Sanwu SILVER SERIES 3W Laser Review w/ 3X BE!

After quite a while, Sanwu and I have finally come to ends with the silver series and I have my full order.

----------Story Begin----------

My experience with Sanwu was, well, long. It was long because I had originally ordered this laser first week of January, but when it arrived 2 weeks later(very nice shipping) it was DOA. I had informed Podo of the issue, and he said he would send back a replacement module, I was pleased!

After waiting quite a while for the module (2 weeks of CNY + 1 week of manufacturing time + ~1.5 weeks shipping), it was here. Excited to open my working replacement module, I noticed it didn't weigh quite as much as I thought. Anyway, I had ripped open the package, and saw that he sent me the actual diode module, rather than the whole top laser module. So, I had a bit of work to do.

First step, unscrew dead module. OK, sounds good. There are two notches that I can turn and if I put a screwdriver in one of those notches, I could turn it in a crank type fashion to get it out. Except, I couldn't.

When Podo advertises as waterproof, HE MEANS IT.

I went full force at this module, nothing. I even tried a small drill bit to help me turn it with the torque of the drill, nothing. I had my colleague go at it who's a bit bigger than me, and he couldn't get it either. So now I have this dead module stuck in the laser, and this new module which after testing works flawlessly. I tell myself I am SOL if I can't find a way to get this thing out without damaging the laser housing, (because I could easily just go at it with a sharp dremel attachment) so I message Podo, asked him hey man - how the hell do I get this thing out? Is there something I can't see that's blocking it?

His response?

"It should just unscrew"

...

So eventually we made up a plan to just send everything back to Sanwu. The new module, housing w/dead module. I sent him the lens housing too him too, which was probably not a good idea. Here's why;

Since I ordered w/ a G7 lens, when it got to Podo he was out of stock of G7 lenses. Oh, forgot to mention: He's just going to give me a whole new laser module. Which is why he needed stock for the G7 lens, because I had sent him the old lens housing, even though there wasn't anything wrong with the lens - from what I remember anyway.

So after about a month the G7 lens is back in stock, and sent to me. So, now I have the full laser, and in the end, I'm very happy and satisfied that Podo helped me out!


----------Story End----------

TL;DR The laser I got was DOA, Podo then sent me a working module but I couldn't replace it, so I sent everything back to him and he sent me a brand new working laser.


Now for the review!!

Design: 8/10

I love the Silver Series' design. It's extremely simplistic, and for me that's a huge plus. It's thread seams are virtually invisible from the outside and the laser is constructed with a Copper-Brass alloy (IIRC) with excellent machine work. The button is nice and firm, but is pretty strong so you'll need a firm grip on the laser to push the button. The unit comes in three pieces; Diode, extender/battery tube, and tailcap. Pics:





Durability: 7/10

Being comprised of copper, this thing will scratch like no tomorrow if you're not careful. I usually "test" my lasers in a dark environment, so when I put this laser down if the surface was rough it would usually scratch. I only noticed this after the lights shined down on it, the scratches are only visible in a well lit environment. Other than easy scratching, this thing is heavy and could probably resist song drops and bangs, but copper is pretty soft.


Beam Shots and 3X BE 9/10

The beam expander is also as simple as you think. A screw-in device that works with the focusing lens. The laser itself was LPM'd by Podo at 2.9W.

3X BE:



W/o BE:




800mW 520nm VS Silver Series 445nm 3W

I was genuinely surprised at the brightness vs the two. I found the 3W of 445 the same if not brighter than green. I would've never thought, or maybe I'm just getting used to it.


My camera didn't like all the light at once. Kinda came out weird:


I ordered the laser saber attachment and boy am I glad I did! Look at all the light that this thing puts out!




No fog or after effects were used on any of the images posted.

Overall: 8/10

Thanks Sanwu! :thanks:
-E.P.