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- Feb 4, 2010
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Hey LPF - got an interesting laser to talk about today. The 7-color RGB handheld laser... I couldn't find a name or manufacturer, but you can find it on both laserpointerstore ($299) and o-like ($269). At the time I bought it, LPS was having their black friday sale at 20% off, so I paid $239 for mine. These are my initial thoughts on the laser. I also have a sanwu RGB incoming, so a comparison thread will show up once I get that one reviewed as well.
So what is it?
![](http://i.imgur.com/xJREQN6l.jpg)
![](http://i.imgur.com/yIV7M8el.jpg)
This takes a not one but two 26650 batteries to operate. This thing is MASSIVE (18650's can be used with spacers as well).
![](http://i.imgur.com/DG0A9ajl.jpg)
The beam does not come out toward the center of the head, but rather off center. This is the accommodate the optics involved... I'm a bit disappointed there's no glass or even a dust cover, it's just a hole leading straight to the dichros...
![](http://i.imgur.com/fX15zRUl.jpg)
You can kind of see there's stuff going on in there... the red diode is toward the operating end.
![](http://i.imgur.com/omUZN10l.jpg)
![](http://i.imgur.com/q7jCiD7l.jpg)
There's also a lock on the tailcap you'll need to use since the "armed" indicator LED is always on.
![](http://i.imgur.com/cepv2ftl.jpg)
You don't get a whole lot of fine control over color as there are only 3 buttons. Button 3 (the bottom button) turns the laser on or off. Since there is no sort of tuning, you get 3 modes: (button 1) Cycle colors, (button 1) Cycle Colors (off between), (button 2) solid color. The solid colors can be cycled through by pressing the second button again from RGB - RG - GB - RB - R - G - B. The diodes are 650nm / 520nm / 450nm, all single mode. There's also an indicator for when each diode is on.
![](http://i.imgur.com/nO175v5l.jpg)
Sadly I don't have a LPM to measure actual output powers, so I can't share how perfect the color mixing is, but subjectively speaking it isn't too great. This is pretty accurate to how I see the mixes, though a little more washed out / less saturated in person:
RG - yellowish green (but not very yellow)
![](http://i.imgur.com/HbxFveQl.jpg)
RB - Magenta
![](http://i.imgur.com/2t9LtHAl.jpg)
GB - Cyan
![](http://i.imgur.com/ytSt2Zvl.jpg)
RGB - Cold white
![](http://i.imgur.com/IYSGkMpl.jpg)
Overall, I think the 650nm red is holding this back. The blue and green diodes are doing a fine job but the red just can't keep up.
As for alignment, the three colors separate pretty fast. In fact, the red is pretty well off center from the get-go. It's not overwhelmingly bad but it is noticeable enough for me to be a bit distracted.
![](http://i.imgur.com/Dnb06adl.jpg)
![](http://i.imgur.com/ycgNEcFl.jpg)
![](http://i.imgur.com/SRXL9bal.jpg)
![](http://i.imgur.com/YafEhdYl.jpg)
I think I can fix the alignment based on what I can see looking down the barrel... I'm also hoping I can tune the power on the diodes to get a better white balance, but I'd need to see what the driver is doing. Stay tuned for my attempts at tearing this down! I have some time set aside this weekend to take a crack at fixing some of the problems.
Let me know if there's anything anyone wants to see, I'm willing to take more photos.
So what is it?
![](http://i.imgur.com/xJREQN6l.jpg)
![](http://i.imgur.com/yIV7M8el.jpg)
This takes a not one but two 26650 batteries to operate. This thing is MASSIVE (18650's can be used with spacers as well).
![](http://i.imgur.com/DG0A9ajl.jpg)
The beam does not come out toward the center of the head, but rather off center. This is the accommodate the optics involved... I'm a bit disappointed there's no glass or even a dust cover, it's just a hole leading straight to the dichros...
![](http://i.imgur.com/fX15zRUl.jpg)
You can kind of see there's stuff going on in there... the red diode is toward the operating end.
![](http://i.imgur.com/omUZN10l.jpg)
![](http://i.imgur.com/q7jCiD7l.jpg)
There's also a lock on the tailcap you'll need to use since the "armed" indicator LED is always on.
![](http://i.imgur.com/cepv2ftl.jpg)
You don't get a whole lot of fine control over color as there are only 3 buttons. Button 3 (the bottom button) turns the laser on or off. Since there is no sort of tuning, you get 3 modes: (button 1) Cycle colors, (button 1) Cycle Colors (off between), (button 2) solid color. The solid colors can be cycled through by pressing the second button again from RGB - RG - GB - RB - R - G - B. The diodes are 650nm / 520nm / 450nm, all single mode. There's also an indicator for when each diode is on.
![](http://i.imgur.com/nO175v5l.jpg)
Sadly I don't have a LPM to measure actual output powers, so I can't share how perfect the color mixing is, but subjectively speaking it isn't too great. This is pretty accurate to how I see the mixes, though a little more washed out / less saturated in person:
RG - yellowish green (but not very yellow)
![](http://i.imgur.com/HbxFveQl.jpg)
RB - Magenta
![](http://i.imgur.com/2t9LtHAl.jpg)
GB - Cyan
![](http://i.imgur.com/ytSt2Zvl.jpg)
RGB - Cold white
![](http://i.imgur.com/IYSGkMpl.jpg)
Overall, I think the 650nm red is holding this back. The blue and green diodes are doing a fine job but the red just can't keep up.
As for alignment, the three colors separate pretty fast. In fact, the red is pretty well off center from the get-go. It's not overwhelmingly bad but it is noticeable enough for me to be a bit distracted.
![](http://i.imgur.com/Dnb06adl.jpg)
![](http://i.imgur.com/ycgNEcFl.jpg)
![](http://i.imgur.com/SRXL9bal.jpg)
![](http://i.imgur.com/YafEhdYl.jpg)
I think I can fix the alignment based on what I can see looking down the barrel... I'm also hoping I can tune the power on the diodes to get a better white balance, but I'd need to see what the driver is doing. Stay tuned for my attempts at tearing this down! I have some time set aside this weekend to take a crack at fixing some of the problems.
Let me know if there's anything anyone wants to see, I'm willing to take more photos.