arm94
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- Joined
- Dec 31, 2010
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Hello all,
Today my 1 Watt Spartan from Dragonlasers finally arrived. This has easily been one of the best days of my life! I will be reviewing the Spartan along with Dragonlasers below. (by the way this is my first review so please be nice)
Purchased:
1 Watt Blue Spartan (447nm) $239.99
and Safety Goggles (190-584nm) x2 $24.99 each
-the goggles came in a soft case and with a cleaning rag
Shipment:
I ordered my laser and the goggles from Dragonlasers on Monday, January 3, 2011. The day after my order I received and email from Frank on behalf of dragonlasers. He said that since my billing and shipping address were different, I would need to provide proof of identification by scanning/taking a picture of an identification card and the credit card used for the purchase. My parents found this to be an unusual request so they just had the laser shipped to the billing address. This back-and-forth conversation added an extra day to the shipment process. I would highly recommend that if you decide to purchase you either ship to the billing address or you prepare to send in proof of identification so no time is loss. Despite this "hiccup" in the shipping process the laser arrived on time, Friday, January 21, 2011.
This is the adorned box that it came in...(quite interesting if I may say so myself)
Design:
The Spartan has a very simple design and is measured at right around 7.5 inches. Although criticized much on the forums, the simplicity is kind of nice and grew on me after a few hours.
The Spartan has 2 (front and back) removable caps and runs on 2 CR123A batteries. I am using Energizer Lithiums rated at 3.0 volts and they work perfectly. The front cap is a pretty large hole that leads right to the diode. The back cap features a recessed snap on/off switch that appears durable.
There are a couple of things that concern me however with the design. Firstly, i am very worried about the front cap. As you can see from the picture there is literally nothing protecting the diode except for the quite large aperture. I was thinking about trying to get a rubber cap that I might be able to slip on during non-usage. Any ideas?
Another thing that i am worried about is actually related to one of my own modifications. The duty cycle on the Spartan is great, after a couple minutes of use I feel warmness radiating off the device so I turn it off just to be safe. However i did find a flashlight sleeve that i was able to slip on the Spartan host and it works great because i can attach it to a lanyard and stick a few fingers in the loop so i can be sure to have a good grip on the laser. The sleeve is a tight fitting rubbery material and i was wondering if that would hinder the dissipation of heat from the host (pics below). The last thing i need is for my new laser to overheat.
Review:
Spartan:
I absolutely love this laser. Before this purchase i had been using an Aries 125mw laser. The Aries is a very bright laser and powerful to, but the Spartan blows it out of the water. The beam is much much brighter. I am also quite surprised with the heat that the Spartan throws off. From the other side of the room, my skin warms very very quickly. All in all i love the laser and would be happy to answer any specific questions you have about it.
Beam shots below with more to come... (taking with regular shutter speed and no smoke/fog)
all taken in a room with lights on and no smoke
Today my 1 Watt Spartan from Dragonlasers finally arrived. This has easily been one of the best days of my life! I will be reviewing the Spartan along with Dragonlasers below. (by the way this is my first review so please be nice)
Purchased:
1 Watt Blue Spartan (447nm) $239.99
and Safety Goggles (190-584nm) x2 $24.99 each
-the goggles came in a soft case and with a cleaning rag
Shipment:
I ordered my laser and the goggles from Dragonlasers on Monday, January 3, 2011. The day after my order I received and email from Frank on behalf of dragonlasers. He said that since my billing and shipping address were different, I would need to provide proof of identification by scanning/taking a picture of an identification card and the credit card used for the purchase. My parents found this to be an unusual request so they just had the laser shipped to the billing address. This back-and-forth conversation added an extra day to the shipment process. I would highly recommend that if you decide to purchase you either ship to the billing address or you prepare to send in proof of identification so no time is loss. Despite this "hiccup" in the shipping process the laser arrived on time, Friday, January 21, 2011.
This is the adorned box that it came in...(quite interesting if I may say so myself)
Design:
The Spartan has a very simple design and is measured at right around 7.5 inches. Although criticized much on the forums, the simplicity is kind of nice and grew on me after a few hours.
The Spartan has 2 (front and back) removable caps and runs on 2 CR123A batteries. I am using Energizer Lithiums rated at 3.0 volts and they work perfectly. The front cap is a pretty large hole that leads right to the diode. The back cap features a recessed snap on/off switch that appears durable.
There are a couple of things that concern me however with the design. Firstly, i am very worried about the front cap. As you can see from the picture there is literally nothing protecting the diode except for the quite large aperture. I was thinking about trying to get a rubber cap that I might be able to slip on during non-usage. Any ideas?
Another thing that i am worried about is actually related to one of my own modifications. The duty cycle on the Spartan is great, after a couple minutes of use I feel warmness radiating off the device so I turn it off just to be safe. However i did find a flashlight sleeve that i was able to slip on the Spartan host and it works great because i can attach it to a lanyard and stick a few fingers in the loop so i can be sure to have a good grip on the laser. The sleeve is a tight fitting rubbery material and i was wondering if that would hinder the dissipation of heat from the host (pics below). The last thing i need is for my new laser to overheat.
Review:
Spartan:
I absolutely love this laser. Before this purchase i had been using an Aries 125mw laser. The Aries is a very bright laser and powerful to, but the Spartan blows it out of the water. The beam is much much brighter. I am also quite surprised with the heat that the Spartan throws off. From the other side of the room, my skin warms very very quickly. All in all i love the laser and would be happy to answer any specific questions you have about it.
Beam shots below with more to come... (taking with regular shutter speed and no smoke/fog)
all taken in a room with lights on and no smoke
Last edited: