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- Jun 13, 2007
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BudgetGadgets 200mW Focusable Green Laser
The Basics
This laser is one of BudgetGadgets' new additions to their laser line up. The new lasers come in green and violet, and in powers from 50mW to 200mW. The main feature of these new lasers is that they are focus adjustable, which mans they can focus to a tiny point for the best burning.
Shipping/Packaging
Shipping took about ten or so days from China, but they ship their stuff for free so I couldn't really expect any faster. This company does ship to the US unlike DX/KD, which makes this laser a great alternative to those sites. It came in a padded envelope:
The laser itself is packaged in a nice presentation box:
The case is padded with foam and covered in cloth. It has a cut out for the laser and a CR123 battery. It came with a primary CR123 for use right out of the box, but I recommend you get rechargeables. I am using 3.6V rechargeables which charge to 4.2V without problems, and I have used this thing a lot!
Overall Appearance/Feel
This laser looks and feels like one of those small LED flashlights which is a big plus IMO.
The focusing mechanism on this laser is the ring near the top of the laser:
To adjust the focus simply just turn the ring. The farthest you can turn the ring is set at infinity so you don't have to fiddle around with it to get it back to pointing after burning stuff.
The tailcap switch is a reverse clicky and has a very solid click to it.
Overall the laser has a good feel in the hand and does not feel like it is going to fall apart after some use with it. I've used this as my pocket laser for the past few weeks and it has held up greatly.
Visibility/Output
The visibility of a 200mW green laser is insane, so this is no different with this laser. At night the beam is completely solid and amazes anybody you show it to. As you would expect, goggles are needed for a laser this strong.
Here is a shot of the laser while running:
The beam diameter of this laser is tiny! Even when focused to infinity the beam is needle thin and can burn well. The beam is thinner than my CNI lasers!
The laser always runs in a clean TEM00. Even when batteries are nearly dead the dot stays nice and round.
Here is another beam shot of the laser in the woods on a dry night.
Burning
As you would expect for a 200mW green laser, this laser can light matches, pop balloons, ignite steel wool, burn hole through paper, ignite fuse, etc. This laser can do well with burning because it is focusable, so you can make the beam a tiny pin prick of light for max irradiance.
For more info on what this laser can burn, watch my video posted below.
Overall: Good Laser at good price. Definitely recommended.
Video:
The Basics
This laser is one of BudgetGadgets' new additions to their laser line up. The new lasers come in green and violet, and in powers from 50mW to 200mW. The main feature of these new lasers is that they are focus adjustable, which mans they can focus to a tiny point for the best burning.
Shipping/Packaging
Shipping took about ten or so days from China, but they ship their stuff for free so I couldn't really expect any faster. This company does ship to the US unlike DX/KD, which makes this laser a great alternative to those sites. It came in a padded envelope:
The laser itself is packaged in a nice presentation box:
The case is padded with foam and covered in cloth. It has a cut out for the laser and a CR123 battery. It came with a primary CR123 for use right out of the box, but I recommend you get rechargeables. I am using 3.6V rechargeables which charge to 4.2V without problems, and I have used this thing a lot!
Overall Appearance/Feel
This laser looks and feels like one of those small LED flashlights which is a big plus IMO.
The focusing mechanism on this laser is the ring near the top of the laser:
To adjust the focus simply just turn the ring. The farthest you can turn the ring is set at infinity so you don't have to fiddle around with it to get it back to pointing after burning stuff.
The tailcap switch is a reverse clicky and has a very solid click to it.
Overall the laser has a good feel in the hand and does not feel like it is going to fall apart after some use with it. I've used this as my pocket laser for the past few weeks and it has held up greatly.
Visibility/Output
The visibility of a 200mW green laser is insane, so this is no different with this laser. At night the beam is completely solid and amazes anybody you show it to. As you would expect, goggles are needed for a laser this strong.
Here is a shot of the laser while running:
The beam diameter of this laser is tiny! Even when focused to infinity the beam is needle thin and can burn well. The beam is thinner than my CNI lasers!
The laser always runs in a clean TEM00. Even when batteries are nearly dead the dot stays nice and round.
Here is another beam shot of the laser in the woods on a dry night.
Burning
As you would expect for a 200mW green laser, this laser can light matches, pop balloons, ignite steel wool, burn hole through paper, ignite fuse, etc. This laser can do well with burning because it is focusable, so you can make the beam a tiny pin prick of light for max irradiance.
For more info on what this laser can burn, watch my video posted below.
Overall: Good Laser at good price. Definitely recommended.
Video:
