Hercules laser exclusive?

[swordfish]

I was going to buy a hercules from laserglow and I was told that this was exclusively manufactured by them so before I bought one I checked to see if indeed it was exclusive. I was surprised to see the very same model being sold at techlasers and even more pleasantly surprised that they're selling it cheaper...$700 cheaper. :huh:

These are the same units right?
http://www.laserglow.com/index.php?hercules
http://www.techlasers.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=43

I asked techlasers customer support and they said that this unit is indeed manufactured by CNI.

 

[Freyth]

They are NOT the same unit.

http://www.laserpointerforums.com/forums/YaBB.pl?num=1189713997

 

[jhosaki]

The Hercules laser is indeed exclusive to Laserglow, regardless of what Techlasers tells you. CNI will confirm this, and I think that they are a much more reliable source of information about the products that they sell compared to a company which just appeared a month ago. CNI has confirmed to us in writing that they have never sold any Hercules or any PGL-III/Aries over 200mW to Wickedlasers/Techlasers. I cannot post their email to us here because of confidentiality reasons, but if you doubt me you can contact Mrs. Qian at CNI directly at [email protected]

The only reasonable conclusion that I can make is that these are counterfeits and Techlasers is simply lying. I know this is a tough accusation, but I have more real evidence to support my position then they have shown to support theirs. The truth will eventually be known, I'm sure. In the meantime, just keep in mind that the good things you've heard about the Hercules laser are due in no small part to our extensive quality control process and even if another retailer somehow got their hands on a Hercules you might not get the same level of quality and output power if they are not testing as well as we are.

If you don't own a power meter, be wary dealing with new, unproven companies. There's a long list of companies that seemed trustworthy at the time, but have since evaporated when it became public knowledge that their power ratings were grossly inaccurate. If you buy a >300mW laser, you expect to get >300mW... right?

 

[Timelord]

Stick with the Hercules swordfish Justins customer service is second to none and the lasers are tried a tested 100% reliable too:twothumbs

 

[photonxiii]

Counterfeit lasers? I don't know about tech laser's version of the hercules but the 200mW laser I bought from them performs up to par. I have a meter and it performs at 220mW+ average out put. :huh:

I almost didn't buy from them because a lot of people were telling me not to...but a friend also bought a laser from them and told me it was OK so I placed my order and a week later I have a shiny new laser and saved a few hundred bucks because they're cheaper . :huh:

Anyway, it all boils down to how much do you really want to spend on a laser.

 

[jhosaki]

If you'll notice, the Techlasers website used to say "Official CNI Distributor" but they were forced to remove that (by CNI) because it was a lie. They also used to claim that all of their products are made by CNI, but now there are only specific products listed as being CNI manufactured. It seems like they started with a website full of lies and now there're editing them out one-by-one as they get caught. I'm glad that you got a working, up-to-spec laser from them but I have serious worries about the business ethics of a company that only tells the truth when they are forced to.

 

[bootleg2go]

Counterfeit lasers? I don't know about tech laser's version of the hercules but the 200mW laser I bought from them performs up to par. I have a meter and it performs at 220mW+ average out put. :huh:

I almost didn't buy from them because a lot of people were telling me not to...but a friend also bought a laser from them and told me it was OK so I placed my order and a week later I have a shiny new laser and saved a few hundred bucks because they're cheaper . :huh:

Anyway, it all boils down to how much do you really want to spend on a laser.

Hi Photonxiii,
I don't really think you got any deal at all and in fact spent more than if you would have bought the RPL-200 rather than a counterfeit.

By the time you buy a battery, charger, and other costs, the counterfeit you got cost you about $23 more and on top of that you didn't get the free 5mW green pointer and you only have a 6 month rather than 12 month warranty that comes with the higher reliability of the RPL....not to mention a guaranteed divergence of less than 1.0mrad vs 1.4mrad of the counterfeit.

Checkout the this thread comparing the costs.
http://www.laserpointerforums.com/forums/YaBB.pl?num=1189815046

Cheers
Jack

 

[Aseras]

what kind of meter you got photonxiii?

I'd be interested to know if they are IR filtered properly. Not necessarily for safety, but for inflating measurments on silicon based sensors.

I can make a ~50 mw green ( modded leadlight ) score over 200mw on a lasercheck by removing the IR filter.

 

[photonxiii]

I used a coherent lasercheck.

 

[swordfish]

It was a tough decision, but taking into account all of the arguments above, I decided to drop getting a titan/hercules altogether. I bought a crossfire 300mW instead and I'm quite happy with it.

I've already made two videos and posted them on youtube. Just search for "350mW" or "techlasers" if any of you are interested to see them. I'll see if I can post the links later or something. Too lazy...

 

[nero_design]

I remember writing to CNI quite some time ago (2 years?) and inquired about similar models to the Herc when these things were lower powered than they are today. Same design with the heatsink on one end and the D-Cells in the other. By the time the Herc came out, these things had reached epic scales! My questions to them related to whether or not I could buy without the need for all the 'safety' activation features (key interlocks etc).

They wrote back and showed me diagrams for two versions, one with key and one without but said that I could only obtain the keyed versions. I think there was a cheaper option for bulk-buy at the time.

With the same design floating around from numerous suppliers these days, I have no idea who gets 'exclusives' although I've just obtained a so called "TITAN" from Tech Lasers today and it certainly looks exactly the same as the HERCULES. Right down to the materials and finish and the placement of ventilation holes etc. Unless someone can show me a difference, there's no reason for me to think that they are anything but authentic and from the same supplier. Would take an awful lot of expense to make many of these parts from scratch. It's not like a simple mold-casing is duped and then filled with similar electronics... and I notice they seem to carry the full range of previously seen models. I wrote to CNI a few days ago for verification pending the arrival of review models but they're not prepared to discuss any specifics on their clients leading me to believe they do have deals with other suppliers. Time will tell I suppose.

 

[Aseras]

From what I can see the Titan looks like the OLD model hercules. The new ones have a removeable laser tube, so you can unscrew the footlong battery tube and just use the head portion. I've also heard that the new ones are tec regulated and not just aircooled like the older non removable tube models.

I just recieved one of the newer models because I had to have an old model repaired and laserglow exchanged it. I'll get some pics up soon.

 

[Freyth]

Counterfeit lasers? I don't know about tech laser's version of the hercules but the 200mW laser I bought from them performs up to par. I have a meter and it performs at 220mW+ average out put. :huh:

I almost didn't buy from them because a lot of people were telling me not to...but a friend also bought a laser from them and told me it was OK so I placed my order and a week later I have a shiny new laser and saved a few hundred bucks because they're cheaper . :huh:

Anyway, it all boils down to how much do you really want to spend on a laser.

Have you checked it's divergence? Techlasers claim that their Skybolt have a divergence of <1.00mRad. I'm interested in finding out whether this is really true.

 

[lazerlover]

From what I can see the Titan looks like the OLD model hercules. The new ones have a removeable laser tube, so you can unscrew the footlong battery tube and just use the head portion. I've also heard that the new ones are tec regulated and not just aircooled like the older non removable tube models.

I just recieved one of the newer models because I had to have an old model repaired and laserglow exchanged it. I'll get some pics up soon.

Aseras,

Yet another accusation of WL and TL products, which is fine, as I have no idea about the Titan/Hercules. But I think you should at least respond to my post here, when you called the WL military laser weapon an "overpriced focusadjustable laser."

http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=175427

 

[Aseras]

I replied, I'm a bit of a lurker here so I'm not around all the time.

I've got some pics of the current hercules I'll post this weekend.