Looking to buy laser.

Hi,

I'm looking to buy a hand held laser that will cut/burn (e.g light matches, cut tape) for about £150. I am a complete noob with this stuff so any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks alot.

zephoria, the higher powered lasers can be dangerous and have to be handled with respect, not treated like toys. Have you read through the threads concerning laser safety yet? If not I highly recommend doing so, before purchasing a burning laser.

You will also need a pair of safety goggles.

Some of the higher powerred lasers can blind you in milliseconds if the were to accidently hit you in the eye, before your blink reflex ever kicked in, even from just reflecting back into your eye off another surface.

In fact many members here will not sell the higher powered lasers to those that admit to not knowing anything about them.

With that being said, if your biggest concern is with able to burn things and not an impressive beam, I would recommend a Blu-Ray (405nnm) or red (650nm) laser at around 150mW to 200mW for your first higher powered laser purchase.

If you are more concerned with it having the most visible and powerful beam, then a green (532nm) is the way to go and even a 30mW green would be more visible than the Blu-Ray or red.