Wicked Lasers' new lasers

[mixedgas]

It's quite obvious Wicked are trying to get their names and new products out, but what I have seen of this laser, they seem to be improving.

Technical review of a "compliant" new blue coming soon, will be very interesting as I just got it today. I told them I would , in fairness, review a compliant laser.

Will do sphericon mode analysis, power vs time etc.
Then we will cover 21-cfr-1040.

steve

[Xytrell]

Will it meet rated power in a year? Will it meet rated power after half the battery life has passed? How can you justify the price? Who's to say they won't just send you the best one from the batch and send all the customers second rate junk?

Guys... this is advertising; what do you expect? There is a sliver of truth and they will use it. I am not saying it is right, but welcome to capitalism.

I reference Marc's MPG analogy. Testing under unreasonable conditions still warrants false advertisement. I, for one, would be quite disappointed to say the least if my car was claimed to get 40mpg while under NORMAL operating conditions, only gets 8. If we don't tolerate that sort of thing for any other industry, why should we tolerate it for Wicked?

[mixedgas]

I would say BAN laserpointer discussions in this forum.

In belgium another 2 people got severe eye damage because of someone "playing" with a high power pointer.

PERHAPS EXCEPT FOR LASER SAFETY? ThiMk about that one for a minute.Obviously at the other forum, safety discussion has quality control issues.

Steve

[ElektroFreak]

@Xytrell: Every car's gas mileage rating is obtained under the best possible conditions. My car is rated to get 27mpg. Under "normal" usage it gets ~15mpg. I'm not upset about that, that's just how it is..

Your other questions are justified and can only be answered with time. When I was approached by Steve about testing their units, I agreed but only with the stipulation that I would not publish any sort of review until four months have passed. Then we'll see..

@mixedgas: much of the discussion in LPF has quality control issues, not just the safety aspect. There are some knowledgeable folks there who try to keep things in the realm of reality, but that's the best they can do. Nearly every time a blatantly false statement appears on LPF, someone comes along and calls it out..

[mccarrot]

PERHAPS EXCEPT FOR LASER SAFETY? ThiMk about that one for a minute.Obviously at the other forum, safety discussion has quality control issues.

Steve

Why, legal 1mW are reasonable safe all other higher powered pointers are illegal.

So why should PL promote discussions or advertisement of a illegal products.

I think those stupid laser pointers will affect the whole laser business with more and more rules when more incidents happens

the more high power pointers are sold the accidents will happen, so it's just a matter of time before the next disco visitor gets home with eye damage becouse another kids think its funny to point at the audiance (this is what happend in belgium!!!)

Most people on this forum are laser professionals, let us professionals take the lead and ban Illegal high power laser pointer discussions.

[ElektroFreak]

Why, legal 1mW are reasonable safe all other higher powered pointers are illegal.

How do you figure on that? It's not impossible for a portable laser to be 100% legal.. They're even sold by some professional laser suppliers (oemlasersystems.com comes to mind as an example). Let's avoid scenarios where we take our individual prejudices and then try to force them on everyone.. that's just ridiculous.

I've personally seen portable lasers used PROFESSIONALLY by PROFESSIONALS in laboratory environments, and they are perfectly legal.

I agree 100% that safety is paramount when it comes to laser pointers, but I don't feel that banning their discussion is wise or warranted. Of course all things like this are up to the individual. If you don't like portable lasers or feel that they have no place on earth, period, you're entitled to feel that way. Just don't expect everyone else to share your opinion.

[mccarrot]

I've personally seen portable lasers used PROFESSIONALLY by PROFESSIONALS in laboratory environments, and they are perfectly legal.

And this was not possible with a Non portable lab laser module?

Please tell me one real use to have a portable high power pointer.

Just wait what happens to the laser industry when the first plain crashes because of a blinded pilot...

Or when a important person got blinded by a high powered pointer from someone in the crowd.

My problem is High powered pointers are sold as toys, but they are NOT

[ElektroFreak]

Of course it's possible with a non-portable unit, but who are you (or I for that matter) to deny the fact that a person should be able to obtain a portable system if they want one?

What will happen to the laser industry? Nothing. They will probably crack down quite heavily on portable systems, but how exactly is that different from the way things are now. The law in the US states that any system over 5mW is illegal to use in public without a variance and FAA notification (if the laser will be pointed into the air). This means that everyone who does otherwise is already in violation of the law. Sure, enforcement of these laws is nearly nonexistant, but the laws are there already.

Tell me one real use for a laser projector.. Entertainment, right? If that use works for a projector then it works for a portable too. People recently were injured by high-powered laser projectors in Russia, due to someone not thinking clearly, but I doubt you came on here then and started ranting about how laser projectors should be illegal and that they will be the death of the industry.. Stupidity is stupidity. It's the people holding the pointer or running the show (in the Russian example) that are the problems here, not the hardware.

[mccarrot]

The problem is the pulsed lasers used in Russia are not sold as toys, but laserpointers do.
And I have never seen a kid bringing his Pulsed YAG to a disco. But every WEEK! I see kids playing with pointers in clubs and disco's

Also incidents with audience scanning are very rare, incidents with laserpointers are almost DAILY!

(ps don't forget about the language barrier I have)

[ElektroFreak]

The problem is the pulsed lasers used in Russia are not sold as toys, but laserpointers do.
And I have never seen a kid bringing his Pulsed YAG to a disco. But every WEEK! I see kids playing with pointers in clubs and disco's

Both of these are valid points. You'll get no argument from me, but here in the US the legislation is already in place to prevent these scenarios from happening, now if only they were enforced..

Also incidents with audience scanning are very rare, incidents with laserpointers are almost DAILY!

(ps don't forget about the language barrier I have)

Don't get me wrong, I'm not aiming my arguments at you directly. I'm merely playing devil's advocate since there are two sides to this issue, both with valid points.