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FrozenGate by Avery

100mW red pen from budget gadgets

Joined
Aug 20, 2008
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http://www.budgetgadgets.com/powerful-beam-laser-sight-pointer-p-3612.html


DSCN0073.jpg


I placed an order for the 100mW red pen after reading Styro's BG-50 greenie review. It appeared to be a SKY lasers unit because of the very similar labels, keyswitch, Oversized button, Etc. Unfortunately, I placed my order just shy of Chinese new Years and my order was put on hold for weeks; I just received it today.

This laser came wrapped in about 5 feet of foam sheets inside a bubble mailer. A box was available but it was an extra $3.

Upon inspection of the laser, it turns out to be a SKY lasers clone of somewhat decent quality. The aperture is hideously larger(6-7mm dia) than the real SKY laser pointers and had some blemishes; not too bad though. Believe it or not but the key switch actually works properly! The indicator LED seems to work too.

Picture of the hideously large aperture:
DSCN0075.jpg


As for the beam quality itself, it isn't the best. It dot profile seems to be similar to that of the crappy "bullet pointers" commonly available. The dot itself is about 3-5mm depending how you look at it. The divergence is pretty good too, the dot is pretty tight at about 25 feet(1-2mm spread).

As for the power, I don't have a LPM anymore but I can safely say that this unit is probably putting out at least 80-100mW. It will not light matches or pop balloons without optics. The beam is very faintly visible in complete darkness.

Something also worth mentioning is that this laser doesn't come with any documentation or instructions. The batteries go positive side in. The tailcap appears to have a small nub to accommodate the positive pip of a battery, but this is misleading! Do not be fooled into thinking the positive goes onto the tailcap.

Bottomline, It's a decently made clone of the SKY lasers. If you intend to use it as a burner, you are better off getting a dilda or something. This thing is better suited for pointing and general "screwing around with". It's also apparently FDA certified too(appears to have most of the safety features required).

Pic of the labels:
DSCN0074.jpg


Pic of the keyswitch:
DSCN0076.jpg


The output indicator actually works!:
DSCN0078.jpg


Hope this review helps...
 





first of all, the labeling on that pens screwed up. it says the wavelenth is 532nm!! you said this was a red pen, not a green one!!!!! lol
 
Good review! For $20 it doesn't look like a bad deal...I wonder what the 200mW one they sell is like. If it really is 200mW it would make a nice pen sized burner.
 
Swordofsalvation said:
first of all, the labeling on that pens screwed up. it says the wavelenth is  532nm!! you said this was a red pen, not a green one!!!!! lol

It's probably just a generic label ;)

Good review! For $20 it doesn't look like a bad deal...I wonder what the 200mW one they sell is like. If it really is 200mW it would make a nice pen sized burner.

I wouldn't bother with the 200mW one; it's probably underpowered judging from this one. TBH, I'll probably end up making a bluray or greenie if the diode ever dies. Oh and BTW, you might get something from budgetgadgets cause I put "styropyro" under the referals section ;)
 
digital_blue said:
I wouldn't bother with the 200mW one; it's probably underpowered judging from this one. TBH, I'll probably end up making a bluray or greenie if the diode ever dies. Oh and BTW, you might get something from budgetgadgets cause I put "styropyro" under the referals section ;)
Thanks for the referral! Now they know they got something from my review...
 
I am going to recommend against buying this laser at the moment. I received a review sample, and it is outputting no more than what I estimate to be 10mW at the moment. Even if I'm off by give or take 15mW on that number, this thing is not giving anything close to 100mW of power on fresh batteries. Build quality is also poor, the driver board is mounted lopsided vs the indicator and button holes, and there are plenty of scratches on the barrel itself. The threading on the keyswitch is also severly corroded.

It might be safe to assume this is just a bad sample, but their CR2 green laser seems much more consistent, don't spend your money on this.
 
I guess you got a lemon... Mine came in near perfect condition and smokes electrical tape through a magnifier...
 





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