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DinoDirect FireDragon III 300mW Green Laser
The Basics
This laser is available from DinoDirect.com in powers from 200mW-500mW, I am reviewing the 300mW version. This laser is a more advanced portable laser when compared to other portables available on the market, mainly due to the safety features.
Shipping/Packaging
Shipping took about ten days from China. It was double boxed and padded which was more than adequate to protect the laser and accessories. This laser came with a 18650 battery, charger, and key set.
Overall Appearance/Feel
This laser has a very appealing look to it, as well as a sturdy feel to it.
This laser is relatively large and heavy, here it is compared to a NewWish pen laser and a Wicked Laser Evolution Pro.
The switch is a forward clicky which has a solid click. A LED indicator is built into the switch, it is blue when the laser is not operating and orange when the laser is operating. This LED indicator is nice because when wearing laser goggles, the orange LED sticks out to you when the green beam of the laser will not.
Visibility/Output
Visibility of this laser is incredible! 300mW is a lot of power for a handheld green laser, so as expected the beam is fairly visible in a lit room. At night, the beam is so bright it even clearly beats out a 1W blue laser.
Add a little fog and you have yourself a lightsaber!
Here is this laser compared to a 130mW Wicked Lasers Evo Pro, as you can tell the FireDragon is considerably stronger.
The laser operates in near TEM00, the beam has an oval shape to it but there are no defined separate beams.
Beam diameter and divergence are average, so there's not much to talk about here.
Safety Features
This laser incorporates four safety features in the design of the laser. They are keylock, aperture cover, LED indicator, and 1 second delay. Features like this should be more common in Class IIB lasers to help prevent accidents by accidentally letting the laser get into the wrong hands.
The keylock is on the tailcap of the laser.
The LED indicator changes from off to blue when the keylock is armed. When the switch is turned on, the LED changes from blue to orange. The aperture cover opens and closes smoothly, and also is great at preventing dust from getting into the lens when the laser is in storage.
Innards/Metering Info
This laser is easily dissembled into its main parts. The design of this laser prevents nearly all of the IR to escape, so I can't tell if there is an IR filter or not. Either way, it's not needed.
The laser barrel can be disassembled even further with just a few screws. I had to find this out when I dropped this laser in a bucket of water and dry ice...
When I was taking pictures and videos for this review I accidentally dropped the laser in water and had to rip it to pieces to get it working again. After the "accident", I am getting about 265mW of green in TEM01. I did not have the chance to meter it before the review because my meter was in the mail. Still, 265mW after damaging it for $180 is a great price. I know for a fact is was outputting well over 300mW before I messed it up.
Overall: This is a great laser for the price, I would definitely recommend it.
Video (in HD!):
The Basics
This laser is available from DinoDirect.com in powers from 200mW-500mW, I am reviewing the 300mW version. This laser is a more advanced portable laser when compared to other portables available on the market, mainly due to the safety features.
Shipping/Packaging
Shipping took about ten days from China. It was double boxed and padded which was more than adequate to protect the laser and accessories. This laser came with a 18650 battery, charger, and key set.
Overall Appearance/Feel
This laser has a very appealing look to it, as well as a sturdy feel to it.
This laser is relatively large and heavy, here it is compared to a NewWish pen laser and a Wicked Laser Evolution Pro.
The switch is a forward clicky which has a solid click. A LED indicator is built into the switch, it is blue when the laser is not operating and orange when the laser is operating. This LED indicator is nice because when wearing laser goggles, the orange LED sticks out to you when the green beam of the laser will not.
Visibility/Output
Visibility of this laser is incredible! 300mW is a lot of power for a handheld green laser, so as expected the beam is fairly visible in a lit room. At night, the beam is so bright it even clearly beats out a 1W blue laser.
Add a little fog and you have yourself a lightsaber!
Here is this laser compared to a 130mW Wicked Lasers Evo Pro, as you can tell the FireDragon is considerably stronger.
The laser operates in near TEM00, the beam has an oval shape to it but there are no defined separate beams.
Beam diameter and divergence are average, so there's not much to talk about here.
Safety Features
This laser incorporates four safety features in the design of the laser. They are keylock, aperture cover, LED indicator, and 1 second delay. Features like this should be more common in Class IIB lasers to help prevent accidents by accidentally letting the laser get into the wrong hands.
The keylock is on the tailcap of the laser.
The LED indicator changes from off to blue when the keylock is armed. When the switch is turned on, the LED changes from blue to orange. The aperture cover opens and closes smoothly, and also is great at preventing dust from getting into the lens when the laser is in storage.
Innards/Metering Info
This laser is easily dissembled into its main parts. The design of this laser prevents nearly all of the IR to escape, so I can't tell if there is an IR filter or not. Either way, it's not needed.
The laser barrel can be disassembled even further with just a few screws. I had to find this out when I dropped this laser in a bucket of water and dry ice...
When I was taking pictures and videos for this review I accidentally dropped the laser in water and had to rip it to pieces to get it working again. After the "accident", I am getting about 265mW of green in TEM01. I did not have the chance to meter it before the review because my meter was in the mail. Still, 265mW after damaging it for $180 is a great price. I know for a fact is was outputting well over 300mW before I messed it up.
Overall: This is a great laser for the price, I would definitely recommend it.
Video (in HD!):
Last edited:
Answers my shipping question too
but what convinced for the GB before is the reveiws of this unit coming in, at and above the rated ouput (consistently), which is what I beileve customers should receive, not +/- rated power...
