Hercules is here. Fantastic. REVIEW INSIDE! (pics)(updated 2)

Chief117

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I recently recieved a Hercules-450mW unit from www.LaserGlow.com. I am now reviewing it.

First impressions:
The box is big, and when I first opened it the first thing I noticed was - - - foam. Tons of it. Shock resistant foam. Inside all of that is a static resistant bag with the Hercules inside of it. It comes with instructions and guidelines. Its a large unit, but it beats my benched modules by far. Here are some pics:

The unit:

http://putfile.com/pic.php?pic=4/11616171944.jpg&s=x402

Next to a pop can:

http://putfile.com/pic.php?pic=4/10422063514.jpg&s=x402

It runs on 3x "D" Batteries:

http://putfile.com/pic.php?pic=4/11616125776.jpg&s=x402

Next to an Inova X5:

http://putfile.com/pic.php?pic=4/11616161596.jpg&s=x402

The next thing that I noticed was the keys. One of them has a key ring with two keys on it. The other is like a DC jack with a bit of wire on the back. The first one fits rather loosely, but is secure. The second one is VERY secure.

http://putfile.com/pic.php?pic=4/11616150036.jpg&s=x402

The moment of truth: I turned it on. The blue indicator LED is REALLY bright. The delay is actually more like five seconds than two. But the wait is worth it - - - WOW.

I was so proud of this pic that I actually sent it to LaserGlow.com!

http://putfile.com/pic.php?pic=4/11616103516.jpg&s=x402

http://putfile.com/pic.php?pic=4/11616365528.jpg&s=x402

http://putfile.com/pic.php?pic=4/11616375957.jpg&s=x402

_____________________________________________________________________

Matches, less than a second.
Tape, 0.5 seconds.
Trash bags, wrote my name in the same time i could with a pencil.
Popcorn, 4 seconds
Baloons, how fast can you say pop?

I am going to take shots tonight of it outside. When I take it to my lab on friday I will measure power. VERY stable, right out of the box. No visible fluctuations at all. Beam diameter is very tight, you can see that from the pics.

Over the coming weeks I will continue to update this review, with more pictures and opinions.

One more thing - - - To all laser owners - - - when your laser came it was really bright, right? Did it seem to degrade slightly in power? I think that its just my imagination, and I am just getting used to the beam's brightness. Has anyone else experienced this? Will measure power tomorrow.

Hey Spyder, get out of the way.

May 1st, 2006: I have noticed an interesting characteristic of this unit. When left alone for a few minutes, the internal fan slows down upon the next powerup. But when turned off and than on a few times, the fan is so good that the laser actually vibrates. The speed of the fan makes only about 30mW of difference, but I just wanted to point this out. Also, I laserchecked it on friday. Its seems that laserglow.com was spot on with their average readings, I am getting an average of about 456mW. Also, laserglow.com informed me that putting a small fan next to the heatsink helped power and stability. Boy were they right. The output power jumps about 23mW and the stability increases significantly. Even blowing on the heatsink with your own breath raises the output slightly. Wanted to point that out as well. Its raining right now, its expected to stop around 8:00 tonight. Guess what? FOG! Will take pics. On a final note, the hercules is working very well for the application that I am using it for, and I will take it back next friday for another series of usage.

May 9th, 2006: I noticed something interesting that might affect all green lasers. I took it out on my porch and I shined it up in the sky, and I noticed that it actually looked alot brighter against the lighter areas of the sky than the darker ones. I live on the outskirts of the city of Chicago, and the clouds reflect street lights. They look brown. Definately lighter than the pitch black sky. And yet the beam is alot brighter against them than the clear sky. Also, another interesting feature. The divergence on this laser is fabulous. But it seems that right at the very end of the beam it seems to widen more than along the length of the beam. Sort of like this:
..................................,,,,,,, I just thought that I would post this, has anyone else noticed this?

May 9th, 2006
Just tested it randomly, peak output with a fan is 477mW.
 
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Snee

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Re: Hercules is here. Fantastic. REVIEW INSIDE! (pics)

:rock:
Truly awesome man.
 

Chief117

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Re: Hercules is here. Fantastic. REVIEW INSIDE! (pics)

The rest of you are going to leave me hanging?
 

Yobresal

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Re: Hercules is here. Fantastic. REVIEW INSIDE! (pics)

Nice laser Chief, I am going to go with voltage. The power is dropping with battery power.
 

Athoul

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Re: Hercules is here. Fantastic. REVIEW INSIDE! (pics)

There could be a few things that might cause this. I tried to address this on Wickeds forum where you posted it also, but it could be due to a burn in process or the heat generated is causing the diode to shift every so slightly in frequency such that the output drops a tad. Same goes for the crystals, as they get hot they change their dynamics, though of course this can also be just the initial spike of the laser you are seeing and should not really be considered part of it's output. So it's hard to say exactly, though I know what you are describing. I'm going to go with it being either an initial spike, or a diode freq shift due to heat(this will be tiny, say like from 808nm to 809nm).
 

Chief117

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Re: Hercules is here. Fantastic. REVIEW INSIDE! (pics)

Heh, it was the voltage. New batteries in, good as new.:sold: :sold: :sold:
 

AJ_Dual

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Re: Hercules is here. Fantastic. REVIEW INSIDE! (pics)

A lightsaber alone, does not a Jedi make...

Wise in the ways of the force, he must be.


:D
 

pb_paulie_b

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Re: Hercules is here. Fantastic. REVIEW INSIDE! (pics)

Thats ungodly power. With that much power EVERYTHING is reflective :)
 

fluorescent

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Re: Hercules is here. Fantastic. REVIEW INSIDE! (pics)

the Hercules on the website only goes up to 350 how did you manage to get a 450? what did it set you back?
 

pixar

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Re: Hercules is here. Fantastic. REVIEW INSIDE! (pics)

Hi,

Wow - what a laser - not sure what I am more surprised at, the power or the size of the beast :) Larger than I had gathered from pictures I had seen on their site.

So far I have a red laser / led torch and a 100mw greenie on route to me - I hope customs do not stop it or charge the earth.

If it arrives I will be too worried to turn it on until I get the glasses sorted out. I have no way to check power at present and have worries about IR radiation in case the filter is faulty or gets dislodged.

Be nice to get more details of the Hercules as and when you get time to play.
 

Pixel

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Re: Hercules is here. Fantastic. REVIEW INSIDE! (pics)

I don't get it. For half that money you can get 1000mW green or red laser module or 200mW Blue laser module. True - the laser modules with power supply are not quite portable. But neither is Hercules.
 

blindside

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Re: Hercules is here. Fantastic. REVIEW INSIDE! (pics)(updated)

Hey YEA F*CK right!

The herc is like carrying around a frickin laptop and trying to like shine with it. The thing takes 3, yes 3 D batteries, and the piece comes ina box like a frickin dell pc. The beam is supposedly solid, but at that cost, for 10 stinking pounds and 1 foot long to lug around, I think not. Plus, a bit of water and the thing is ruined, the heatsink gets fried, and wait a second, IT NEED ITS OWN HEATINK!!!! anyone else think that is stupid? Ads weight and size, and who really is leaving thei laser on for like 4 hours, come on you'll end up spending like $2,000 a yeaer on D batteries. The herc 300-400 is bs, bottom line. And this "review" with video is a load of hogwash spam BOO BOO :xyxgun:
where are the real lasers? the ones that work and don't weight 100 lbs, and cost 20$ to light up with 5 lbs of batteries, laser stinks. Sorry to anyone who got their *** handed to them on the price. Idk, for the cost the spyder beat it, and I can take the thing 200 feet underwater? COME ON, thats ridiculous. Thinklasers and wickedlasers have em, idk who else. But these def outdue any herc, half the size, feels great, idk cost less. No lugging around 15 lbs of gear. Anyone actually use a spyder though? are they as bad *** as they look, and do they really go for 80,000 hours? idk, but sounds ridic.
 

bootleg2go

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Re: Hercules is here. Fantastic. REVIEW INSIDE! (pics)(updated)

I would take this "review" with a grain of salt.
Chief117 was recently banned over at the WL forums after it was found and the recordings posted in the WL forums show that the voice on Chief's hercules 450 video and voice as the owner of laserglow were very similar.

Jack
 

Kiessling

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Re: Hercules is here. Fantastic. REVIEW INSIDE! (pics)(updated)

blindside said:
Hey YEA F*CK right!

The herc is like carrying around a frickin laptop and trying to like shine with it. The thing takes 3, yes 3 D batteries, and the piece comes ina box like a frickin dell pc. The beam is supposedly solid, but at that cost, for 10 stinking pounds and 1 foot long to lug around, I think not. Plus, a bit of water and the thing is ruined, the heatsink gets fried, and wait a second, IT NEED ITS OWN HEATINK!!!! anyone else think that is stupid? Ads weight and size, and who really is leaving thei laser on for like 4 hours, come on you'll end up spending like $2,000 a yeaer on D batteries. The herc 300-400 is bs, bottom line. And this "review" with video is a load of hogwash spam BOO BOO :xyxgun:
where are the real lasers? the ones that work and don't weight 100 lbs, and cost 20$ to light up with 5 lbs of batteries, laser stinks. Sorry to anyone who got their *** handed to them on the price. Idk, for the cost the spyder beat it, and I can take the thing 200 feet underwater? COME ON, thats ridiculous. Thinklasers and wickedlasers have em, idk who else. But these def outdue any herc, half the size, feels great, idk cost less. No lugging around 15 lbs of gear. Anyone actually use a spyder though? are they as bad *** as they look, and do they really go for 80,000 hours? idk, but sounds ridic.

blindside ... your posting style, your language and your ad hominem attacks and general attitude do not fit well within our atmosphere at CPF. Please take 7 days off to reconsider your behaviour and style.
You are :banned: for 7 days, and if you choose to come back, please make sure you comply with our standards. Thank you.

This temporary ban does not have anything to do with a possible truth in your statements, it is merely a consequence of a totally unacceptable first post.

In general, the world of lasers and the intrigues and fights within that realm are very disappointing. This here is no exception.

bernhard
 

Chief117

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Re: Hercules is here. Fantastic. REVIEW INSIDE! (pics)(updated)

First of all, the hercules weighs three pounds and its no heavier than carrying around a schoolbook.

Second of all, I was banned from the wicked lasers forums, but not because of the voice comparisons. I recieved two spyder lasers, both 300mW, one was a replacement, and in ym experience they were both terrible. I posted that they were not very good on the wicked lasers forums. I switched to laserglow.com and they delivered an excellent unit. I posted that the hercules was fantastic on the wicked lasers forum. I was banned from their forums because wicked lasers didnt want me to tell everyone how great the hercules is after telling everyone about how bad the spyder was. The voice thing is just an excuse.

bootleg2go said:
I would take this "review" with a grain of salt.
Chief117 was recently banned over at the WL forums after it was found and the recordings posted in the WL forums show that the voice on Chief's hercules 450 video and voice as the owner of laserglow were very similar.

Jack

EDIT: I would also like to add that getting the two CR-123A batteries for the Spyders costs $14 and you can get 3 "D" batteries for half that.
 
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Kiessling

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Re: Hercules is here. Fantastic. REVIEW INSIDE! (pics)(updated)

Apart from all the intrigue and scheming I have to at least set some simple facts straight:

Chief117 said:
EDIT: I would also like to add that getting the two CR-123A batteries for the Spyders costs $14 and you can get 3 "D" batteries for half that.

CR123 cells can be had for $1 per piece or a few cents more for quality cells. They aren't exactly expensive any more and offer great performance vs. weight and size. If someone is interested you can read more in the Electronics/Battery forum and have a look at the "CPF Specials" thread in the Dealer forum for the battery prices.

bernhard
 

Chief117

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Re: Hercules is here. Fantastic. REVIEW INSIDE! (pics)(updated)

Kiessling said:
Apart from all the intrigue and scheming I have to at least set some simple facts straight:



CR123 cells can be had for $1 per piece or a few cents more for quality cells. They aren't exactly expensive any more and offer great performance vs. weight and size. If someone is interested you can read more in the Electronics/Battery forum and have a look at the "CPF Specials" thread in the Dealer forum for the battery prices.

bernhard

:huh2: Nope. Maybe if you buy them wholesale and than pay for shipping. At walgreens they are $7 each.
 

Athoul

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Re: Hercules is here. Fantastic. REVIEW INSIDE! (pics)(updated)

Chief117 said:
Second of all, I was banned from the wicked lasers forums, but not because of the voice comparisons. I recieved two spyder lasers, both 300mW, one was a replacement, and in ym experience they were both terrible. I posted that they were not very good on the wicked lasers forums. I switched to laserglow.com and they delivered an excellent unit. I posted that the hercules was fantastic on the wicked lasers forum. I was banned from their forums because wicked lasers didnt want me to tell everyone how great the hercules is after telling everyone about how bad the spyder was. The voice thing is just an excuse.

This is not why you were banned, there was nothing wrong with the posting of the Hercules unit. In fact there are postings of comparisons etc of Aries models and others over there. Wicked banned you because they think you are somehow affiliated with LaserGlow, it had nothing to do with posting of the Herc. I understand you may be upset and perhaps they may even be incorrect. I have been trying to help you out in this matter, however it's not right to shift the actual reason in order to make it appear different in another forum. Had the thread been a problem it would have just been locked. As far as I know it's still under investigation.

Anyway we shouldn't be bringing outside problems into CPF, I just wanted to make sure the wrong idea wasn't getting around. Back to the review.

cheers,
 
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