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FrozenGate by Avery

Small Sun ZY-850 30mW CR123A Greenie

R

REVENGE

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Oct 31, 2008
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I received my Small Sun ZY-850 CR123A powered green laser pointer from Quality China Goods today. It came in a fairly generous ammount of bubble and syrofoam wrap, so it was undamaged upon first inspection. Also, there was already a 3.7V battery on the inside.

First Impressions:
This laser is fairly well built. It's in a black anodized aluminum host that's almost like a Romisen L-C030 clone, but not quite so (no pin clip, apparently non-removable head, etc). The switch is a reverse clicky that's of fair quality, not the greatest.

As for the power, I don't have access to an LPM at the moment, but I can say that it visibly trumps the power of my LEDShoppe 30mW in a daylight lit room. However, one peculiarity was that this laser takes a good 10 - 20 seconds to warm up to full power. It will power on, visibly dim, then gradually power up to maximum brightness and stabilize. But I can say, beamspecs look great! Its divergence looks good, and dot shape is a very nice circle!

More detailed review to come tonight, along with some possible beamshots and the obligatory body shots. Otherwise, this is a good laser pointer for $20 (you can also purchase it from focal price for $17).

All in all, good news for US customers, because we can finally get our hands on a good L-C030-like clone!

ZY-850 from QCG
ZY-850 from FP
 





i was gonna say they were the same laser, but i compared them and this one is different.
 
frogger said:
i was gonna say they were the same laser, but i compared them and this one is different.
Click to expand...
Do you mean the one from Focal Price vs. mine from QCG? The only difference I can tell is that the one from FP has a warning label.  Otherwise, they are identical.

Tested it more last night and today.  The warmup time for this thing is kind of ridiculous, up to a minute to gain stability at max power.  It has a tendency to warm up, then drop back to min power within about 25 seconds, then stabilize at max after a minute. ::)

However, I think it's worth it, because the beam is very very thin. 8-)
 
nah, i meant this vs l-c030.

I remember my l-c030 had amazing(for a cheap greenie) divergence and beam diameter.
Is the module on this one removable, or is it like a newwish one where it is quite difficult to take it out.
 
frogger said:
nah, i meant this vs l-c030.

I remember my l-c030 had amazing(for a cheap greenie) divergence and beam diameter.
Is the module on this one removable, or is it like a newwish one where it is quite difficult to take it out.
Click to expand...
Wouldn't know, because it looks like the head is threaded, but glued in place.  I would have to wrench it open, which I'm not willing to do...

Yet. :P
 
WARNING: Do NOT use 3.6/3.7 V rated RCRs in this laser. The driver has major stability and heat issues when using them. This is particularly devious, since the laser is shipped with a 3.7V battery inside, which you should remove immediately. On a fully charged RCR, this laser took a very long time to reach max power, and then was never stable. In fact, as heat buildup increased, the laser would begin to flash, then completely stop emitting. On primary 3.0V batteries, this laser was rock solid and gave max output almost immediately. Once again, only use primary CR123As. I'm thinking low voltage RCRs should work as well, but I won't know until I've tested them.
 
REVENGE, that is a sweet-looking host for the price! Were you able to get any beam shots on this one yet?

I can say that it visibly trumps the power of my LEDShoppe 30mW in a daylight lit room.
Click to expand...

I have read that the LED Shoppe lasers are fairly accurate as far as power is concerned?, so to get a difference that was visibly noticeable, that is good indeed! :) Have you had a chance to get it near an LPM yet, or compare it to, say, the popular LED Shoppe 50mw, or that bottle one from FocalPrice that jayrob was raving about here? -

http://www.laserpointerforums.com/forums/YaBB.pl?num=1235085079/0

Similar in price, and while I suspect that one might be a bit stronger, I MUCH prefer the appearance on that host for yours! 8-)

Do you mean the one from Focal Price vs. mine from QCG? The only difference I can tell is that the one from FP has a warning label. Otherwise, they are identical.
Click to expand...

Also, are you certain that is the identical model, and not just a similar-looking Romisen L-C030 clone? The reason I ask is the FocalPrice one is less $ and thus would appear preferable, but they do not mention any key lock in their description???

Thanks!
 
Can you confirm that that the laser is no more than 30mW? I'm needing a good 30mW laser, but if it's 31 I don't want it, mostly because it will burn my eyes out. :P
 
randomlugia said:
Can you confirm that that the laser is no more than 30mW? I'm needing a good 30mW laser, but if it's 31 I don't want it, mostly because it will burn my eyes out. :P
Click to expand...
Hahaha, don't ask me, I've yet to gain access to a power meter.  Right now, all is conjecture since this seems to be the first review of this particular laser.

As for QCG vs FP, once again I want to say that they are the same laser because in the FP pictures, the laser clearly has the SMALL SUN ZY-850 etc etc engraved on the host, exactly like the one I have.

Finally, in the next week or so, I'm going to send this back to QCG and get an exchange just to be sure that I didn't permanently f*ck up the driver by using 3.6V batteries.  Once again, it seems counterintuitive that they (QCG), knowing that this laser can only handle 3.0V batteries, shipped the laser with a 3.7V battery inside.  After having used it with 3.6V RCRs for about 3 days, I began to notice increasing instability in the beam output, including the tendency to flash constantly and eventually shutoff.  After I switched to a 3.0V primary, I haven't had that particular problem again, but the laser isn't quite stable at max power all the time.

Anyways, I'd say the judgement is still out on this particular model at the moment.  It would be nice if someone would take the chance and acquire some more for testing purposes.
 
REVENGE said:
[quote author=randomlugia link=1236988065/0#9 date=1238452941]Can you confirm that that the laser is no more than 30mW? I'm needing a good 30mW laser, but if it's 31 I don't want it, mostly because it will burn my eyes out. :P
Click to expand...
Hahaha, don't ask me, I've yet to gain access to a power meter.  Right now, all is conjecture since this seems to be the first review of this particular laser.

As for QCG vs FP, once again I want to say that they are the same laser because in the FP pictures, the laser clearly has the SMALL SUN ZY-850 etc etc engraved on the host, exactly like the one I have.

Finally, in the next week or so, I'm going to send this back to QCG and get an exchange just to be sure that I didn't permanently f*ck up the driver by using 3.6V batteries.  Once again, it seems counterintuitive that they (QCG), knowing that this laser can only handle 3.0V batteries, shipped the laser with a 3.7V battery inside.  After having used it with 3.6V RCRs for about 3 days, I began to notice increasing instability in the beam output, including the tendency to flash constantly and eventually shutoff.  After I switched to a 3.0V primary, I haven't had that particular problem again, but the laser isn't quite stable at max power all the time.

Anyways, I'd say the judgement is still out on this particular model at the moment.  It would be nice if someone would take the chance and acquire some more for testing purposes.[/quote]

Thanks, I'll probably still get it. ;D
 
randomlugia said:
[quote author=REVENGE link=1236988065/0#10 date=1238458768][quote author=randomlugia link=1236988065/0#9 date=1238452941]Can you confirm that that the laser is no more than 30mW? I'm needing a good 30mW laser, but if it's 31 I don't want it, mostly because it will burn my eyes out. :P
Click to expand...
Hahaha, don't ask me, I've yet to gain access to a power meter.  Right now, all is conjecture since this seems to be the first review of this particular laser.

As for QCG vs FP, once again I want to say that they are the same laser because in the FP pictures, the laser clearly has the SMALL SUN ZY-850 etc etc engraved on the host, exactly like the one I have.

Finally, in the next week or so, I'm going to send this back to QCG and get an exchange just to be sure that I didn't permanently f*ck up the driver by using 3.6V batteries.  Once again, it seems counterintuitive that they (QCG), knowing that this laser can only handle 3.0V batteries, shipped the laser with a 3.7V battery inside.  After having used it with 3.6V RCRs for about 3 days, I began to notice increasing instability in the beam output, including the tendency to flash constantly and eventually shutoff.  After I switched to a 3.0V primary, I haven't had that particular problem again, but the laser isn't quite stable at max power all the time.

Anyways, I'd say the judgement is still out on this particular model at the moment.  It would be nice if someone would take the chance and acquire some more for testing purposes.[/quote]

Thanks, I'll probably still get it. ;D[/quote]
Best of luck, tell us how it runs. :P

Also, are you ordering from QCG or Focal?
 
REVENGE said:
[quote author=randomlugia link=1236988065/0#11 date=1238550004][quote author=REVENGE link=1236988065/0#10 date=1238458768][quote author=randomlugia link=1236988065/0#9 date=1238452941]Can you confirm that that the laser is no more than 30mW? I'm needing a good 30mW laser, but if it's 31 I don't want it, mostly because it will burn my eyes out. :P
Click to expand...
Hahaha, don't ask me, I've yet to gain access to a power meter.  Right now, all is conjecture since this seems to be the first review of this particular laser.

As for QCG vs FP, once again I want to say that they are the same laser because in the FP pictures, the laser clearly has the SMALL SUN ZY-850 etc etc engraved on the host, exactly like the one I have.

Finally, in the next week or so, I'm going to send this back to QCG and get an exchange just to be sure that I didn't permanently f*ck up the driver by using 3.6V batteries.  Once again, it seems counterintuitive that they (QCG), knowing that this laser can only handle 3.0V batteries, shipped the laser with a 3.7V battery inside.  After having used it with 3.6V RCRs for about 3 days, I began to notice increasing instability in the beam output, including the tendency to flash constantly and eventually shutoff.  After I switched to a 3.0V primary, I haven't had that particular problem again, but the laser isn't quite stable at max power all the time.

Anyways, I'd say the judgement is still out on this particular model at the moment.  It would be nice if someone would take the chance and acquire some more for testing purposes.[/quote]

Thanks, I'll probably still get it. ;D[/quote]
Best of luck, tell us how it runs. :P

Also, are you ordering from QCG or Focal?[/quote]

Probably Focal, but I won't be getting it for months. I'm saving for a ps3. ;D

EDIT: Don't quote this. I don't want it toturn into another "LPF's longest quote". ::)
 
randomlugia said:
[quote author=REVENGE link=1236988065/0#12 date=1238550736][quote author=randomlugia link=1236988065/0#11 date=1238550004][quote author=REVENGE link=1236988065/0#10 date=1238458768][quote author=randomlugia link=1236988065/0#9 date=1238452941]Can you confirm that that the laser is no more than 30mW? I'm needing a good 30mW laser, but if it's 31 I don't want it, mostly because it will burn my eyes out. :P
Click to expand...
Hahaha, don't ask me, I've yet to gain access to a power meter.  Right now, all is conjecture since this seems to be the first review of this particular laser.

As for QCG vs FP, once again I want to say that they are the same laser because in the FP pictures, the laser clearly has the SMALL SUN ZY-850 etc etc engraved on the host, exactly like the one I have.

Finally, in the next week or so, I'm going to send this back to QCG and get an exchange just to be sure that I didn't permanently f*ck up the driver by using 3.6V batteries.  Once again, it seems counterintuitive that they (QCG), knowing that this laser can only handle 3.0V batteries, shipped the laser with a 3.7V battery inside.  After having used it with 3.6V RCRs for about 3 days, I began to notice increasing instability in the beam output, including the tendency to flash constantly and eventually shutoff.  After I switched to a 3.0V primary, I haven't had that particular problem again, but the laser isn't quite stable at max power all the time.

Anyways, I'd say the judgement is still out on this particular model at the moment.  It would be nice if someone would take the chance and acquire some more for testing purposes.[/quote]

Thanks, I'll probably still get it. ;D[/quote]
Best of luck, tell us how it runs. :P

Also, are you ordering from QCG or Focal?[/quote]

Probably Focal, but I won't be getting it for months. I'm saving for a ps3. ;D

EDIT: Don't quote this. I don't want it toturn into another "LPF's longest quote". ::)[/quote]
Ok.
;D
(Last one I promise!)
 
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