Customer Reviews

CST Berger 57-LMHCPKG Automatic Self-Leveling Horizontal Rotary Laser Package

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After looking at other reviews and checking the specification of similar units I purchased the CST/Berger 57-LMHCPKG Automatic Self-Leveling Horizontal Rotary Laser Package. I have never used a rotary laser before I purchased this unit. The instructions are plain and simple and easy to follow. Set it up and it works, and it works very well! I prepared the foundation for a 2400 square foot build like I knew what I was doing. When the concrete finisher arrived on the site he was impressed with how level the foundation was. The laser saved me money in the long run because my concrete finisher didn't have to correct any foundation errors and I was very close to using the amount of concrete forecasted.

I've been using the LaserMark CXT/Berger 57-LMHC laser for site (earth)work for about a month now. This is the 2nd laser I have owned. It's a good basic no frills unit. Setup is very fast - much better than manually leveled units. Serves my purposes very well, but is a level only - does not do vertical. The beam is visible in-doors if you wanted to use it that way. It used 4 D cell batteries - I have not yet had to change batteries. The rod-mounted detector is also a basic unit and turns itself off after about 5 or 10 minutes of non-use. It uses 1 standard 9v battery. The plastic case which holds the instrument and detector is good and I like the metal latches. Tripod is quite heavy duty, although I'm a little suspicious of the plastic clamps on the telescoping legs. Most of the rest of the tripod is metal.

I think this model is a good value for professional work as it was well under $1000. More expensive models have things like grade adjustment that might be used for laying pipe, for example, and variable rotational speed control or may operate in vertical mode. This unit can be operated in a manual grade mode where you would turn off the self-leveling and tilt the instrument, although getting the instrument to the desired angle would be tedious.

My only concerns are 1) the rod - I wanted one that was graduated in 10ths of a foot since that is normally the standard for site work, plus the supplied rod is aluminum, which I suspect would bend bouncing around in the back of my truck, fiberglass is my preference. This rod stuff may likely be non issues for many people. 2) the receiver - a very basic unit that does the job but seems to be very sensitive and does not have a receiver on the back - like many do. No volume control - only sound on/off. Works fine though.