Some thoughts and observations about this laser:
It comes in a sturdy giftbox, including a brandless CR2 cell so you can start playing right away. The first thing i noticed is how heavy this laser is... lacking a scale, i'd say its about has heavy without batteries as a DX laser is with batteries installed.
The hole case is covered in what looks like a matte black HA-2 anodisation, or perhaps a really good quality paint finish. All parts fit togheter very well, threads seem to be machined well and leave no room for wiggle or rattle when combined.
Regulation circuitry seems to be mediocre at best, it draws 220 mA from the included cell, and 300 mA from a 3.6V rechargable. I am unsure if it is supposed to be ran off 3.6V, but it works for now and the difference in output is significant. The unit comes on at full power within a second or so, and seems quite steady for at least a minute (haven tried much longer yet).
As for absolute power, i lack a power meter. Eyeballed, it seems to be short of the claimed 50 mW, but not by very much. At $26, it's good bang for the buck.
Optically, things are not that good. The beam has a lot of specle around it, looks like a dirty lens. I haven't attempted to clean it so far, but i will later on. Also, the beam is not in the center of the aperture, but seems to almost graze the edge of the hole.
I can't comment on durability yet, since i just received this laser.
In conclusion, i would recommend buying it at $26, if you can live with a bit of a 'dirty' output beam.
