Lazerer Mini (Or Chinese Clone?) Focusable 532nm 100mW Review

[Pman]

Nothing wrong with inexpensive units in general, just a matter of weeding out the best places to buy them and then sharing that with the rest of us +REP for a nice little review. Kind of nice to see new members that are in that initial wow phase. For some inexpensive ideas take a look at the links in my sig

 

[Aardvark777]

Thank you Pman, hopefully I'll have another review up soon I was in the wow phase a few years ago, just stayed there. Something surreal about them and extremely Sci-Fi. Always had a thing for Star Wars, and I guess it reminded me of the lightsabers.

 

[FiveTwentyThreeHundredmW]

I just have to comment after buying a Skylasers 300mW 532.

I've had a run with cheap 532s with my first greens and it wasn't so bad. I have a few $9 ~50mW pens from Laserpointerpro that held up great. They get dim after being on for 60 seconds though. But for quick "messing" around or skypointing at night to impress friends it's fine. I also had a LAZERER CYBER 100mW 532. It was good, honest 100mW, sweet host, smooth focus and tailcap. Clean crisp dot & thin beam, but mode hopped often between TEM00 & the other mode with the two blobs next to each other. It was also real temperature sensitive...I'd put it on my heater and it would be way brighter. For $60 it was too much; it was worth $20. But that CYBER host kicks ass. It had a really crooked beam which made me sell it. LAZERER was a stepping stone, I graduated to Skylasers & SciFi now lol. Overall I wouldn't buy a green from LAZERER again more than $30. Sky is def better quality.

LAZERER's blue lasers are also horribly overpriced. A complete rip-off when comparing to Sci Fi. I actually bought a LAZERER MINI 100mW 445 for...get ready...take a deep breath...you'll want to be sitting down for this...$80. I know, I know...SciFi's 445s are a complete bargain and amazing quality. For $85 you can get a 1W 501B. LAZERER's 1W 445 are stupid expensive. LAZERER was smooth with the buying and shipping though. But overall they're just a stepping stone.

My MINI 445 does focus pretty well. The knurling on the ring is more checkered, not straight lines like yours. But every time I look at it I want to smack myself for spending $80. With power certificate and shipping it was $90...a stupid move on my part.

It's interesting how much the optics make a different. My SciFi 1.6W 445 is 0.86mRad with the 3 element glass...absolutely incredible. I was expecting bad divergence. But the dot is a super crisp razor line. I cherish that laser, the beam is perfect straight too. It makes me drool.

I think 650s and 405s are the king of low divergence...I had a junk 650 from ebay in the 301/303 host and you could see the beam pretty easily, so I'm guessing about 50mW. It's divergence was noticeably better than my Dragon 637nm 90mW...but now we're comparing diff wavelengths and maybe different diode sizes. But it amazed me, aiming it at trees a quarter mile away the junk 650 was still a crisp tiny dot, much smaller than the Spartan's. Not ripping on the Spartan in any way. but after seeing this I want a 650 from Sci Fi with the 3 element glass.

Who wins the divergence battle between 650 and 405?

Regardless of quality, for nearly free it's a steal. Enjoy ^_^ :beer:

 

[Aardvark777]

Cheers!

Yea well I am fairly sure that 650nm gets a tighter "dot" and better, lower divergence than a 405nm, but who knows. I'm not entirely sure on that, so I wouldn't take it as gospel.

I too have a Spartan, it's their 445nm, mine is 1.6W in power, it's phenomenal

I was interested in maybe grabbing a DL Spartan 637/638 at some point, I see they are really nice. I read your review on here actually, and I was sorely tempted to pick one up, they're fairly inexpensive.

Sci Fi Lasers / Eitan is sending me a 650nm soon actually, 200mW in a polished host. Got to make sure I review it when it arrives I shall let you know, I am a huge fan of Sci Fi. Very good lasers and quality service

 

[FiveTwentyThreeHundredmW]

Cheers!

Yea well I am fairly sure that 650nm gets a tighter "dot" and better, lower divergence than a 405nm, but who knows. I'm not entirely sure on that, so I wouldn't take it as gospel.

I too have a Spartan, it's their 445nm, mine is 1.6W in power, it's phenomenal

I was interested in maybe grabbing a DL Spartan 637/638 at some point, I see they are really nice. I read your review on here actually, and I was sorely tempted to pick one up, they're fairly inexpensive.

Sci Fi Lasers / Eitan is sending me a 650nm soon actually, 200mW in a polished host. Got to make sure I review it when it arrives I shall let you know, I am a huge fan of Sci Fi. Very good lasers and quality service

Mate, looks like we have more in common than I thought. :san:

I have the Spartan 637nm 90mw. It's great...stable as a rock, thin beam, and bright. Divergence wasn't as good as I thought though...I thought it would be like a 650 but it's more spread out. Still great though. Can see the beam easily in the dark.

However for reds, for me, I feel if I'm going for 635/637/whatever, the divergence isn't good so just go high power and get the visibility. I regret spending $100 on a intermediate-power 637 with "decent" divergence, since I can get a 650 for $50 with AMAZING divergence. And 90mW of 637 is very visible, but I have my 532 and 445 for that. So my Spartan 637 is not needed for me much anymore. I paid $100 for mine. Now they're $90. Great laser, but it's in an awkward spot since you can get much better divergence and only slightly less visibility by going with a 650.

That reminds me! Dude! I am looking at the 650 from Eitan too. When did you purchase? How much- about $50? He seems really hard to get a hold of...I've bought from him before and he's awesome though.

 

[Alaskan]

Was your low divergence 650nm a single mode diode? That would explain why it was so low.

 

[MattIsHere]

I love the last picture. Look like you are good at taking picture.

 

[Isaac Clarke]

please don't necro-post on old threads unless you have something to add to it.
if you plan on staying around the forum please read all the sticky.