Buying my first, Help please!

Hello everyone!
I've been researching and finally want to jump into this hobby. I'm looking to buy my very first laser but being a noob, I'm seeking advice and knowledge from you guys. I had a 5mw green laser 4 years ago and absolutely loved it, I'm looking at buying something >95mw. Naturally the first place I looked was Wicked Lasers. They have a great reputation from what I know (or just great marketing) so I checked there. I found the Nexus and Fusion, then after further research I discovered both Nova and Dragon lasers. I've narrowed it down.

The choices are the Fusion, Nexus, and Viper 125. The Aurora is the same price but sold out.

Divergence
Nexus/Fusion have a Beam Divergence of 0.8mRad - 1.0mRad
Viper125 claims <1.2mRad since no precise measurement is disclosed, I assume it's about 1.1 or so.

Like I said, divergence is what appealed to me immediately with the Nexus and Fusion. So this gets me to lean towards them.

Diameter
Nexus/Fusion: 1.6mm
Viper125: 1.2mm

So the viper has a close but narrower diameter, does this essentially cancel out the divergence difference, leaving them somewhat equal?

Build Quality
Nexus/Fusion: Everyone says they're rock solid and feel very good in your hand.
Viper125: No feedback as of yet, still looking for reviews.

The ONLY thing keeping me from purchasing a Wicked Laser right now is the fact that I've heard reports of them being very underpowered. I've read reports of them metering out at ~80mw when it's supposed to e 125! Of course every piece of technology is prone to glitches and defects, and to be honest I don't know if the place where I read this is just biased against Wicked Lasers.

The last thing on my mind is the pricing. The 125mw Viper is identical in pricing to the 95mw Nexus. Is it of lesser quality? I know Wicked Lasers has a great reputation but I'm a college student and I've been saving for a long time so I want to make the most of my money. If the Fusion is that much better than the Viper of the same power output, I'm willing to hold off a bit longer and get that.

Thanks a ton for reading and any feedback is appreciated. I posted something like this at another forum and they deleted it because apparently you can't talk about anything but Wicked Lasers and can't compare them there! I was quite frustrated with the administration and am praying that this place is more helpful.

Thanks in advance!

I have herd that wicked lasers over prices theirs a good bit ... however i hear they also have some of the best looking lasers

personally i think if i buy a laser of any kind of good quality i will buy from www.optotronics.com as they seem to have the lowest prices and good quality lasers

this is a quote from one of the stickies on the top of the board. you SHOULD check out these 3 sites as they seem to have the best quality and reputation around here.

Your First Lasers

I want to buy my first laser, what one should I get?
This is a difficult question. It depends on YOUR wants and needs, and chances are that we don't have a clue what those are. Basically, there are three well-known companies that are extremely reliable, and will never disappoint: Nova Lasers (www.novalasers.com ), Optotronics (www.optotronics.com ), and Laserglow (www.laserglow.com ). Between those three, you should be able to find what you need for a relatively low price.
Keep in mind, though, that there are many more companies that can't be trusted to give you anywhere near what you pay for. The most common company is Wicked Lasers/TechLasers. They are infamous for selling overpriced, underspec lasers. They market to people who have no experience with lasers, and that tactic is what's kept them alive for so long.
In addition, read over this topic. Many other questions are answered there.

Click to expand...

I've looked at the X125 also from Nova. What are your thoughts on this one also?

I'll go find that thread. Thanks!

sorry i have not really looked into any of them too much as i do not have $200 to spend on a laser right now
EDIT: I have herd good things about the x125 and also the X105
i am more looking into building a blue ray around the 100mw power level..

there are several people on the forum building them for around $200 dollars and you don't need safety glasses for them only some good UV sunglasses

if you factor in another $50 for safety glasses i can't even afford a 200 mw red for DX.

from what i can tell thought, you can't go wrong with any of the lasers from either laser glow, optotronics, or nova

people say the pen style lasers are not as good as the ones that look more like flashlights because the flashlight ones have more metal to help get rid of all the heat produced inside the lasers

the heat will cause things to be unstable or lose power as it heats up

Both Nova, and Optotronics are excellent companies. If you want quality, go with one of them. Great customer service too!

The Nova X-series is pointer sized. For the price, I think the X-100, or X-125 can't be beat...
http://www.novalasers.com/NOVAstore/pc/viewCategories.asp?idCategory=3
Jay

Hey Jay. Thanks! I'm leaning more towards the x125 right now.
What do you think the range is on that thing? greater than 50 miles? I know wicked lasers advertises a 38 mile range on the nexus.

Also hows the burning power?

Looks like the 125 is sold out
How's the 150?

A suggestion......DON'T.....i repeat......DON'T buy from wickedlasers.


Their lasers are generally not in conformity with the characteristics they describe (divergence, power and overpriced ) :

Trusted me, I unfortunately I had from them three laser so ....



The most serious brand are Laserglow, Optotronics and NOVAlasers.

I'm pretty sure I'm going with a Nova x125 or 150. Would the 150 be worth 100 dollars to step up? Would there be a more apparent beam? Better burning power? Better range?

Think I could hit a cloud with it?

There really wouldn't be much difference between an X125 and an X150. If money's tight, you'd be better off with the X125.

You MIGHT be able to hit a cloud with it. I can hit clouds with my RPL-300, but that's double the power, so maybe, maybe not...

Murudai said:

You MIGHT be able to hit a cloud with it. I can hit clouds with my RPL-300, but that's double the power, so maybe, maybe not...

Click to expand...

I saw clearly the point of impact in the clouds already with my previous 35mw .....

I imagine a 300 mW +

[quote author=StIwY link=1217729935/0#9 date=1217761767]

I saw clearly the point of impact in the clouds already with my previous 35mw .....

quote]
thats sik!!

could someone organise a GB with novalasers. if there would be much of a deal.

It depends on the weather. I usually can't hit clouds with my 40mW but once I could when the cloud cover was at a very low altitude.

Advil said:

Hey Jay. Thanks! I'm leaning more towards the x125 right now.
What do you think the range is on that thing? greater than 50 miles? I know wicked lasers advertises a 38 mile range on the nexus.

Also hows the burning power?

Looks like the 125 is sold out
How's the 150?

Click to expand...

It will light matches and pops balloons. These pointers are not made to be able to focus easily. They are factory set. The visibility of the 532nm beam and dot is awesome at this power.

Better for burning is a high powered red that you can focus. Being able to focus the dot very 'tight' is where you will get very good burning. Also, proper eye protection is recommended!
Jay

Maven said:

sorry i have not really looked into any of them too much as i do not have $200 to spend on a laser right now
EDIT: I have herd good things about the x125 and also the X105
i am more looking into building a blue ray around the 100mw power level..

there are several people on the forum building them for around $200 dollars and you don't need safety glasses for them only some good UV sunglasses

if you factor in another $50 for safety glasses i can't even afford a 200 mw red for DX.

from what i can tell thought, you can't go wrong with any of the lasers from either laser glow, optotronics, or nova

people say the pen style lasers are not as good as the ones that look more like flashlights because the flashlight ones have more metal to help get rid of all the heat produced inside the lasers

the heat will cause things to be unstable or lose power as it heats up

Click to expand...

Ummm, no. UV is something like 230nm-around 400nm. Blu-ray is 405mW, and the diodes occasionally output an even higher wavelength like 409nm! I don't know of any safety goggles for blu-ray... If someone knows a supplier, please let me know. Even if you cannot get goggles, uv sunglasses would lull you into a false sense of security.

http://store.oemlasersystems.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=8_10_12&products_id=7

They even call these goggles "ARG - UV, Blu Ray, Argon, Blue, KTP Green Protection".

LRMNmeyer said:

Ummm, no. UV is something like 230nm-around 400nm. Blu-ray is 405mW, and the diodes occasionally output an even higher wavelength like 409nm! I don't know of any safety goggles for blu-ray... If someone knows a supplier, please let me know. Even if you cannot get goggles, uv sunglasses would lull you into a false sense of security.

Click to expand...

I did a test with a power meter, a 60mW blu-ray and sunglasses and the sunglasses did help, about halved the power. I also tested against green and red lasers, and they don't help at all. But with a blu-ray, sunglasses do help. If you have the right equipment, test it yourself

But I got far better results using other safety glasses against the blu-ray. Both my safety goggles for red and safety goggles for green dropped the 60mW blu-ray to less than 5mW.

So if you have safety goggles for other wavelengths of lasers, I suggest you use those if you don't have special blu-ray goggles.