Has Wicked Laser... Changed?

[Sa2fan]

I have seen review of a couple of WL Laser and it seems that everyone likes those overpriced laser! Even the Wicked Laser become our forum sponsor... Seemed like they've.... Changed! At first everyone was like, OOH Overpriced LaZ0r and Und3rspec from WL. IT SUCKS. I might be into Wicked. But even if Wicked Laser has bad reputation to turned into good, would you still recommend it? OR should I just stick with DragonLaser, Optotronics, LaserGlow, NOVA, LaserSKY... :undecided:

 

[lasersbee]

Yeah... it seems Wicked Lasers has been making an effort to change it's bad reputation...
If the Review Lasers are any indication... it seems they are on the right track.

They even got FDA compliance on their New Line of Lasers making them Legal..

Jerry

 

[Sa2fan]

Yeah... it seems Wicked Lasers has been making an effort to change it's bad reputation...
If the Review Lasers are any indication... it seems they are on the right track.

They even got FDA compliance on their New Line of Lasers making them Legal..

Jerry

I am looking forward for the SONAR Extreme... Which seems CRAZY! 400mW for Blue-Ray laser! It would be great to review it! But WAY overpriced, I'm not THAT rich to spend 2,000$ for a Blue-Ray Laser! But hey, look on the bright side, it seems like a good laser.

I still don't understand how come people get free laser to review!?! :lasergun:

 

[Fortyfive]

Well wicked was smart about it. This forum is much larger then laser community, and a lot of people whether serious or just looking for a pointer come through here looking for advice. So they sent lasers out to various members of this forum, with great reputations, and high post counts for the most part. These people are highly involved on this forum, laser community, and other laser forums out there. What better way to re-build your rep than to send your new product out for these highly respected people.

My outlook is still what it used to be. I have bought from WL in the past, and it was good and bad. They have started sending out graphs with their lasers so you can see and verify your units performance, this is good. I had to take their word that my pulsar was up to spec. However the lasers sent out for review could have been cherry picked, tho I would hope they treated it as if someone just made a purchase but thats hard to say.

One thing that has not changed is the pricing, if the quality is where it should be I can understand this tho. I was looking at the elite pro after seeing that banner at the top and theres no doubt I would love to have one. I already have a 150mW green but the look of that is just beautiful, and it has a continuous duty cycle which would be nice. However its 500$ more than I paid for my 150mW Opto which was rated at 155mW and has the best divergence I have seen on a laser. So it would be tough for me to shell that kind of cash out. Id have to come into some money or use wicked bucks if I could ever generate enough.

I dont believe wicked lasers is really targeting the random people that think lasers are cool any more. I think they're trying to get some business in that direction but are more focused on government / military applications, as well as industrial and scientific use but thats just my opinion.

Read the specs, not all pen lasers have the same divergence and beam size at the aperture. Duty cycles may also differ, as well as the looks. Opto pens and CNI pens even differ statistically, but both are liked for many reasons. Figure out what you want, and what will make you happy. If that means saving more money to buy a wicked laser, do it.

 

[Hemlock_Mike]

There have been a few of us selected to do reviews and / or recommend improvements to Steve's new product. So far, what has been sent seems to be impressive --- a "little" over spec on power and with tight beams. I'm sure there will be more soon reported here.

Mike

 

[digital_blue]

WL has always been and will always be(IMHO), a shoddy company. Just because they came to LPF and gave some people free "evaluation lasers" doesn't redeem them for their past(not in my books anyways)... The only positive about WL is the quality of their lasers/host; IMO, it helluva lotta money for a nice looking enclosure even if the laser was up to spec...

TBH, I feel a lot of those WL reviews here on LPF seem a tad bit biased; it just seems that people tend to be more positive when reviewing something(expensive) they didn't pay for and get to keep... I'm not nor do I intend to accuse anyone of doing such...

They have started sending out graphs with their lasers so you can see and verify your units performance, this is good.

I'm pretty sure they've always sent "power graphs" with the laser; it's not something they started doing recently... I'm pretty convinced the power graphs are forged/misleading; my buddy purchased a spyder a while back and the power graph averaged around 220mw or so. I metered it for him and found it was closer to 104-110mw...

 

[lasersbee]

WL has always been and will always be(IMHO), a shoddy company. Just because they came to LPF and gave some people free "evaluation lasers" doesn't redeem them for their past(not in my books anyways)... The only positive about WL is the quality of their lasers/host; IMO, it helluva lotta money for a nice looking enclosure even if the laser was up to spec...

TBH, I feel a lot of those WL reviews here on LPF seem a tad bit biased; it just seems that people tend to be more positive when reviewing something(expensive) they didn't pay for and get to keep... I'm not nor do I intend to accuse anyone of doing such...



I'm pretty sure they've always sent "power graphs" with the laser; it's not something they started doing recently... I'm pretty convinced the power graphs are forged/misleading; my buddy purchased a spyder a while back and the power graph averaged around 220mw or so. I metered it for him and found it was closer to 104-110mw...

Well.... I gotta disagree with you on some of your points....
(some of your points seem a little insulting to the honest efforts I have
made)

That kind of contradicts it's self... a shoddy company would produce
inferior quality products...:thinking:

I did a review and even told Steve (WL) I would be more than happy to
return the Laser after the Review... I was not expecting to be able to keep it.
I also told Steve that the only way I would do the Review would be by
being totally honest and fair... He agreed..
I also was not afraid of showing any defects that I found...(see the
Review).

I guess you didn't bother to read my Review....

http://laserpointerforums.com/f52/200mw-wicked-lasers-spyder-i-pro-review-43206.html#post569725

I guess you weren't aware I own a few different Laser Power Meters (see
my Sig)
including some that we designed right here in the shop..that Graph the
output of Lasers.. (Laserbee I)


Like I said before... It seems they are making an effort to change their image...
A review asked by a manufacturer is a double edged blade...
And the lasers we got to test could have been "cherry picked"...

But the 1st Laser (any that were reviewed here) that is not up to spec will
be shot down immediately... and all their efforts would go down the tubes...
I can't see any logic for WL to do that or to allow that to happen...


Jerry

 

[john_lawson]

The spyder 1 I got seems to be getting better with use it now goes over 300 mw then settles at 275-290 did it just have to be "burnt in" anyone know ???

 

[lasersbee]

I'm pretty sure the Lasers are brand new with absolutely no burn in time
on them...
I know mine is slightly different every time I record a Graph...
That could be due to the Crystal's starting temperature as well as the
ambient temperature of the Room... I'm just speculating...
The last time I checked my SPYDER I Pro... it was putting out (after 5
minutes ON) a steady 360mW...
It just had that one big power drop (don't ask me why... maybe heat)...
you can see on the 1st LaserBee I graph I did on my review...


Jerry

 

[digital_blue]

Jerry - I'm sorry you feel that way; it was not my intention to insult, offend, accuse anyone of any wrongdoing.

I described the company as being shoddy; I did not say or insinuate such about their products.

As stated before, I am not calling anyone a liar. To be honest, I haven't seen your review until you just mentioned it. This is simply my personal take on some of the reviews.

My mistake, I meant to say "were" as opposed to "are". I am not disputing your findings; I meant to imply that the power graphs provided in the past are likely forgeries/misleading. Again, my mistake, sorry if I offended, insulted anyone.

Hope there's no bad blood between us,

Regards

dB

 

[lasersbee]

No Problem.... I just went by what you posted...

I understand (only from reading the overwhelming negative feelings towards WL
on the Forum in the past) that WL did not have a good reputation...
I don't question your friend's low output Laser... as compared to his supplied
chart...

All I was saying is that "it seems" that WL has gone to a great expense to improve
their reputation...

1) they seem to be able to produce Lasers up to Spec (so far as I've seen)
2) they spent a lot of money to send out Free sample Lasers for review
(it was not a requirement to do a review it was a suggestion)
3) they spent a year to get their new lasers CDRH certified and are now FDA
compliant..

I can't see a company doing all this just to screw the 1st guy that buys a
production laser...
They would be shooting themselves in the foot and wasting all their efforts and
money that have spent so far....

I just don't see it....

BTW... there will never be any bad blood between us...


Jerry

 

[ixfd64]

The recent reviews are suggesting that Wicked has greatly improved the quality of its lasers. The high prices are still a bitof a turn-off, though.

 

[sciullo779]

idk i have a WL old style phoenix (looks like a cheap pen with gold end pieces) and it has like a v shaped ray coming from the dot for the first couple seconds, then it goes away and the dot gets much brighter, cheap construction? or cheap diode?

 

[nikokapo]

The recent reviews are suggesting that Wicked has greatly improved the quality of its lasers. The high prices are still a bitof a turn-off, though.

Just go and compare prices of a portable laser from WL and then go to Laserglow or NOVAlasers, you'll see that the price range is practically the same (heck, Jerry got like 400mW out of a 200mW Spyder I!!), so people saying the lasers are overpriced are because they just went into DX and compared the prices of the newwish pens with the portable lasers from WL and that's not a correct comparison.

 

[scopeguy20]

I had the opinion before that only the WL laser shades and the Core laser were good values, I read all the reviews and I now agree that WL is sending out an impressive line up, and that for the quality and that with the designs we see now, they are very good at competing with the other quality leaders in lasers.
A while back, I used to buy a lot of the WL Core lasers, and I had found that, on the rare occasion that I got one with some problem, I was very pleased with the replacement process and especially the speed in getting the unit replaced. I only wish other companies replaced the defective units as fast as WL did! And needed to as rarely.
Sure the units cost some $, but they are both FDA compliant and more convenient for our uses, (lacking the 2+ sec. delay, and awkward keys and dongles), and more stylish than the competition's offerings. I also, asked after writing my review if the laser was to be returned in 30 or so days?, for, I have not found it to be usual to review and then keep units at no cost in the past. That was very generous of the company.
All in all, I am so impressed, I am definitely considering WL to be a great new line of lasers. That is where I am at, and apparently the facts seen from those units we have reviewed. -Glenn

 

[lasersbee]

idk i have a WL old style phoenix (looks like a cheap pen with gold end pieces) and it has like a v shaped ray coming from the dot for the first couple seconds, then it goes away and the dot gets much brighter, cheap construction? or cheap diode?

How old is it.... how many times did you drop it or bang into something
with it...:thinking:

Jerry