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Hello all,
This is my first review, and I'm a bit of a noob so please go easy on me
The two 532nm lasers I bought from DX were:
The True 50mW Green Laser Pointer Pen Black
DealExtreme: $20.90 True 50mW Green Laser Pointer Pen Black
Price: $20.90
Max Output: <= 50mW (manufacturer rated)
Wave Length: 532nm
Output wave: Continuous wave
Class: Class 3B (update: the factory has confirmed this to be a genuine Samsung Laser Chip rated 3B)
Power: 2 x AAA battery (included)
Time to reach full laser strength: 0 to 60 seconds
Comparison: About 2 times brighter than the 10mW green laser with a bigger dot and a more visible beam
Length: 5.59 "
Width: 0.51 "
Weight: 1.98 oz
and the Focusable 50mW Green Laser Pointer with Safety Key Lock
DealExtreme: $33.49 Focusable 50mW Green Laser Pointer with Safety Key Lock (1*18650 Included)
Price: $33.49
- 50mW Green Laser Module
- Powered by 1 x 18650 battery (Included)
- Safety Key switch design -- prevents children/unauthorized persons from harming themselves
- Sealed head design prevents dusts from going in
Construction
Both the units seem well constructed and feel solid, especially the pen since it feels quite heavy for it's size. The button on the pen seems a little flimsy, but contact is good. No problems with it so far.
The button on the focusable 50 feels like it's much better constructed. The focusing mechanism seems smooth and not too loose. The key lock works although it's a bit fiddly and does seem a little bit cheaply constructed.
Overall, I'd say the construction on these two seems within reason considering the price.
In use
Both lasers have similar beam characteristics, but the divergence seem slightly better on the pen. Using the pen I was able to pop balloons and light matches with the aid of an additional lens. I'm sure the focusable 50 would be capable of the same, but I only played with it for a short while since it was bought for a friend.
The beams on both lasers look more or less the same to the eye, with the pen a little thinner where the beam emerges from the aperture. At night the beams are spectacular when shone into the air, and during the day the spots are easily visible in bright sunlight to at least 200 feet away, although the beams are not very visible. At this distance the "spot" appears to be quite diffuse and about the size of a dinner plate (or a bit bigger) when observed with the naked eye. Indoors the beams from both lasers are clearly visible in brightly lit rooms.
The focusing mechanism on the focusable 50 only serves to defocus the laser as far as I could see, so I was a little disappointed with that.
I don't have a LPM, or anything else to compare to them apart from a Sky Lasers 200 mW portable greenie that I had for a very short while, that seemed like it may have been slightly under powered. Given that these DX lasers are probably over powered, all the beams seemed more or less the same compared with the 200mW.
Bob Boyce tested the True 50mW here and he got 85mW of combined green/IR, 62mW of green.
Final thoughts
I was quite pleased with these two lasers overall, and for the money they seem like good value lasers. The examples I got are almost certainly over spec, although I can't be positive. I am considering getting another focusable 50 for myself, but I have a Genuine New Wish 5mW Green Laser Pen (One CR2 Battery) and three True Green Laser Pen 5mW on the way that I want to try first. If they can be modded to the same power levels, then I won't bother.
I neglected to get any beam measurements, but I'll try and get some and add them at some point in the future. The following beam shots were all taken with at least some degree of smoke in the room except for perhaps the first and the third from last (there probably was a little, but can't remember for sure now) using a range of exposure times.
Edit to add: I used rechargeable AAA batteries to power the pen, and had been using the same set for a while which may explain the slight difference in apparent beam brightness in the reflections in some of the following shots.
Edit to update info:
I got my laserbee so I tested the output of the True 50mW pen, and also tried to measure it's divergence. At the aperture the beam measured around 0.7mm, and at 11.67 feet it was around 5.6mm, which works out to a divergence of 1.378 mRad. Not too good!
Output testing
These tests were performed with the laser within about 1 inch of the laserbee thermopile sensor.
1st Run
After a dummy run (found that the com port had reset itself in the laserbee GUI so it was not logging!) with fresh 1000mAh AAAs, I let the pen cool down for a couple of minutes, and started another run. This time I started 2 seconds after I started logging, as you can see from the graph. I turned off the laser at the 61 second mark, but kept logging for a bit longer. The output peaked at 62mW.
2nd Run
Once again I let the laser cool down for a couple of minutes, after which I started the second run, which lasted for 52 seconds. The laser peaked at 62mW and remained there without flinching till I turned it off at 52 seconds.
3rd Run
For the final run I exchanged the old batteries for freshly charged ones, and ran the laser for 107 seconds. The peak output of 65mW was reached at the 15 second mark and maintained for 11 seconds straight, dropping down to 63mW 31 seconds into the test (must have been a draught), and then back up to 65mW at the 43 second mark, where it stayed till the 65 second mark.
After that output gradually started to decline as the diode began to heat up. The pen, I should note, did not feel any warmer to the touch... or at least I didn't notice any significant rise in temperature.
I hope to get my hands on the Focusable 50mW and run the same tests on it this weekend if all goes to plan.
This is my first review, and I'm a bit of a noob so please go easy on me
The two 532nm lasers I bought from DX were:
The True 50mW Green Laser Pointer Pen Black
DealExtreme: $20.90 True 50mW Green Laser Pointer Pen Black
Price: $20.90
Max Output: <= 50mW (manufacturer rated)
Wave Length: 532nm
Output wave: Continuous wave
Class: Class 3B (update: the factory has confirmed this to be a genuine Samsung Laser Chip rated 3B)
Power: 2 x AAA battery (included)
Time to reach full laser strength: 0 to 60 seconds
Comparison: About 2 times brighter than the 10mW green laser with a bigger dot and a more visible beam
Length: 5.59 "
Width: 0.51 "
Weight: 1.98 oz
and the Focusable 50mW Green Laser Pointer with Safety Key Lock
DealExtreme: $33.49 Focusable 50mW Green Laser Pointer with Safety Key Lock (1*18650 Included)
Price: $33.49
- 50mW Green Laser Module
- Powered by 1 x 18650 battery (Included)
- Safety Key switch design -- prevents children/unauthorized persons from harming themselves
- Sealed head design prevents dusts from going in
Construction
Both the units seem well constructed and feel solid, especially the pen since it feels quite heavy for it's size. The button on the pen seems a little flimsy, but contact is good. No problems with it so far.
The button on the focusable 50 feels like it's much better constructed. The focusing mechanism seems smooth and not too loose. The key lock works although it's a bit fiddly and does seem a little bit cheaply constructed.
Overall, I'd say the construction on these two seems within reason considering the price.
In use
Both lasers have similar beam characteristics, but the divergence seem slightly better on the pen. Using the pen I was able to pop balloons and light matches with the aid of an additional lens. I'm sure the focusable 50 would be capable of the same, but I only played with it for a short while since it was bought for a friend.
The beams on both lasers look more or less the same to the eye, with the pen a little thinner where the beam emerges from the aperture. At night the beams are spectacular when shone into the air, and during the day the spots are easily visible in bright sunlight to at least 200 feet away, although the beams are not very visible. At this distance the "spot" appears to be quite diffuse and about the size of a dinner plate (or a bit bigger) when observed with the naked eye. Indoors the beams from both lasers are clearly visible in brightly lit rooms.
The focusing mechanism on the focusable 50 only serves to defocus the laser as far as I could see, so I was a little disappointed with that.
I don't have a LPM, or anything else to compare to them apart from a Sky Lasers 200 mW portable greenie that I had for a very short while, that seemed like it may have been slightly under powered. Given that these DX lasers are probably over powered, all the beams seemed more or less the same compared with the 200mW.
Bob Boyce tested the True 50mW here and he got 85mW of combined green/IR, 62mW of green.
Final thoughts
I was quite pleased with these two lasers overall, and for the money they seem like good value lasers. The examples I got are almost certainly over spec, although I can't be positive. I am considering getting another focusable 50 for myself, but I have a Genuine New Wish 5mW Green Laser Pen (One CR2 Battery) and three True Green Laser Pen 5mW on the way that I want to try first. If they can be modded to the same power levels, then I won't bother.
I neglected to get any beam measurements, but I'll try and get some and add them at some point in the future. The following beam shots were all taken with at least some degree of smoke in the room except for perhaps the first and the third from last (there probably was a little, but can't remember for sure now) using a range of exposure times.
Edit to add: I used rechargeable AAA batteries to power the pen, and had been using the same set for a while which may explain the slight difference in apparent beam brightness in the reflections in some of the following shots.
Edit to update info:
I got my laserbee so I tested the output of the True 50mW pen, and also tried to measure it's divergence. At the aperture the beam measured around 0.7mm, and at 11.67 feet it was around 5.6mm, which works out to a divergence of 1.378 mRad. Not too good!
Output testing
These tests were performed with the laser within about 1 inch of the laserbee thermopile sensor.
1st Run
After a dummy run (found that the com port had reset itself in the laserbee GUI so it was not logging!) with fresh 1000mAh AAAs, I let the pen cool down for a couple of minutes, and started another run. This time I started 2 seconds after I started logging, as you can see from the graph. I turned off the laser at the 61 second mark, but kept logging for a bit longer. The output peaked at 62mW.
2nd Run
Once again I let the laser cool down for a couple of minutes, after which I started the second run, which lasted for 52 seconds. The laser peaked at 62mW and remained there without flinching till I turned it off at 52 seconds.
3rd Run
For the final run I exchanged the old batteries for freshly charged ones, and ran the laser for 107 seconds. The peak output of 65mW was reached at the 15 second mark and maintained for 11 seconds straight, dropping down to 63mW 31 seconds into the test (must have been a draught), and then back up to 65mW at the 43 second mark, where it stayed till the 65 second mark.
After that output gradually started to decline as the diode began to heat up. The pen, I should note, did not feel any warmer to the touch... or at least I didn't notice any significant rise in temperature.
I hope to get my hands on the Focusable 50mW and run the same tests on it this weekend if all goes to plan.
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