The Basics
I really enjoy this laser. This is probably the best burner I own,
It burns just as well as an open can metered at 211mW. I am sure
it is near 200mW as it is noticeably brighter than a 16x burner
laser diode running at 200mA. This laser feels like it is well
built, it doesn't feel like it is going to fall apart when you set
it on a table. The fact that it has an on/off tail cap clicky
switch is a huge plus, this makes it super easy to just set down
the laser and burn from across the room. Unlike what other people
have said, the focusing lens is not loose, it is nice and sturdy.
But the biggest advantage of this laser over other lasers is that
is $53.80 shipped, this is 20% the price of WL's pulsar and it is
near twice the power. To be honest, this thing beats many of the
DIY lasers sold here for the same price!
Shipping/Packaging
Shipping for this laser took about three weeks, but it was free
and I was expecting that so I'm not going to complain. But I am
going to complain about the packaging, it sucked! For a trip from
China to here, I was expecting decent packaging. It came in a
paper envelope! Here is a picture of the packaging:
At least the laser was wrapped in bubble wrap though.
Don't worry, the laser turned out fine. There were no scratches on
it or any physical blemishes.
Here is the laser, it doesn't look as bad as the DX pictures show
it as:
One thing I found odd was that the warning sticker on the laser
was the exact same sticker that is on some Aixiz modules. This
gives me a theory that this laser could be manufactured by the
same company that manufactures Aixiz modules!
Visibility
This thing is about as bright as my DX30 from up close. One thing
to note is that this thing seems to be able to go much farther
distances than my DX30, this might be due to the fact that you can
dial down the divergence to pretty low. DX is totally BSing
everybody on the fact that this thing has a visible beam in
daytime though. The beam is pretty dim at night, it is noticeable
but it is dimmer than a 5mW green. There is also a line through
the dot, it is like that of many of our DIY lasers, but this is
only noticeable when you set the laser down and walk up to the dot
from 10 feet away.
Burning
Now for the reason why most people buy this thing: burning. This
thing is a great burner! It lights white matches with a breeze,
and I can light matches at 12 feet in just a few seconds, even
when my hand isn't steady. At 15 feet it pops balloons near
instantly. Sharpied/black matches light the INSTANT the dot is put
on them if you focus the dot to a point. You can just wave a black
match through the focused part of the beam and the match lights,
I'm not even kidding. Electrical tape is like a joke to this
thing, it cuts it like a knife. It even burns my white, pasty
skin. At this power goggles are a must, I can't believe the power
of this thing, and I only paid $54 for it! This thing would whip a
weak Pulsar ANY day, and it is only a fifth of the price. Instead
of paying $250 for 125mW of red from wicked, you could buy 1000mW
of focusable red light from DX. I also enjoy engraving stuff into
wood with this thing. Here are a few videos of the laser, the
videos are around 8MB to 11MB a piece.
