SkyLasers 400mW Green Portable Laser

[WackBag]

Woot! Woot! *527mW (average measured power) Green Portable Laser by SkyLasers!

Customer Service/Communications: *I received the SkyLasers 400mW 532nm Green Portable Laser from UPS earlier today. *Needless to say, not only am I impressed with the product but their customer service has been incredible. *It took 3 days to arrive from China to Alabama and the shipping cost was $14.99 *I tracked it through Alaska to my home...UPS is awesome. *Also, the SkyLasers support team has been very responsive and always answered my emails within 24 hours or less. *Now to the "Laser"

Description/Quality: *It measures about 8 inches long and less than 1 to 1 1/2 inch in diameter. *It is very substantial but not overly heavy. *I think the weight is perfect because it feels light and can be held easily for long periods of time if needed. *The finish is black anodized aluminum with nicely manufactured diamond cuts and a ribbed heat sink. *The focusing ring is well made and has a smooth (slippery) turning action (well greased). *The aperture ring twists smoothly as well and the window has a disappearing disk (slightly different then the others). *The key switch is solid and turns freely, with a not to bright blue power led between it and the red on/off button. *Finally, at the end is the standard DC signal input. *It is a 2.5mm audio plug. *I like this better then the others that use a SVHS 9 Pin plug that is a pain to line up properly. *Not the case with this model because it plugs right in. *The battery compartment holds 1 18650 Li-Ion battery. *The threads are very fine so electrical contact is not an issue. *Also I was impressed with the interior, everything is closed up. *Meaning you can't see a PCB or anything unusual. *Bottom-Line: *It is well made IMHO.

Power Measurements: *Using my LaserBee I LPM I measured a peak of 576mW's, a low of 478mW's, with an average power measurement over 2 minutes of 527mW's *After using it for over 30 minutes it still held a steady 525mW...very stable. *I will continue to check it periodically but it is definitely performing well above specs. *Also, the beam is very solid and I am guessing between 1.5 - 2.0 mm's in width.

Total Package: *It arrived in an Aluminum edged black laser case with locks and 2 keys. *The inside lid has the pyramid gray foam and the bottom is a much firmer white foam padding pre-cut to hold the laser and accessories. *The laser came sealed inside an anti-static bag. *It also comes standard with the 18650 battery charger, hand strap, and case keys. *The outside of the case has a label identifying the laser model and its serial number. *This info is also located on the base of the laser. *In addition, SkyLasers emailed me a document from the factory showing their power measurements (with graph) and a check list showing all the functions were QC'd before it left. *I also received a user's manual that was professionally written with correct diagrams of its operation. *I am attaching some pictures both taken indoors and outdoors. *And one short video burning matches *I will continue to update the review as time goes by. *I have discovered zero negative qualities with the laser or SkyLasers.net so I wholeheartedly recommend their products! *It has definitely met/exceeded my expectations!!! *More to follow...plus let me know if you have any questions

Package as received...

Comparison picture with an Aries/Crossfire style and a Nova Alpha model

Indoor Beamshot

Power Reading Stabilized

Night Time Beamshot...notice star

This is a shot hitting a tree about 200 feet away

Shooting the Saw Grass

This is a newer video of the Skylaser burning a match from about 3.5 feet in less than a second Also at the end is the laser burning a hole through a piece of paper at 20 feet in about 4 seconds. The trick is focusing the beam for the distance you want to burn

[/URL]

 

[laserlover]

looks awesome, but still they could have easily gone through tons of lasers and sent you the best one

we need someone to buy one without telling them and then do a review

 

[WackBag]

looks awesome, but still they could have easily gone through tons of lasers and sent you the best one

Well...I don't think so. Anyway, before I purchased it they sent me the factory power measurements with a serial number. Once I reviewed the specs and agreed on the unit it was mailed out. So if someone else was to purchase from them, they would do the same process. Therefore you know exactly what you are receiving. Also, they have a 7 day return policy as well as a 12 month parts/labor warranty!

 

[maxkillz]

I was just talking to them about doing a review I hope I get a good one to play with for a while as I do the review, take pictures/videos and things. I hope I don't have to pay a deposit or something :-/ me are poor

 

[sacapuntas]

How did you get it for $14.99??

 

[JapanMan2]

No1 else will be getting a free one as it costs alot of money. (especially not a 400mW one, WackBag was very lucky)

I've been chatting to them and will be purchasing a 10mW blue with $200 discount, in return for a review.


This way they aren't gaining money, however they aren't losing money either.

 

[WackBag]

How did you get it for $14.99??

Sorry...I added the word "shipping" Good catch...it was slightly more for the Total Package

 

[john_lawson]

wow 30 minutes is a very long time @ 500mw whats the suggested duty cycle for that unit ??

 

[WackBag]

Continuous

 

[DayOfShadows]

Hey what bats do they take? same ones as the red 400 mW? if so where do i get them? Thx in advance, good review btw.

 

[wesdaman14]

Nice laser !! but if its 400mw's, why in the video the first match took like 3 seconds to light at about 2 inches away ??

 

[AoiShikaku]

Nice review.. although I'm a bit disappointed. I'd think that the match would light almost instantly at that distance.

 

[wesdaman14]

Nice review.. although I'm a bit disappointed. I'd think that the match would light almost instantly at that distance.

same here, or it must of been the color of the match. You know... lasers are racists.

 

[WackBag]

Nice review.. although I'm a bit disappointed.  I'd think that the match would light almost instantly at that distance.

3 reasons...
1.  I was holding the match in my hand and I could not hold it still.
2.  The matches I used are old and red tipped.
3.  The beam at the aperture is not focused to a fine tip.  It is b/t 1.5 to 2 mm wide but should probably be less than 1 mm to burn instantly.

Good questions though.  I have a Techlasers Infinity 95 with the focused lens cap and the beam is focused to a pinpoint at 5 inches.  It will light matches instantly with no problem.  The Skylaser PGL is not really designed to light matches instantaneously, so maybe the video is not a good example of its power.  I'll try to make a video of it burning through some dark paper, it opens a finger sized hole in a matter of seconds.

Update:  Ok I added a burn using a sheet of printer paper with an area blackened by a sharpie pen.  It takes about 10 seconds to burn through then another few seconds to open up a sizeable hole.  This is 20 lb HP stock paper so it is a little bit thick  

Update #2:  I shot another video of the LaserGlow Hercules burning a hole in the same paper.  You can view it at the other review.  The Herc takes about 6 seconds to burn through.  I believe this is because the beam of the Herc is much tighter, definitely less than 1.5mm in width.  However it burns a smaller hole vs the SkyLaser PGL.  So I think the lasers are even if your goal is to burn the same amount of square area in the same amount of time ;D

 

[Deleted member 10578]

[quote author=AoiShikaku link=1227151611/0#11 date=1227229026]Nice review.. although I'm a bit disappointed.  I'd think that the match would light almost instantly at that distance.

3 reasons...
1.  I was holding the match in my hand and I could not hold it still.
2.  The matches I used are old and red tipped.
3.  The beam at the aperture is not focused to a fine tip.  It is b/t 1.5 to 2 mm wide but should probably be less than 1 mm to burn instantly.

Good questions though.  I have a Techlasers Infinity 95 with the focused lens cap and the beam is focused to a pinpoint at 5 inches.  It will light matches instantly with no problem.  The Skylaser PGL is not really designed to light matches instantaneously, so maybe the video is not a good example of its power.  I'll try to make a video of it burning through some dark paper, it opens a finger sized hole in a matter of seconds.[/quote]

Maybe the matches you used were damp?
A customer of mine made this video with his RPL-260 (closer in output to an RPL-300 than an RPL-260).
1. He was holding his RPL-260 in his hand and the 30 matches he lit were over 6 feet away and their was very high humidity in Minnesota at the time.
2. The matches he used were red in color.
3. The beam diameter at the aperture of the RPL was ~1.46 to 1.48mm in diameter, but with a divergence of ~0.9mrad and the matches being well over 6 feet away, the beam diameter at the matches would be 3.2 to 3.5mm in diameter.

So I must disagree with you on the comment that beam diameter should be 1mm or less for a 400mW laser to instantly light a match.
Did skylasers tell you that their 400mW laser is not designed to light matches instantly from such a close distance?
That just doesn't make any sense, something must have really got messed up in the translation to english.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZvcIlAotWo

In the 2nd Skylaser video, viewing by the clock, it took 17 seconds for the Skylaser to burn through a sheet of blackened paper from a distance of what appeared to be no more than 3 inches, that's completely lame for a +400mW laser at that distance. You might want to remeasure the power output, check the meter calibration and figure out what's wrong with that laser.

As a comparison,
Here's a video that a customer recently posted on youtube comparing their WL spyder II to their RPL-425 to see how fast it they burn through a piece of paper (just normal printer paper (don't know the weight of the paper, but I'm sure it's close to the same as in your video) at a distance of over 8 feet away. The video is several minutes long as they try the spyder, which never does burn a hole through the paper. They then turn the RPL-425 to the paper and estimating by the clock, it took about 3 seconds to burn a hole though the paper and project the beam on the wall beyond.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SdiRSt8pb0

 

[AoiShikaku]

well my x100 without a focusable tip was able to light it no prob, but the paper does show it's power much better than the match does. Give a shot with balloon. dont focus it to a tiny point. keep it at 1mm-1.5mm and let's see how fast it'll pop a balloon.