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Other: NewWish Green Laser Pointer
Brand | All Other |
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Product Info
Overview
Reviews
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Jun 6, 2009
Bargain Laser Pointer
Pros:Bright tight beam, makes pointing and aiming easy.
Cons:Fails in the cold, drains alkaline batteries quickly, cheap switch mechanism.
Comments:Before getting into any review of this product I must, at least mention something about green laser pointers. Due to the bad judgment of a very small group of people, GLPs as they’re referred to are actually illegal in some places and may arouse the suspicion of the authorities in a few others. All because some people lack the good sense not to point one of these powerful lasers towards an aircraft or building, some municipalities want to regulate them requiring a permit to own one. At the same time, it’s important to mention that GLPs can be dangerous if misused. These are not toys and common sense should prevail when handling one. The GLP reviewed was bought solely for use as an astronomy accessory.
Bottom Line: Would you recommend this item? No
Green laser pointers are generally more powerful than the red lasers we are all familiar with. At 5-milliwatts, most of them are powerful enough that the thin green beam is clearly visible in dark surroundings and can sometimes extend up to 75-feet. Perfect for pointing out objects in the night sky, GLPs are beginning to become popular with amateur astronomers. With most GLPs selling for $85 and up, I was pleased to find the NewWish Green Laser Pointer on Amazon.com for $19.95. At that price I was willing to take a chance.
The NewWish GLP comes in an elegant silver-gray velour hinged case with no copy other than the words “Laser Pointer” printed on the inside cover. It came with 2 imported alkaline AAA batteries and a booklet advising caution in four languages.
As a pointer, the NewWish GLP projects a bright, thin beam, making it very easy to point out exact locations in the night sky. When mounted to a bracket on a telescope, the pointer can be used to aim the scope without peering through a finder. Though difficult to get perfectly aligned, it’s excellent for rough aiming in conjunction with a finderscope used to zero in on a target.
Problems with the NewWish Green Laser Pointer are few, the biggest being the common tendency of inexpensive GLPs to fail in cold weather. My pointer dimmed considerably at 45° F and failed completely at 35° F. It also eats batteries, draining a pair of alkaline AAAs very quickly. Total usage was at most 5-minutes total per session, 2 to 3 sessions a week for about a month before the beam dimmed visibly. Lithium batteries are said to circumvent both of these problems.
In conclusion, the NewWish Green Laser Pointer is a nice astronomy accessory with a few minor drawbacks that performs unusually well given the very low price.
As an addendum to this review, six months after getting this laser pointer the button-switch broke, rendering it useless. The design makes it impossible to get inside to replace the internal micro-switch. This forces me to bring the rating way down and withdraw my recommendation unless you want to consider this, at $19.95 a "disposable" GLP.Sort by