I got a new toy today, the Hilti PD 5 laser range meter. The PD 5 was introduced to the german market a few days ago and Hilti markets it as "The folding rule of the future".
I paid EUR 120,-- (+19% VAT) for the PD 5.
Sorry for the bad quality pictures, I had to use my iphone because my digicam is broken
The PD 5 comes in a retail box:
The box contains:
According to the manual, the specs are:
Measuring range 0.2-70 m
Accuracy +-1.5 mm
Battery life up to 8000 measurements
Operating temperature -10 °C to +50 °C
Protection class IP 55
Weight with batteries 100 g
Dimensions 164 x 33 x 21 mm (LxWxH)
According to the label on the back of the PD 5 the PD 5 is "Made in Germany". I assume that the PD 5 is made by Jenoptik exclusively for Hilti (as are the other Hilti Laser range meters).
The soft pouch has a Velcro fastener at the lid and fits the PD 5 well, unfortunately it hasn't a strap so it can't be attached to the belt.
The batteries go in at the rear end:
The display has a whitish-blueish illumination which enhances the readability a lot. The illumination turns off after about one minute of inactivity. The display shows the current and the last measurement (if available).
The handling is quite easy because the PD 5 has only two buttons:
A short press on the on/off-button turns the tool on but the laser is still deactivated, so you have to press the measure-button to activate the laser (and then press it after for measuring).
A short press on the measure-button turns the tool and the Laser on, so you're ready to go.
A long press on the measure-button sets the PD 5 in a continuous mode, pressing the measure-button again turns the PD 5 back into standard mode. While in continous mode, the result is updated about 10 times per second.
A Long press on the on/off-button turns the PD 5 on and sets it in configuration mode. In configuration mode it's possible to toggle (on/off) the beep-tone and to change the unit:
And for the friends of imperial units:
There are some fractional imperial units as well (1/8 ft., 1/16 ft., 1/8 in., 1/16 in., ) - whoever may need this ...
The clip slips over from the rear end and is quite big:
Because of the size of the clip the clip itself works as a rest when the PD 5 is pressed again a surface - but you have to take care not to tilt the tool with the clip attached which might falsify the measuring.
Back to Hilti's claim "The folding rule of the future":
Compared to a folding rule (German edition, 2 m), the PD 5 is shorter while it has almost the same width but the PD 5 is about 1 cm higher than the rule
Summary:
The Hilti PD 5 is a very handy Laser range meter. There aren't any of the bells and whistles some other (usually much more expensive) Laser range meters have (area measurement, hight measurement through trigonometric functions, calculating, Bluetooth interface, whatever), it can measure only distances but it does this very fast (measuring is faster than with my Hilti PD 30) and with great accuracy. It has the same limitations as any other Laser range meter (you need a surface to measure against and this surface mustn't be highly reflective), it might be difficult to use a Laser in bright sunlight over greater distances but where you can use a Laser range meter it's usually faster and more precise than a folding (or a tape) rule.
I'm in no way affiliated to Hilti, I paid the full price for the tool and I don't get any benefits for posting this review.
I paid EUR 120,-- (+19% VAT) for the PD 5.
Sorry for the bad quality pictures, I had to use my iphone because my digicam is broken
The PD 5 comes in a retail box:
The box contains:
- Hilti PD 5
- 2 Batteries AAA
- Soft Pouch
- Clip
- Manual
- Calibration Certificate
According to the manual, the specs are:
Measuring range 0.2-70 m
Accuracy +-1.5 mm
Battery life up to 8000 measurements
Operating temperature -10 °C to +50 °C
Protection class IP 55
Weight with batteries 100 g
Dimensions 164 x 33 x 21 mm (LxWxH)
According to the label on the back of the PD 5 the PD 5 is "Made in Germany". I assume that the PD 5 is made by Jenoptik exclusively for Hilti (as are the other Hilti Laser range meters).
The soft pouch has a Velcro fastener at the lid and fits the PD 5 well, unfortunately it hasn't a strap so it can't be attached to the belt.
The batteries go in at the rear end:
The display has a whitish-blueish illumination which enhances the readability a lot. The illumination turns off after about one minute of inactivity. The display shows the current and the last measurement (if available).
The handling is quite easy because the PD 5 has only two buttons:
- a small round on/off-Button
- a larger, rectangular measure-button
A short press on the on/off-button turns the tool on but the laser is still deactivated, so you have to press the measure-button to activate the laser (and then press it after for measuring).
A short press on the measure-button turns the tool and the Laser on, so you're ready to go.
A long press on the measure-button sets the PD 5 in a continuous mode, pressing the measure-button again turns the PD 5 back into standard mode. While in continous mode, the result is updated about 10 times per second.
A Long press on the on/off-button turns the PD 5 on and sets it in configuration mode. In configuration mode it's possible to toggle (on/off) the beep-tone and to change the unit:
And for the friends of imperial units:
There are some fractional imperial units as well (1/8 ft., 1/16 ft., 1/8 in., 1/16 in., ) - whoever may need this ...
The clip slips over from the rear end and is quite big:
Because of the size of the clip the clip itself works as a rest when the PD 5 is pressed again a surface - but you have to take care not to tilt the tool with the clip attached which might falsify the measuring.
Back to Hilti's claim "The folding rule of the future":
Compared to a folding rule (German edition, 2 m), the PD 5 is shorter while it has almost the same width but the PD 5 is about 1 cm higher than the rule
Summary:
The Hilti PD 5 is a very handy Laser range meter. There aren't any of the bells and whistles some other (usually much more expensive) Laser range meters have (area measurement, hight measurement through trigonometric functions, calculating, Bluetooth interface, whatever), it can measure only distances but it does this very fast (measuring is faster than with my Hilti PD 30) and with great accuracy. It has the same limitations as any other Laser range meter (you need a surface to measure against and this surface mustn't be highly reflective), it might be difficult to use a Laser in bright sunlight over greater distances but where you can use a Laser range meter it's usually faster and more precise than a folding (or a tape) rule.
I'm in no way affiliated to Hilti, I paid the full price for the tool and I don't get any benefits for posting this review.
