buying my first laser

Hey everyone, i am new to this forum (and lasers), and i just decided to get my first green laser , nothing expensive just something from dealextreme.com (around 30mW)

And i was wondering if anyone here could help me choose. i am thinking about the true green 30mW($24.57) and the newer 50mW ($26.00), i was wondering which one would have longer battery life, longer total life (not that i expect long life from a cheap laser), the true power difference between them, and how dangerous they are to your eyes.

Well it doesnt matter if it 5 mW laser. It will be dangerous to you eyes. As far as the DX lasers. The 30 mW should pop a sharpied balloon but dont quote me. I think there is a video of it in the Multimedia section. I think a DX 30 is a great first laser.

but yeah don't expect it to last a long time! some people have had luck, and theirs is still going, but others have had them failing like 2 days later!
welcome to the forum!

I have a 50mW comming and have a 30mW True DX.
DX is not reliable because I just bought a 100mW True model that lasted less than 1 hour.
Maybe I burned it out with 3.2 volts but in my opinion a short test of power/voltage extreme should have been of no concequence.

Member Kenon has taken a DX 30mW apart to remove the beamsplitter/photodiode but ended up with beam axis problem. I found the beamspliter/photodiode to be nonsense
too. It's popular with the safety people only. I think is just more BS.

Please wait till I get my DX 50mW. Then I will post if it's better that my TRUE DX 30mW.

I can say my TRUE DX 30mW is a Newwish laser and the other TRUE DX 100mW infant that died was not a Newwish. Newwish is preinted on my 30mW inards but not on my 100mW!

Other members on this forum are happy with thier DX xxxmW lasers. But I swear a black cloud follows me around!
A 200mW DX puts it out, and for $120 I wouldn't complain about the poweroutput up/down waves.

Be safe! Buy a X25 from NOVA w/warp5 discount as a starter for $80 so you will see green photons real quick! Goes through B/trash bag unaided! They make great lasers, so get the best then try the rest. That's what I did. My DX 30mW does'nt have near the power of it!

Cheers [smiley=beer.gif]

DGM

Hi Newbie,

I think you'll be happy with your 30mW for a while, but I would recommend you spend the extra money now and get a low powered laser from NOVAlasers.com, I would take a Nova X15 over a 50mW DX anyday.

DX units are usually underpowered and are just built with bad quality, I would advise staying away from them, especially if you have extra money your willing to spend.

welcome to LPF, newbie! i gotta say i agree with everyone else, when you end up wanting a real good reliable green laser for not too much money, cheapest and best you will find are nova lasers hope you enjoy whatever you get though!

I've got two dx 30s and both are great.

alright thanks guys, im hearing some of mixed stuff, but i think i will wait till Laserrod gets his 50mW.
I would get a nova laser but my mom wont let me spend that much $, but ill be happy with my dx laser if it works.