Hey yall, I've been reading this forum for quite some time and even got a SN but have either been too busy or lazy to post anything. Well, here's my attempt to turn that around before I find myself desperately needing help with something and rudely posting an issue as my first thread lol.
I think what got me first into lasers as a kid was watching movies where they used red lasers as gun sights. Before obtaining my first laser, I thought that the very first laser pointers out inherently could shoot a visible beam and boy was I wrong. My first red lasers were from a well known brand back then called Infinity. I believe it's probably out of business now because I can't find them online. It's funny though because during that time, all laser pointers were either powered by (2) AAA or (3) small button batteries and lasted anywhere from 30 min to 5min and red was the only color out.
Fast forward in time and I was then fascinated with green pointers when the 5mw was $199 at Fry's Electronics. I waited years for the price to drop and even when it was $79.99 I was still unwilling to buy it. Next thing I know, a friend of mine introduced me to the new and original Wicked Lasers that at the time was paramount in terms of color and power they were offering. Although very very cool, the prices were completely out of question. My friend however, worried that FDA would crack down asap ended up purchasing the 95mw Executive Series laser for $300 (he's super disappointed now seeing how the prices have dropped and the availability proliferating) It was until
Deal Extreme finally came around that I purchased my first Green "true" 30mw for $29.99 I was really happy with that until one of my friends turned out to be a thief, stole the damn thing and I could never positively identify who it was, so I lost it for good. That's when I went into hiatus for awhile because after I tried ordering again from DX, FDA had already banned them from importing anything above 5mw =(. The next thing I know, the once one of a kind Wicked Lasers has become the dog of all laser companies letting down people left and right and creating false claims, and sub-par batteries, eye protection, charger, and overrated power specs. Well, freak chance one day I search on eBay for $hits and giggles and realize that people are selling 5mw greenies for $7.99 and periodically there would be Wicked lasers. I quickly assumed the cheap greenies were equivalent to the DX lasers but picked one up anyway after reading and watching pot-modding those things. I try it myself and sure enough it works for less than a day, now it takes several clicks and warming up for the thing to get real bright. Of course this led me to be power hungry again since my original DX was brighter and could actually create a visible beam. So the next few months, not being aware that other sites now offer lasers on par or better than WL, I used WL as a guideline for what I wanted. Rather than just a bright beam, I graduated to wanting a laser that could burn. So back on ebay I lucked out and found a "buy it now" option for a WL 200mw E3 green laser for $75 shipped. I believe the guy a bought it from ironically is a forum member here. At that time I wasn't a member yet and had no idea until after I bought it. Aside from the power indicator not working, I was pretty stoked even though it wasn't a "freak" diode. It would sting skin but could not light a match on its own so I was a bit disappointed. To try and fix things, I took apart an old blu-ray drive and extracted the collimating lense out and super glued it to the end cap. surprisingly, it worked well and created an estimated 1/2mm beam about 2inches from the aperture. Now I was able to burn things instantly however, the beam eventually got to a point where I'd turn it on and I could see it dim a bit shortly after. During the time I had the E3 is when I began frequenting this forum more. It wasn't until a few days ago that I read about the high powered lense of the Spyder arcticIII potentially being damaging to the diode due to light being reflected back. I never would have thought about this but now I assume the dimming may be caused by the collimating lense I used or the fact that the continuous duty cycle is a lie and I may have prematurely hurt the diode by operating it on long cycles,Who knows. Well, following the theme of one man's trash is another man's treasure, I sweeped up on another nice deal same fashion on ebay, "buy it now/best offer" for an Artic III G1 brand new for $170 shipped. Despite all the specifics that make WL lasers untrustworthy, how could I go wrong buying an overrated 200mw green for $75 and 1W blue for $170?!?! Best of all, they arrived within a week of payment! As for now, I can't test the Spyder because I'm still waiting on a battery. Luckily I did some research that led me back to this forum and I ordered one of those red sanyo batteries from the battery dude on this forum. I must say I am relieved because all the news about the Lithium batts provided by WL blowing up horrified me. I value my eyes and my lasers so I knew I needed to buy a comparable battery, charger, and OD4+ shades, until then I'll have to wait anxiously lol.
So what's the moral of my story? I have to say thanks to this forum I have been much more informed and less ignorant as a result of all the hard work and time people on this forum have devoted to providing the indispensable knowledge. In time I will definitely contribute to this wealth of knowledge as I hope to soon make a review about an 808nm laser I purchased from o-like.
Thanks again to all the senior members making this forum possible and allowing all the lurkers to dig around lol.
I think what got me first into lasers as a kid was watching movies where they used red lasers as gun sights. Before obtaining my first laser, I thought that the very first laser pointers out inherently could shoot a visible beam and boy was I wrong. My first red lasers were from a well known brand back then called Infinity. I believe it's probably out of business now because I can't find them online. It's funny though because during that time, all laser pointers were either powered by (2) AAA or (3) small button batteries and lasted anywhere from 30 min to 5min and red was the only color out.
Fast forward in time and I was then fascinated with green pointers when the 5mw was $199 at Fry's Electronics. I waited years for the price to drop and even when it was $79.99 I was still unwilling to buy it. Next thing I know, a friend of mine introduced me to the new and original Wicked Lasers that at the time was paramount in terms of color and power they were offering. Although very very cool, the prices were completely out of question. My friend however, worried that FDA would crack down asap ended up purchasing the 95mw Executive Series laser for $300 (he's super disappointed now seeing how the prices have dropped and the availability proliferating) It was until
Deal Extreme finally came around that I purchased my first Green "true" 30mw for $29.99 I was really happy with that until one of my friends turned out to be a thief, stole the damn thing and I could never positively identify who it was, so I lost it for good. That's when I went into hiatus for awhile because after I tried ordering again from DX, FDA had already banned them from importing anything above 5mw =(. The next thing I know, the once one of a kind Wicked Lasers has become the dog of all laser companies letting down people left and right and creating false claims, and sub-par batteries, eye protection, charger, and overrated power specs. Well, freak chance one day I search on eBay for $hits and giggles and realize that people are selling 5mw greenies for $7.99 and periodically there would be Wicked lasers. I quickly assumed the cheap greenies were equivalent to the DX lasers but picked one up anyway after reading and watching pot-modding those things. I try it myself and sure enough it works for less than a day, now it takes several clicks and warming up for the thing to get real bright. Of course this led me to be power hungry again since my original DX was brighter and could actually create a visible beam. So the next few months, not being aware that other sites now offer lasers on par or better than WL, I used WL as a guideline for what I wanted. Rather than just a bright beam, I graduated to wanting a laser that could burn. So back on ebay I lucked out and found a "buy it now" option for a WL 200mw E3 green laser for $75 shipped. I believe the guy a bought it from ironically is a forum member here. At that time I wasn't a member yet and had no idea until after I bought it. Aside from the power indicator not working, I was pretty stoked even though it wasn't a "freak" diode. It would sting skin but could not light a match on its own so I was a bit disappointed. To try and fix things, I took apart an old blu-ray drive and extracted the collimating lense out and super glued it to the end cap. surprisingly, it worked well and created an estimated 1/2mm beam about 2inches from the aperture. Now I was able to burn things instantly however, the beam eventually got to a point where I'd turn it on and I could see it dim a bit shortly after. During the time I had the E3 is when I began frequenting this forum more. It wasn't until a few days ago that I read about the high powered lense of the Spyder arcticIII potentially being damaging to the diode due to light being reflected back. I never would have thought about this but now I assume the dimming may be caused by the collimating lense I used or the fact that the continuous duty cycle is a lie and I may have prematurely hurt the diode by operating it on long cycles,Who knows. Well, following the theme of one man's trash is another man's treasure, I sweeped up on another nice deal same fashion on ebay, "buy it now/best offer" for an Artic III G1 brand new for $170 shipped. Despite all the specifics that make WL lasers untrustworthy, how could I go wrong buying an overrated 200mw green for $75 and 1W blue for $170?!?! Best of all, they arrived within a week of payment! As for now, I can't test the Spyder because I'm still waiting on a battery. Luckily I did some research that led me back to this forum and I ordered one of those red sanyo batteries from the battery dude on this forum. I must say I am relieved because all the news about the Lithium batts provided by WL blowing up horrified me. I value my eyes and my lasers so I knew I needed to buy a comparable battery, charger, and OD4+ shades, until then I'll have to wait anxiously lol.
So what's the moral of my story? I have to say thanks to this forum I have been much more informed and less ignorant as a result of all the hard work and time people on this forum have devoted to providing the indispensable knowledge. In time I will definitely contribute to this wealth of knowledge as I hope to soon make a review about an 808nm laser I purchased from o-like.
Thanks again to all the senior members making this forum possible and allowing all the lurkers to dig around lol.
that was a lot to read 
Thank you! I really hope it works out too. Ill let everyone know once I get it in the mail. I have shades that supposedly cover from 532 to 445. When I shine my WL 532nm E3 into them, no beam comes out the other side so hopefully its good enough for the Spyder. I can't say for sure because I bought it from China hehe.