viridian - GDO 30 Green Dot Electro

I know Viridian has been making weapon lasers for a long time, so I figured they could probably make a decent optic. Out of the box I'm impressed with this optic. I love that there's a light sensor on the top that will automatically adjust the brightness of the dot based on the conditions of your environment. The dot itself is very crisp and clean. I have found over the years as my eye sight starts to fade, green dots are much easier for me to see. Anyone with an astigmatism will understand this. Very happy so far and can't wait to see how it holds up.

I bought this about 4 months ago, i live in city limits and dont have alot of places to shot. The scope is well made and has a great field of vision with generous eye relief. I put it on a Windham weaponry mid length AR, had it zeroed in 7 shots. The only thing so far is the brightness buttons that seem not to work even applying enormous amount of pressure. So, might have to send it back which sucks.

Just noticed after opening main body near the battery tube and mounting latch there was light scratches and a little bit of the paint was chip off.

This is a good quality red-dot sight. I have owned or used them all... from the plastic junk to the best of the best military grade equipment.Dials and switches are more likely to survive an EMP, but then that may not concern you.Think of this sight as a miniature version of the old Airmpoint Comp-M4, that uses buttons.It's solid, it hold a zero, it works and adjusts easily. Definitely recommended.

I'm a huge fan of Vortex optics and most of my red dots come from them. So, Viridian optics was a "shot in the dark" for me. What can I say? I'm not disappointed, quality wise they are comparable with Vortex. It's green dot 3 MOA, very well made, I really can't complain about its build quality, check out the pics. At first look, it's on par with other ~$200 range sights that you can find around. Power and brightness are regulated with buttons on the left side of the scope and work as they should. I have tested the NV compatibility mode with my NV goggles, and it also works fine. The dot is bright and visible on a sunny California day just fine at the highest setting. Windage and elevation adjustment turrets have crisp clicks, are easy to turn with your finger, and most importantly protected from drops with raised profile of the sight body. Everything is sealed and watertight. It provides multiple ways to configure your setup including low-profile and high co-witness setup. Picatinny mount clamp is QD and easy to put on and off your rail. As far as its operation on a range goes, everything worked out great, zeroing was super easy and it perfectly held zero for nearly 200 5.56 rounds, no complaints.I really like that the sight is using an AAA battery, not a CR2032 coin battery. It really increases its operational time to a whopping 30,000 hours, so you shouldn't be worried about the battery dying on you in action. Also, I really really recommend going for green vs red dots if you can afford it, it's so much more visible especially in bright sun conditions.My biggest complaint is that it does not have any sort of manual included. Only a small piece of paper with a quick setup guide. This quick guide has no information about its power operations for illumination, so I have no idea if it's motion-activated or on. I know that to power it on you just press the power button and to power it off you need to hold the same button for about 3 sec. But that's all. I went to the manufacturer's website for more info, and I couldn't find anything there either. For a $200 product this is not acceptable.Another minor complaint is that I did not find any low-profile mount, only a high-profile one is included. I was under the impression that it comes with both options but no. Only high profile. That's not a big deal in my case as I prefer a high co-witness mount anyway but having an option for a low profile would be nice, especially taking into account the price charged. But on a positive side I can say that the QD mount is excellent, I really like QD and this one is one of the best I've used so far.And the very last complaint, I promise. The warranty is only 7 years. Vortex red dot, which costs about the same and represents the de facto standard for quality firearm optics, comes with a no-questions-asked transferable lifetime warranty. Here it's only 7 years and it's not transferable. Errrr, I don't buy it. If you want to sell a product at Vortex price level, you should provide the same customer service. Thumbs down.*** TL;DR ***Well, I think I still reluctantly recommend this green dot sight. Even without the auto-shutoff and wake-up feature, limited warranty, no manual or guide of any sort, I think it's still worth its price. Its build quality is on-par with the best optics on the market subjectively, all controls operate smoothly, it has NV mode, it perfectly held up against 5.56 caliber and its setup on a rifle was quick and easy. Plus, it runs on AAA battery with digital brightness controls and QD mount. I'm between 3 and 4 stars but I'm gonna give it a free pass, so it's 4 stars in my book.+++ Pros +++1) Exceptional build quality.2) Bright green dot, easy to see.3) Uses AAA battery, 30000h op time!4) Has NV compatible mode.5) Co-witness high profile.6) All knobs and turrets work smoothly.7) Everything is water/fog/dust proof.8) Picatinny rail QD mount.9) Holds up zero against 5.56 Cal no problem.--- Cons ---1) Very limited warranty, 7 years only.2) No auto-shutoff and wake-up feature.3) No manual or any instructions.4) No low-profile mount.