I've been here almost a month so I am going to do what I can to "give back" to these great forums by reviewing some of the lasers I have bought. Hopefully the information will be useful to someone.
My first review is on the O-Like 405nm 400mw Waterproof Torch. I know this is a common laser and has been reviewed several times but everyone has a different perspective to offer.
This laser sells for $109 on the O-Like site and it costs an additional $8 for standard "slow" shipping. (I do not see this laser on their site as of June 5th 2011). I paid via PayPal e-check as for some reason it was the only option available to me. This caused my payment to be held for 10 business days. My laser was shipped the day it cleared and arrived in Canada from China in about a week. Pretty good. I also had a few email exchanges with Susie from O-Like and my questions were answered promptly, but not with a great amount of detail.
One thing I must comment on was that I made a request to have the spring and driver board inside the laser reinforced with foam as I read that on these models this area is unsupported and sometimes a weak point. My laser arrived with the requested modification and appears to be well secured internally.
No instructions were supplied but searching the forums revealed that the battery should be inserted negative end first and that the duty cycle is somewhere around 1 minute on, 30 seconds off. This seems quite conservative based on the power output and the fact that this laser barely warms up after a minute of use.
The tail button has a nice action and seems sturdy enough to stand up to repeated use. The focus knob has a good deal of resistance but does turn smoothly with the required effort. The aluminium body of the laser is nicely crafted.
Some pictures...
The assembled laser :
Broken down to three main pieces :
Better view of the business end :
Supplied battery and charger :
Nice case :
And now the power test :
As you can see this laser falls far short of it's advertised 400mw output. I was able to get a peak of 329mw with the laser focused to about a 3-4mm point (as much as I can tell with my goggles on) at a distance of 6" from the LPM sensor.
To be honest I am not disappointed as it does burn quite well and is solidly constructed and allegedly waterproof. I would have happily ordered it if advertised at 300mw for the same price. I'm looking forward to taking it camping this summer and testing it's waterproofing and fire-starting abilities. As a bonus the beam is quite hard to see and should help to avoid attracting unwanted attention if used carefully.
Overall I am happy with this purchase and with O-Like.
My first review is on the O-Like 405nm 400mw Waterproof Torch. I know this is a common laser and has been reviewed several times but everyone has a different perspective to offer.
This laser sells for $109 on the O-Like site and it costs an additional $8 for standard "slow" shipping. (I do not see this laser on their site as of June 5th 2011). I paid via PayPal e-check as for some reason it was the only option available to me. This caused my payment to be held for 10 business days. My laser was shipped the day it cleared and arrived in Canada from China in about a week. Pretty good. I also had a few email exchanges with Susie from O-Like and my questions were answered promptly, but not with a great amount of detail.
One thing I must comment on was that I made a request to have the spring and driver board inside the laser reinforced with foam as I read that on these models this area is unsupported and sometimes a weak point. My laser arrived with the requested modification and appears to be well secured internally.
No instructions were supplied but searching the forums revealed that the battery should be inserted negative end first and that the duty cycle is somewhere around 1 minute on, 30 seconds off. This seems quite conservative based on the power output and the fact that this laser barely warms up after a minute of use.
The tail button has a nice action and seems sturdy enough to stand up to repeated use. The focus knob has a good deal of resistance but does turn smoothly with the required effort. The aluminium body of the laser is nicely crafted.
Some pictures...
The assembled laser :
Broken down to three main pieces :
Better view of the business end :
Supplied battery and charger :
Nice case :
And now the power test :
As you can see this laser falls far short of it's advertised 400mw output. I was able to get a peak of 329mw with the laser focused to about a 3-4mm point (as much as I can tell with my goggles on) at a distance of 6" from the LPM sensor.
To be honest I am not disappointed as it does burn quite well and is solidly constructed and allegedly waterproof. I would have happily ordered it if advertised at 300mw for the same price. I'm looking forward to taking it camping this summer and testing it's waterproofing and fire-starting abilities. As a bonus the beam is quite hard to see and should help to avoid attracting unwanted attention if used carefully.
Overall I am happy with this purchase and with O-Like.
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