|
Product Reviews
Fantastic unit, January 29, 2002
Reviewer: W. A. Freeman Jr.
I use this thing every week. It works great and is highly
accurate. Allows you to reach out to places impossible
otherwise. Just how high is it from the footings to the
brick freeze? Easy. Just place the tail of the laser on
the footings and shoot the brick freeze. Whammo! 18'5".
Great.
How far is it from this stepdown to that stepdown? Whammo!
16'8". How far is it from this layout string to the
footings? Whammo!
Is this side of the porch header the same height as the
other side of the porch. Shoot both sides, allowing the
PLS1 to display the difference and whammo, you know if you
need to level it or not.
I could go on and on. Just cost too much.
________________________________________________________________________
PLS-1 is a great measuring tool., August 30, 2001
Reviewer: W. A. Freeman Jr.
I used the PLS-1 in the homebuilding and remodeling
business. I can measure a house for a roof much quicker
than with a tape. I can measure rooms, ceiling heights,
exterior walls, lenght of rafters, floor to ceiling
heights much faster, safer, and more accurately than with
a tape.
_______________________________________________________________________
Sick Of Measuring With A Wheel., March 16, 2006
Reviewer: alejandro
I'm a real estate appraiser, and I can't think of anything
more goofy looking, than how I must've looked using a
measuring wheel, circling around the house with a squeaky
grinding toy. Especially when I could've been using a
PLS1. Well now that I have bought one, and have been using
it, I don't understand why I didn't have one sooner.
If you're an appraiser like me trying to decide if you
should switch to laser: do it, the dark ages are over,
stop using toys and rulers. Or if you're weighing the
scales between: Stanley FatMax TLM200, TLM300, or a Disto
Classic, or Disto A5. Choose the PLS1. It looks like a
field professional's tool, and is engineered by the same
company that engineers the Distos and Stanley FatMax's,
known as Leica Geosystems out of Austria. The PLS1 also
costs $150 less than the A5 or the TLM300 (though it
retails the same or more than these two). The TLM200 costs
$50 less than the PLS1, but has less features.
My main thing was that my laser meter had to have a
Pythagoras function, or the ability to triangulate. What
this basically does is allows you to measure a wall, say
the outside rear of the house, while you're just looking
at it from a distance. So what you do is: measure 2 or 3
points on the wall (the instrucion manual is pretty clear)
and the meter figures out the measurment of the rear of
your subject house. Not all Laser Meters out there carry
this function, and the ones that do, other than the PLS1,
will cost a lot, or if it costs less, it may not offer as
many functions as the PLS1 for instance, the TLM 200.
One con for the average joe is that it's clunky, though
solid. I have big hands so it doesn't bother me. Some
random notes on features: If you work late during the
winter months and it starts getting dusk, the unit has a
backlight. That funky looking rudder that sticks out from
the bottom is removable. It has a view scope to pinpoint
your laser at far distances, which comes in handy under
bright light conditions: this is the only laser meter I
know that has this feature. It comes with a black nylon
velcro case. It has a mini level on the side like most of
the laser meters out there.
If you're buying it anywhere else on the internet other
than Amazon, make sure the ad photo is of the updated PLS1
model, not the old PLS1 with only 6 buttons or so (Ebayers
beware).
_________________________________________________________________________
Leave your ladder on the truck!, November 18, 2005
Reviewer: S. Brown "Execconstruction.com"
I'm a general contractor and I love this unit! This unit
is such a time saver for estimating jobs. I don't even
bother with a ladder anymore. If you're comparing the few
laser-only units out there, go with the PLS-1 (for now).
The built-in optical sight is a must for long distance
measuring in bright light. It might be my old eyesight,
but I can't see the laser dot beyond 50' in bright
daylight. This unit is the only one that has a built-in
scope (from what I can tell).
The only negative comments I have are these: Terrible
battery compartment design, ergonomics/industrial design
could be much better as the unit is fairly large and
awkward to hold in one hand while pressing the buttons and
aiming, the plastic screw mount for tripod use is offset
from center and is easily broken and stripped out (it
should be located in the center and made of brass), and no
reflective target included (at least not with mine).
I'd really like to be able to mount it on a tripod for
long distance shooting, but I'm afraid the current mount
will break and the unit will fall to its death. When
looking through the scope at a target a few hundred feet
away, any hand movement can make you miss a small target.
BTW, the included case with Velcro belt loop barely fits
the unit, but it works. Overall, this is an awesome
product that is designed for professional use. Hopefully
they will change the plastic case design in the future and
give you a reflective target.
__________________________________________________________________________
Quick payback, accurate, easy to use, July 25, 2003
Reviewer: Jonathan J. Ward
I'm a remodeling contractor who works alone. I wish I had
bought the PLS1 years ago. Huge time savings, wonderful
accuracy. I'm completely satisfied, and would recommend
this instrument to anybody who has ever wasted time trying
to make a folding rule or a tape behave reliably. The PLS1
has paid for itself on the first job. That's pretty good.
_________________________________________________________________________
Excellent Choice, December 11, 2001
Reviewer: "mjward" (Woodside, NY United States) - See all
my reviews
Have been using this measurer for 5 months now. Common
usage has been in theatres measuring the distance from
stage flooring to the grid and from floor to the pipes our
stage lights hang from. The beam is bright enough to see
at great distances, 300' and more. The bright beam
definitely helps me when measuring the trim heights of our
pipes as there are usually dozens of pipes with inches of
each other and 30' to 50' above my head. The quick
sampling of the device and return measurement is very
handy even when the objects are in motion.
My only complaint was that of the base end which is
tappered. I quickly overcame this when I discovered that
the red half-moon, which you can see in the picture,
rotates to create an X base allowing the device to stand
on end. The ability to choose measuring from nose or
measuring from base is a real plus. The ability to add
and/or subtract dimensions is very handy as well.
Without a doubt PLS provides great quality and features
for the money. Their other laser devices, PLS3 and PLS5
have proven indispensable to me over the past several
years and the addition of the PLS1 is very welcome.
_________________________________________________________________________ |
