Review: Survival Laser II 445nm - 1.8W: 1976mW Peak

[sjesper]

Survival Laser II 445nm - 1.8W​

Shipping​

Timeline:

Ordered: 25 December 2012 (Day 0)
Shipped: 26 December 2012 (Day 1) Really fast
Received: 3 January 2013 (Day 9)

Total Time: 9 Days

Gary sent the laser out really quick especially considering it was christmass when i ordered it The shipping time also included New Year's Eve so the actual time would be 8 days. :san:

All the items were packed in bubble plast so they seemed really secured Also a really weird phenomenon has happent. The carrier has treaded the package good! :wtf: I usually get a damaged box when getting things international.

The Order​

As you see i ordered the "S4 Black Anodized Aluminium" host. After seeing it irl i don't regret spending an extra $10 on it, cause i think it looks pretty awesome .

For postage method i choosed "International Priority Mail", which costed $18.00. It was as fast as promised (Usps's website says 6-10 business days).

When i bought the laser i wrote a comment about sending it declared as $12 and he did. Because of that the laser didn't got caught by the customs :wave: I also typed in a coupon code for people for people from Laser Pointer Forum which gave me 10% discount (Coupon: LPF445)

The Items​

1: Diode inside a copper module
2: Driver
3: G-1 Extended focusable lens
4: Universal Warning Label
5: Arctic Silver
6: Lens spring
7: Green silicone lens cap
8: 0.050" Allen wrench
9: Host and copper heatsink

Assembled:

The assembling took only a few minutes, cause all the hard work was already done. Nothing else to say there. :yh:

Here is a picture of my o-like 532nm and my ebay 405nm next to it for size comparing:

LPM - real power​

I asked Garry if he whould test the diode and driver with his lpm before sending it to me, and nice as he is he did it ! So here is the actual output:

Peak: 1976mW
Average: ~ 1920mW

Pretty nice considering it was sold as a 1.8W laser

You can see from the graph that the laser need to be used width it's duty cycle (60 sec on, 120 sec off). It's also getting quite hot after being on for just under 60 seconds, so i wouldn't really recommend to go over it. :tsk:

Beamshots​

If anybody is wondering - the long line on the pictures is made by the camera and is not seen in irl

Burn video​

Burning maches the easy and the hard way

If not working then click here

I might or might not upload some more later

Cons and pros​

Pros:

• Gary ships really fast after getting the order
• Great quality products
• From USA (rather shop from USA than China)
• Knowing what's inside the laser
• LPF coupon :wave:
• Good customer service
• The lasers are LPM'd

Cons:

• When i assembled the laser i couldn't focus it to infinity because the spring was too long. This was fixed by cutting half of the spring off.
• The beam quality... But this isn't really a cons, cause this is just how the G-1 lens is.

I give this product 10/10 even with the spring problem, as everying else are just perfect

 

[HitShane]

Kool build. Looks easy to setup and offers great performance. Like the price too!

My 1.9W 445 beam looks of the same brightness as yours. My camera gives a star pattern like your first pic, but with 6 points (maybe from the 3 element lens) coming from the dot. I cant see this though only the camera does. I think it looks cool.

Thanks for the review.

-Shane

 

[Pman]

Thanks for the review:thanks:

 

[BowtieGuy]

Nice review,
I also like the look of that "S4" host. The blue focus adapter is a nice touch too.
I wish survival laser could still sell "complete" kits here.

:thanks:

 

[ENX]

Awesome review and pictures! Congratulations on your new laser.

I bought one of the S4 hosts a few months ago and did a 9mm 445nm build. I really like the style and quality of this host.

Enjoy!

 

[HitShane]

Do you know if they sell those focus adapters?

 

[BowtieGuy]

Yes, survival laser sells them. They also have several other colors, such as black, violet, red, & clear anodized.

 

[Ciaran]

That focusing ring is a nice colour, and you're lucky on the delivery time, considering the time of year! This looks like a nice laser!

 

[sjesper]

Thanks for all the positive feedback.

I also really like the look and usability of the focus adapter, cause such a powerfull laser really hurts when it hits my finger :undecided:. They are avaliable here for $17.99: Extended Length Focusing Ring - Blue Anodized

 

[HitShane]

^^ The black ones and clearcoat ones are 9.99 in the us right now