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FrozenGate by Avery

Review of JetLasers 465nm 1.4w PL-E Mini

Joined
Dec 6, 2016
Messages
13
Points
3
Hi, this is my first review so please take it easy :D

There is already a review of this laser and it's really good, I just wanted to write about my own thoughts on it.

I already had many lasers and I spent a lot of money on them. I was interested in the wavelength of 465nm, but when I looked at
comparisons between 445-450nm and 465nm, I could not justify a purchase because I thought the colors were very similar. I couldn't
imagine how different they were, but I'm glad I was wrong.
The difference in person is really remarkable and the color is simply amazing.


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About the delivery...
...I ordered the laser on the 8th of April, I sent a message to gray via the webpage when I paid through paypal and the payment was
accepted in a few hours. From there it went quite slow, shipping after 1 week in mid 16th of April and then it went really fast, only 4 days
to arrive from China to Argentina. I couldn't believe how fast it was. I ordered many things from around the world and this package was
the fastest one to date. It arrived in perfect condition with the laser, the expander and a charger (which I didn't order but they seem
to gave it to me for free, thanks) well protected in anti-static wrap and bubblewrap. The box that says JetLasers is a nice touch.


EGkj8vu.jpg


WXRgNIP.jpg


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The quality...
When I opened the package and got the laser and expander in my hands I was impressed with the outstanding build quality.
I'm really happy because I felt that the amount of money I paid for this product was well worth it. The detail that this laser has
is just amazing, the focus ring built-in the laser and expander works perfect and shows how professional this product looks. It just
screams quality everywhere you look. I don't have enough words to describe it. The led lights are a nice adition to make sure you
don't forget to turn it off when you are not going to use it and the switches of the buttons seem to be pretty good with quality clicky
sounds, the fact that you have two options to choose (momentary or continous power) is really something I didn't consider, but
now I would want every laser to come like that.


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When I first powered the laser...
As I said I couldn't believe that this would be so good, I expected it to have a failure or something, was just so perfect. I powered
the laser and immidiately the difference between 445 and 465nm was obvious, a perfect blue beam with no signs of violet or purple.
I don't have my 1w guardian around since it stopped working suddenly and i'm waiting for a module replacement but i'm pretty sure
this one feels at least two times brighter, I don't have a power meter but I'm sure is 1400mw if not better since they have an excelent
reputation and most lasers come overspec. Battery life seems fine (if you have two more ready to swap), I'm using two Efest 700mah3.7v
batteries and for a total usage time of 5 minutes both batteries end up at around 50% (See batteries test below) I'll try
16340's later. I don't know too much about batteries but the efest are "high drain batteries 7a/10.5a, maybe that makes a difference.
It took me a little bit of time to get use to the focus system, there is a white line indicating where the focus is and that really helps.
I never calculated the divergence of a laser before, I'll see if I can do that later. But divergence seems to be pretty good, even better than
my 1W 520nm guardian g7. When everything was perfect and started playing more with the laser I realized something, the splash of this
laser is almost non existant, which really blew me away. The last time I saw the cleanest dot in a laser was a 532nm, and this laser only
has a halo around the dot that is basically invisible. I have many lasers and neither one of them has a clean dot like this one has.


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Sanwu 1w 520nm vs JetLasers 1.4w 465nm (Splash and dot comparison ONLY)

I decided to showcase this with Sanwu 1w 520nm because it's the one that shows a drastic difference. This lasers are
different wavelengths, diodes, etc. I'm not saying that one or the other is bad, I love both lasers, and the 520nm is the
brightest one I've ever had. I just want to show a difference, so this picture is really dark when both lasers are
actually really bright.


PtY2Dri.jpg


LKOBETE.jpg


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I realized...
I had in my hands the best laser I've ever wished for. I mean, I really love sanwu lasers and the form factor of the guardian but
honestly I feel this laser went beyond my expectations. There are only a few things that I think could be improved/changed: The
continous button has a squishy sound when pressed and it's quite stiff (this may be just because it's new, will see).
The lens of the laser is not perfectly glued-in, there are a tiny couple of missed spots but it's really nothing at all more than just me nitpicking
at it. When screwing the expander onto the laser due to the threads being painted (which probably shouldn't be) some microscopic paint
particles can fall into the lens (See last post about the expander), this does nothing but if someone unexperienced tried to clean the
laser with that, is going to really scratch it. Fortunately since the hole for the lens is really wide it's really easy to clean with a lenspen micropro
(first brush side then lens cleaning side). While at this I will really recommend to anyone that has a laser pointer to get a lenspen micropro, while
inexpensive it will last a long time and will make sure your lasers lens are fresh as new.


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Some notes about the expander...
I really like it. Build quality is amazing as the laser, it came without a single scratch and should be really easy to clean if
needed. I didn't like the fact that the power is greatly reduced when using it with this laser, since the aperture hole is small (smaller than
the guardian expander) about 25-35% power is reduced which really hurts this laser in particular. The 532nm laser shouldn't be as affected
since the beam in that one is really thin and can go through easily.


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Some pictures (maybe i'll add some later)

yIRcjQP.jpg


tYlniEg.jpg


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0ANeBmG.jpg


IrKjZsV.jpg


7SmzDPD.jpg


GtpoSqj.jpg


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jtVAUs7.jpg


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Edit
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Battery test
I've used two Efest 700mah 18350's 3.7v vs Fenix 700mah 16340's 3.7v for this test along with a Nitecore um20 usb charger. 100% in
the charger is around 4.2v and 0% should be around 2.8v to give an idea. Both batteries were charged to 100% and I powered the laser
for 1 minute, 5 times in total with 1 minute cooling off in between. I started testing 18350's, and when I was done I've let the laser cool
off for a couple of minutes then resumed with 16340's testing. The results are 83-84% on the 18350's and 76-77% on the 16340's. The
efest ones are high drain batteries 7a/10.5a and seemed to perform better with the laser overall. 20-25% usage for 5 minutes of play
time is pretty good, so i'm happy with that, I have 6 of this batteries anyways but it's nice to not have to swap them all the time.


KJoasBP.jpg
sLTZIvG.jpg


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Edit 2
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465nm 1.4W (JetLasers PL-E Mini) vs 800Mw (Sanwu Guardian) vs 1W 520nm (Sanwu Guardian)

I played around with the raw file of this laser image to give the most accurate representation of the beam and 465nm color
as it could look like in person, I would say is around 85% close. Note that the colors may not be the most accurate in
the beam comparisons, though I tried my best to calibrate the images to replicate how it really looks. Fog was used
to enhance the beams.


irElU2P.jpg


1NoDhBj.jpg


E7oQGxX.jpg


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Some bad news about my expander:
I guess the paint particles that the expander was leaving when screwing it on the laser were not normal, about 1 day ago
I wasn't able to screw the expander onto the laser anymore because it does not stay in place. I've already sent a message
to Gray and he told me he is willing to send an adapter replacement so I am relieved. Though as I said before, this expander
cuts off around 30-40% of laser power, so the 532/473nm lasers are the only ones that will show no signs of power loss
when using the expander.


If I forget something i'll add it later.

Thanks for reading!


PD: Thanks BobMc for always willing to help!
 
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Congratulations on your purchase. I'm glad you are happy with it. I'd like to see some comparison beam shot of a 445nm and this one. Remember you get the best beam shots in a room that isn't well lit and the best coming from the laser toward you and second best from the laser going out.
 
Nice unit and review:) One day I would love have any Jet Laser!
I'm a bit confused about the battery's? 5 minute run time and they are %50 down? The laser wouldn't work at that point. You plan on 16340's so what are you using now and are they Efest's?
 
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Great review. I like not only the information you provided and how it is written, but also how you structured it, quality pics and nice comparsion with your 520 nm laser. Definitely you added some value to LPF. Thanks for a great job and sharing it. Rep+

For sensitive cleaning of sharp dust from lens I personally use filtered blowing balloon designed for camera lens cleaning, it can be bought in any good photo store. Just make sure you hold the lens facing ground to allow dust falling off. Then you might proceed for other cleaning methods if needed.

Maybe you could add more beam shots showing dot in various distances with and without beam expander (do not forget to play with focus a little bit). Also I would appreciate some detailed shot of BE input lens with ruler next to it to see its dimensions. Just some tips.

I also have BE but for my 473 nm PL-E Pro and I could not figure out how to adjust focus on it. I suspect it is not focussable. I just wonder if BE for mini could be mounted to adapter for Pro version. As the adapter itself is composed of three pieces - one for laser, one for beam expander and one to fix these two together and allow beam position adjustment. The mini BE adapter looks to be done the same way. You could possibly discuss also this adapter with some measurments in review. Maybe I order Mini BE in addition to be able to focus. Also I noticed there is much better lens protection cap on this BE, for the Pro version there is just rubber one, which catches dust and falls off a lot. Is there also lens cap for input lens supplied with Mini BE?
Thanks.
 
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Excellent review, especially for your first one, very good read :gj:. Glad your happy with it. Looks and sound like a great unit. (Have a JL mini so I know about the the quality.) That is a pretty blue color, very tight and impressive dot. Enjoy that guy and a great addition to your collection.

Ps, and thanks :)
 
Congratulations on your purchase. I'm glad you are happy with it. I'd like to see some comparison beam shot of a 445nm and this one. Remember you get the best beam shots in a room that isn't well lit and the best coming from the laser toward you and second best from the laser going out.

Thank you, I took a few images of my 445nm 1w guardian before so i'm going to upload a comparison whenever I can.

Nice unit and review:) One day I would love have any Jet Laser!
I'm a bit confused about the battery's? 5 minute run time and they are %50 down? The laser wouldn't work at that point. You plan on 16340's so what are you using now and are they Efest's?

Thanks! I think this laser will stop working at around 40% total battery, but i'll update the review with a proper test of both battery types in a few hours. Right now i'm using Efest 700mah 18350 high drain batteries which are pretty new and I'll compare them to Fenix 700mah 16340 batteries which seem to drain quite faster.

Great review. I like not only the information you provided and how it is written, but also how you structured it, quality pics and nice comparsion with your 520 nm laser. Definitely you added some value to LPF. Thanks for a great job and sharing it. Rep+

For sensitive cleaning of sharp dust from lens I personally use filtered blowing balloon designed for camera lens cleaning, it can be bought in any good photo store. Just make sure you hold the lens facing ground to allow dust falling off. Then you might proceed for other cleaning methods if needed.

Maybe you could add more beam shots showing dot in various distances with and without beam expander (do not forget to play with focus a little bit). Also I would appreciate some detailed shot of BE input lens with ruler next to it to see its dimensions. Just some tips.

I also have BE but for my 473 nm PL-E Pro and I could not figure out how to adjust focus on it. I suspect it is not focussable. I just wonder if BE for mini could be mounted to adapter for Pro version. As the adapter itself is composed of three pieces - one for laser, one for beam expander and one to fix these two together and allow beam position adjustment. The mini BE adapter looks to be done the same way. You could possibly discuss also this adapter with some measurments in review. Maybe I order Mini BE in addition to be able to focus. Also I noticed there is much better lens protection cap on this BE, for the Pro version there is just rubber one, which catches dust and falls off a lot. Is there also lens cap for input lens supplied with Mini BE?
Thanks.

Thank you very much!

About the cleaning I forgot about that duster blower, that should work fine as well though I must say that some paint particles seemed stuck onto the lens unless I used the brush, but both tools should work fine or better in conjunction.

I'll see what I can do about the beam expander comparison, I'll try it later at night. About the dimensions I'll take a few pictures in a bit with a ruler and upload them later with the rest.
The beam expander on the pro should be focusable aswell, the thing is that your 473nm laser has already a much better divergence and thinner beam that when you reduce it by 10x is not going to make a lot of difference unless really distant, at least for what I realized when using sanwu expander on a 532nm laser. Good news is that basically 100% of light goes through the input lens. Going to update the review with a comparison of sanwu expander vs the jetlasers one with dimensions.
The cap its pretty good and should protect it pretty well, the input lens has no cap though but should be noted that if you keep the expanded with the adapter screwed there is about 2-3 cm of space so dust is a small issue.

Nice , i've the "big" version ! :drool:
Thanks! I hope you love it as I do :yh:

Excellent review, especially for your first one, very good read :gj:. Glad your happy with it. Looks and sound like a great unit. (Have a JL mini so I know about the the quality.) That is a pretty blue color, very tight and impressive dot. Enjoy that guy and a great addition to your collection.

Ps, and thanks :)

Thank you I tried to do my best :P
I still think the color is much better in person, but i'll take more pictures of the beam and try to make it look more "true to life". I will do that :D
 
Thanks for the nice overview. Great pics. I have a question about the new BE. I have found I cannot converge the beam with this expander on my 532 mini. I'm wondering if it's just the one I have or if there is something else to it.
 
TheWors3, off the subject again of such a nice laser..How are you measuring your battery's?
These battery's cannot go less than 2.8V without ruining them to the point they might not recharge and still even 2.8V is risky:thinking:
Also those Efest's your using are decent battery's and I can't see the somewhat smaller Fenix's out running them. Since your unit can take 18350's I would stick with that size.
 
Thanks for the nice overview. Great pics. I have a question about the new BE. I have found I cannot converge the beam with this expander on my 532 mini. I'm wondering if it's just the one I have or if there is something else to it.

Thanks, as I told Radim the reason for that should be the divergence of the laser itself. Basically the divergence on 473nm and 532nm is pretty low and even when expanded 10x at the output there is not going to be a lot of difference. It will be quite hard to choose where to focus the expander unless looking really in the distance when the difference should be at least a bit noticiable. The good thing is that basically all the light goes through the lens input.

TheWors3, off the subject again of such a nice laser..How are you measuring your battery's?
These battery's cannot go less than 2.8V without ruining them to the point they might not recharge and still even 2.8V is risky:thinking:
Also those Efest's your using are decent battery's and I can't see the somewhat smaller Fenix's out running them. Since your unit can take 18350's I would stick with that size.

Sorry I forgot to write that I'm using a nitecore um20 charger and I the percentage I wrote I took it from there. I've used a multimeter and a 15% battery from nitecore is around 2.95v. I recharge the batteries when they are around 30% so it shouldn't be a problem. 100% nitecore is 4.15-4.2v in the multimeter.
I'll use the 18350's since I get more runtime out of them and I feel more secure using those instead of 16340's. I don't know too much about batteries but i'll take notes from what you said, so thanks!
 
The Wors3
I just want to show a difference, so this picture is really dark when both lasers are actually really bright.[/B]

PtY2Dri.jpg


LKOBETE.jpg


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[/QUOTE]

I've one question. The spot looks round. What is its true shape?
 
I've one question. The spot looks round. What is its true shape?

It is a multidiode laser so it has a rectangular shape, but you can get fooled that it is single mode (even more with how clean the dot is) unless looking at the dot I would say 20 meters+.

Edit: multiMODE not multidiode, sorry.
 
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Excellent review and pictures----better than most 1st time reviews.
Nice job---very nice laser --be safe use laser goggles ---enjoy it. +rep
 
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