones as dot size gets window size. :angel:

I was planing to do the divergence test in a parking garage which is safer, however couldn't convince my friend yet :bowdown:

 

[badboybilly]

Finally a detailed review of this Guardian, it is awesome I love it, nice review
Do you know if he will just sell the host, man I want so bad, I have been trying to get a cree RL 118 for ever everytime I find a supplier I make payment and few weeks later they refund me out of stock, discontinued, anyway the RL 118 is the closest looking host to the Gardian I can find, but really it doesn't compare,
Guardian is so much nicer.

 

[Pman]

Very nice Sanwu product. They seem to be a cut Above what everyone else is selling in terms of looks and having that heavy quality feel. +REP

 

[BowtieGuy]

That's a nice looking little pocket burner you've got there! I assume that's a stainless steel host, if so, any stains should polish off pretty easily.
:kewlpics:

 

[badboybilly]

Don't think it's stainless! It's plated - on copper I think!

 

[BowtieGuy]

Yep, not stainIess. Just went to the Sanwu site, they say the host is a nickel copper alloy. Probably mostly nickel, with a bit of copper for machinability.
To me it still looks like a machined and polished surface, I may very well be wrong though.

 

[murrat]

I can take some more detailed photos with a camera instead of my HTC Phone to see the surface of the host. It is very heavy. I'll check how much it weighs soon.

 

[Richie89]

Before everyone freaks about pointing at the buildings, they should consider that the beam would've probably diverged to the point of being relatively harmless at that distance. Would probably look like a bright spotlight to someone in the building. Not saying that it's good to point at buildings, but it's hardly like pointing at cars or airplanes.

Very true. I live about 8 miles east of Oklahoma City. And we have a 60 story Devon energy building downtown. I've always wondered what it looked like from the top of that building if someone shined it from 8 miles away. No way to find out, that building has got heavy security so it would be hard to get up there.

 

[Razako]

Very true. I live about 8 miles east of Oklahoma City. And we have a 60 story Devon energy building downtown. I've always wondered what it looked like from the top of that building if someone shined it from 8 miles away. No way to find out, that building has got heavy security so it would be hard to get up there.

This is a pretty cool shot I took a while back. The building must be at least 1-2 miles away and it's not a regular thing I do, so please no safety freakouts. I've actually tried to get a family member to go somewhere downtown and see if they could record what a far-off laser looked like with a camera. They seemed to believe it was a waste of time though and didn't really care.

 

[Richie89]

This is a pretty cool shot I took a while back. The building must be at least 1-2 miles away and it's not a regular thing I do, so please no safety freakouts. I've actually tried to get a family member to go somewhere downtown and see if they could record what a far-off laser looked like with a camera. They seemed to believe it was a waste of time though and didn't really care.

Whoa. That's actually pretty cool not to mention the view
Yeah I get that a lot from my family. "Why do you waste money on lasers!" I pretty much quit telling them when I buy one lol. Well if I'm ever in Utah I'll do it for ya.