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I have to simply start out by saying:
Holy. #^(<!^@. $#!^.
This thing is a little monster.
Okay, So here's what I did. I got my laser today from IQS, and YES I'm in Canada and YES - for a little extra he shipped up to me and YES this laser is EVERYTHING I was hoping for and more.
There is a very small way in which I'm disappointed, but it's mostly because of HOW powerful this thing is compared to a laser I paid 250$ for... Compared to this little guy for whom I paid I think... What? 32$ including shipping.
There is OBVIOUS quality differences, but I have to say this is BY FAR the biggest bang for my buck laser I've *ever* purchased ever.
So let me start with the pictures.
I haven't been a fan of mini-hosts, so I had the intention of moving this to a larger host anyway, but for the sake of the review I won't show the conversion process nor the insides of the diode/assembly. I'll mostly show the laser itself with before/after pics and beamshots compared to my 250~ mW Sky-Lasers 532nm.
Shipping was more than sufficient, pretty quick even despite Canadian customs, and everything arrived safely.
Just for a size comparison to hopefully something someone else would be familiar with:
Left to right:
PriceAngels True 50mw laser (And pretty close once you let it warm up)
IQS #100 100~ mW laser
PriceAngels "200mW" laser (host, I ripped it apart when it didn't work)
Sky-Lasers 200mW (Closer to 250mW average, 280mW peak)
So for prying minds: Measuring time:
Annnnd, the height with the tail cap.
Now let me explain what the deal is. I don't like these itty bitty hosts. I like larger hosts... Ones that feel pretty solid in the hand. I REALLY like the Sky-lasers PLC-type hosts, and anything similar to that is preferred/ideal for me.
The other thing is this: I remembered others mentioning that you can take the 3.0v CR123 batteries, and pop in a 3.7V rechargeable and it seems to get more power out of it.
I figured... Well if I have a host that can handle a 18650, why wouldn't I use that? It's 3.7-4.2V. It should work and if it blows up my little monster, then it's 32$ for a lesson well learned and something I can share with the forum. I don't mind losing as long as it's for learning.
ANYWAY.
I decided, I'll take the already ridiculously powerful module out of the little host, place it into my larger host from PriceAngels and have something a little more to my liking.
And this is where things change a little.
I will continue the review as the updated/new host with the same laser module being driven from an 18650 battery instead of a CR123 primary.
This is the module on the inside, and I'm surprised it fit SO well in there. There were some mods I had to do to the adjustable lens on the head of the PriceAngels laser, but otherwise it worked just fine. Little removal of some insides, and a couple drops of super glue and voilà.
Anyway - back to the module:
This is where I stripped the insides basically. I plan on putting an IR filter in where that hole is right now eventually, just to make sure it's filtered green.
Some random size comparisons.
Okay, so now that everything was moved over, some beamshots. This is actually where I got a little... "upset"
The one on the left is my Sky-Lasers (which has a much wider beam) and the one on the right is the modded IQS laser. Yes, I recognize that the beam is brighter on the right, simply because it's a much tighter beam profile. That being said, the dot itself looks brighter on the wall too.
This is a closeup of the dots themselves. The dot on the left is perfect TEM00 and the one on the right has a very very small amount of mode hopping, but honestly the IQS laser, when driven by the 18650, is EXTREMELY stable and has virtually 0 warm-up time before putting out basically full power. Also, the duty-cycle is basically a 1 minute on, 1 minute off cycle. I do notice that it warms up a fair amount after 1 minute, but not nearly enough to say that it's dangerously hot. Just enough that it needs a break.
Okay, some beamshots. (I realize that it's a cell phone and I have no other alternative right now. Some day I'll get a nicer camera and take some reasonable shots)
IQS on the left, Sky-Lasers on the right.
IQS into the night through a window... And the divergence seriously rivals my Sky-lasers. I haven't calculated it, but it's TIGHT. Far tighter than any other laser I've ever owned with the exception of the Sky-Lasers. Ignore the shaky camera - the divergence looks like it sucks but it's really just my shaky hands.
And just a random "Bouncing lasers off of mirrors" shot:
That's all I have for now. When I get myself a LPM, I'd LOVE to know how powerful this ACTUALLY is, but (and as unreliable as it is) just by "eyeballing" it's very very close to being as bright as my 200mW Sky-Lasers.
I definitely need a LPM, especially with this little monster...
But it's powerful enough that it's popped balloons (Red, no black dot) from over 15 feet away, in under 5 seconds.
My Sky-lasers won't do that unless I focus it. (It's a wider beam anyway, I get that.)
I'm uploading videos to youtube, one of popping balloons, and another of burning matches. As soon as they're uploaded, I'll add them here.
Overall:
Fast shipping, AMAZING product and while I know I'm pushing the laser beyond it's intended limits, this sucker is REALLY powerful compared to any other laser I've purchased for it's price.
Incredible.
I can't wait to get one of his 200mW greenies.
**Edit**
Added Video:
*WARNING* - For the above video, please be aware that there *IS* swearing from my roommate. He's got no "internal dialog sensor" it seems, but if you can get past that (or don't mind), it's actually pretty funny.
The funny part of the dialog:
Chris: "Can I go pee or am I gunna get hit?"
Me: "It should be fine"
Chris: "It's like... Bubbling at the one side. *pause* (From in the bathroom) It ain't gunna work!"
Me: "It IS gunna work. ... Aww maybe not... *Balloon pops* Ahh, there we go"
Chris in bathroom: "EHHHHHHH, OPAAAAA"
The next one here:
This one is just a match burning one. I didn't set up the custom host to be adjustable with the focal point, (It is but it's a mess to get it back to infinity like I have it) so I used a focal lens instead. I couldn't see exactly where it was focusing but I knew it was close. I had done more experiments with focal length and was able to get the laser to burn MUCH faster but this was the only one I took a video of.
Holy. #^(<!^@. $#!^.
This thing is a little monster.
Okay, So here's what I did. I got my laser today from IQS, and YES I'm in Canada and YES - for a little extra he shipped up to me and YES this laser is EVERYTHING I was hoping for and more.
There is a very small way in which I'm disappointed, but it's mostly because of HOW powerful this thing is compared to a laser I paid 250$ for... Compared to this little guy for whom I paid I think... What? 32$ including shipping.
There is OBVIOUS quality differences, but I have to say this is BY FAR the biggest bang for my buck laser I've *ever* purchased ever.
So let me start with the pictures.
I haven't been a fan of mini-hosts, so I had the intention of moving this to a larger host anyway, but for the sake of the review I won't show the conversion process nor the insides of the diode/assembly. I'll mostly show the laser itself with before/after pics and beamshots compared to my 250~ mW Sky-Lasers 532nm.
Shipping was more than sufficient, pretty quick even despite Canadian customs, and everything arrived safely.
Just for a size comparison to hopefully something someone else would be familiar with:
Left to right:
PriceAngels True 50mw laser (And pretty close once you let it warm up)
IQS #100 100~ mW laser
PriceAngels "200mW" laser (host, I ripped it apart when it didn't work)
Sky-Lasers 200mW (Closer to 250mW average, 280mW peak)
So for prying minds: Measuring time:
Annnnd, the height with the tail cap.
Now let me explain what the deal is. I don't like these itty bitty hosts. I like larger hosts... Ones that feel pretty solid in the hand. I REALLY like the Sky-lasers PLC-type hosts, and anything similar to that is preferred/ideal for me.
The other thing is this: I remembered others mentioning that you can take the 3.0v CR123 batteries, and pop in a 3.7V rechargeable and it seems to get more power out of it.
I figured... Well if I have a host that can handle a 18650, why wouldn't I use that? It's 3.7-4.2V. It should work and if it blows up my little monster, then it's 32$ for a lesson well learned and something I can share with the forum. I don't mind losing as long as it's for learning.
ANYWAY.
I decided, I'll take the already ridiculously powerful module out of the little host, place it into my larger host from PriceAngels and have something a little more to my liking.
And this is where things change a little.
I will continue the review as the updated/new host with the same laser module being driven from an 18650 battery instead of a CR123 primary.
This is the module on the inside, and I'm surprised it fit SO well in there. There were some mods I had to do to the adjustable lens on the head of the PriceAngels laser, but otherwise it worked just fine. Little removal of some insides, and a couple drops of super glue and voilà.
Anyway - back to the module:
This is where I stripped the insides basically. I plan on putting an IR filter in where that hole is right now eventually, just to make sure it's filtered green.
Some random size comparisons.
Okay, so now that everything was moved over, some beamshots. This is actually where I got a little... "upset"
The one on the left is my Sky-Lasers (which has a much wider beam) and the one on the right is the modded IQS laser. Yes, I recognize that the beam is brighter on the right, simply because it's a much tighter beam profile. That being said, the dot itself looks brighter on the wall too.
This is a closeup of the dots themselves. The dot on the left is perfect TEM00 and the one on the right has a very very small amount of mode hopping, but honestly the IQS laser, when driven by the 18650, is EXTREMELY stable and has virtually 0 warm-up time before putting out basically full power. Also, the duty-cycle is basically a 1 minute on, 1 minute off cycle. I do notice that it warms up a fair amount after 1 minute, but not nearly enough to say that it's dangerously hot. Just enough that it needs a break.
Okay, some beamshots. (I realize that it's a cell phone and I have no other alternative right now. Some day I'll get a nicer camera and take some reasonable shots)
IQS on the left, Sky-Lasers on the right.
IQS into the night through a window... And the divergence seriously rivals my Sky-lasers. I haven't calculated it, but it's TIGHT. Far tighter than any other laser I've ever owned with the exception of the Sky-Lasers. Ignore the shaky camera - the divergence looks like it sucks but it's really just my shaky hands.
And just a random "Bouncing lasers off of mirrors" shot:
That's all I have for now. When I get myself a LPM, I'd LOVE to know how powerful this ACTUALLY is, but (and as unreliable as it is) just by "eyeballing" it's very very close to being as bright as my 200mW Sky-Lasers.
I definitely need a LPM, especially with this little monster...
But it's powerful enough that it's popped balloons (Red, no black dot) from over 15 feet away, in under 5 seconds.
My Sky-lasers won't do that unless I focus it. (It's a wider beam anyway, I get that.)
I'm uploading videos to youtube, one of popping balloons, and another of burning matches. As soon as they're uploaded, I'll add them here.
Overall:
Fast shipping, AMAZING product and while I know I'm pushing the laser beyond it's intended limits, this sucker is REALLY powerful compared to any other laser I've purchased for it's price.
Incredible.
I can't wait to get one of his 200mW greenies.
**Edit**
Added Video:
*WARNING* - For the above video, please be aware that there *IS* swearing from my roommate. He's got no "internal dialog sensor" it seems, but if you can get past that (or don't mind), it's actually pretty funny.
The funny part of the dialog:
Chris: "Can I go pee or am I gunna get hit?"
Me: "It should be fine"
Chris: "It's like... Bubbling at the one side. *pause* (From in the bathroom) It ain't gunna work!"
Me: "It IS gunna work. ... Aww maybe not... *Balloon pops* Ahh, there we go"
Chris in bathroom: "EHHHHHHH, OPAAAAA"
The next one here:
This one is just a match burning one. I didn't set up the custom host to be adjustable with the focal point, (It is but it's a mess to get it back to infinity like I have it) so I used a focal lens instead. I couldn't see exactly where it was focusing but I knew it was close. I had done more experiments with focal length and was able to get the laser to burn MUCH faster but this was the only one I took a video of.
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