My purchase from OdicForce

[Devil_Master]

Last Tuesday I had placed an order to OdicForce, for the following:
- 1 laser (445nm, 1000mW)
- 2 TrustFire batteries (3.6V)
- 1 TrustFire battery charger
- 1 pair of Eagle Pair glasses

The parcel arrived this morning: I'm really surprised how fast the shipment has been.

The host of the laser is black, 19 cm long, with a circumference of 9.1 cm.
The battery charger can host 2 batteries, it has a voltage selector and comes with 2 cables: one ends with a NEMA 1 plug, the other ends with a Europlug. Unfortunately for those who live in the EU like me, the latter cannot be plugged into the charger because the other end of the cable is the wrong shape. However, I already had a universal plug adaptor, so I used that with the NEMA 1 cable instead.

After charging the batteries, I tried the laser. I noticed that it's kinda hard to find the right position to screw the tail cap into position when the batteries are in, but that might be because I bought protected batteries, each of which is 0.8 mm longer than its equivalent non-protected battery.
Since the brochure shows 4 patterns, I had assumed that only four out of the five screw-on filters provided were pattern generators, while the fifth was simply a focussing lens. Instead, all five of them are pattern generators: to focus the beam you need to twist the entire anterior part of the host.
When unfocussed, the diode projects a rectangular beam (with rounded edges); this, however, can be effectively focussed to a dot, which burns stuff very quickly. The focussed dot is surprisingly bright even with protective glasses on (only, it shines yellow instead of blue).

NOTE: I do NOT know what the dot looks like with protective glasses OFF, because whenever I use a laser I always use the appropriate glasses, and despite the bias against glasses some posters here have, I will NOT desist from using them. I was just surprised to how much brighter it is than the dot of a 200mW red laser seen with appropriate glasses on.

Overall, I'm really satisfied and I feel like recommending OdicForce to any laser enthusiast in the EU.

 

[InfinitusEquitas]

 

[Devil_Master]

LOL at the picture
Pics will come tomorrow at the earliest, because my camera doesn't have a flash, so, if I took them now, all you'd see would be black with the blue glow of the dot.

 

[Devil_Master]

Okay, here are some pics.

First the box containing the laser, closed...

...and open:

The laser itself, without batteries...

...and with batteries. Note the gap between the end cap and the body of the host, caused by the length of the batteries I got (protected batteries are longer than non-protected batteries):

The clicky switch on the back of the laser:

The business end of the laser (of course, I removed the batteries before taking this picture):

The five pattern generators (I have screwed one of them to the tip of the laser):

The glasses (when I look at the focussed dot with these on, it's surprisingly bright: is it normal?)

The battery charger and the two cables. The one that fits ends with a US-style plug. The one that doesn't fit ends with an EU-style plug.

The battery charger in use. Note how the batteries are inserted: the negative poles of the charger are held with springs so that batteries of different lengths can be used.
Imma chargin' my laser!

A nice target to test the laser (actually, this is the box that contained the box with the laser, the batteries, the charger and the glasses, each of which was wrapped in a bubble envelope like the one you see in the cardboard box). Note the hole on the right. After taking the picture I saw that not only the laser burned a hole, but also burned the opposite flap AFTER the hole!

I haven't taken any picture of the patterns, because I don't have any decent surface to project them on.
I had originally planned of taking pictures of myself firing the laser, but yesterday I saw a video on Youtube where someone did just that and burned some pixels in the CCD of his camera, so I decided against it.

 

[InfinitusEquitas]

Nice pictures and a good review +3 for you.

For the gap, because of the protected batteries, what you can do is get a couple of o-rings.

Do watch that charger... once the light turns green, take off the batteries. If you have a multimeter, or would also be a good idea to just check on them while charging every half hour or so, to make sure you're not overcharging.

 

[Devil_Master]

Nice pictures and a good review +3 for you.

Thank you.

For the gap, because of the protected batteries, what you can do is get a couple of o-rings.

That would certainly fill the gap, but screwing the end cap on would still be not as easy as with shorter batteries.

Do watch that charger... once the light turns green, take off the batteries. If you have a multimeter, or would also be a good idea to just check on them while charging every half hour or so, to make sure you're not overcharging.

I always do that. I don't have a multimeter, but I watch the light of the charger every five minutes or so, and I never leave them to charge overnight.
BTW, would they still overcharge? the page at OdicForce says that they are protected against overcharging.

 

[InfinitusEquitas]

BTW, would they still overcharge? the page at OdicForce says that they are protected against overcharging.

Hopefully not, but personally I do not trust any XXXXfire batteries much. There have been cases where the "protection circuit" was literally just a soldered on extra piece of metal.

Dealing with lithium batteries, it's best to stick to known brands, and good chargers. Yes, they are more expensive, but imo 100% worth it for peace of mind.

Edit: Where are you located? Good idea to add general location to your profile.

 

[Devil_Master]

There have been cases where the "protection circuit" was literally just a soldered on extra piece of metal.

Ugh.

Dealing with lithium batteries, it's best to stick to known brands, and good chargers. Yes, they are more expensive, but imo 100% worth it for peace of mind.

What batteries would you recommend?

Edit: Where are you located? Good idea to add general location to your profile.

I'd rather not be any more specific than "EU". Maybe I'm being paranoid, and I know that someone with just a little knowledge of networking protocols can find out, but I'd rather not disclose any more personal information than necessary. It's been my policy since I first got Internet access in the 1990s, and so far it has served me well.