New here. I was looking for a 5mw green pen pointer. I had owned one previously (that I lost), which I bought off thinkgeek.com some time ago (green laser pointer II I believe). I liked it a lot, and seeing as I wanted one again, and prices had come down quite a bit (it was $100 back in 2005), I went about researching a good replacement. I read the "guide to buying your first green laser" to see what folk here recommended.
I settled on the optotronics 4.99 mw pointer, due to it's low cost ($29.95) and optotronic's reputable claims. Well... to my surprise, it didn't turn out to be such a good choice. The pointer hardly works at first, I have to hold the button down for as long as 5 or more seconds sometimes for it to even light up fully. This happens regardless of the batteries I use (which it did not include). Additionally, the build quality is dirt cheap. Nothing like the excellently designed pen pointer I originally purchased from thinkgeek. The optotronics model felt like it was made of cheap plastic, with wannabe-metal elements. Worse, it rattles around terribly, as if it were going to fall apart, like something out of a vending machine.
As a result, I decided to go with my second choice, a laserglow lyra. Somewhat more expensive ($59.00 + $14 shipping), but still less expensive then my original pointer in 2005. This time around, my expectations were actually exceeded. The laser lights up to full brightness immediately. The build quality is superb, better then even my first pointer. Smooth solid metal, no flaky machined parts, surprisingly compact (shorter then both of my other pointers, while still a decent length), and very nice (but not in-your face) embossed logos on the side and cap.
Well, as you can probably guess I attempted to return the optotronics model. When I called them the person I briefly spoke with basically said that they don't do returns unless the items are defective. Wonderful. Guess that means I need to go to ebay.
So... I guess I'm left just a bit curious as to where this glowing optotronics reputation comes from. There was nothing about the 4.99 mw model that I found to be excellent or worthwhile; in fact I frankly fail to find a single redeeming feature.
Am I missing something?
This being an enthusiast forum, where people play with lasers way out of my league, maybe the reputation only applies to high end-bazzilion milliwatt models, which doesn't filter down well to their basic pen pointers.
I settled on the optotronics 4.99 mw pointer, due to it's low cost ($29.95) and optotronic's reputable claims. Well... to my surprise, it didn't turn out to be such a good choice. The pointer hardly works at first, I have to hold the button down for as long as 5 or more seconds sometimes for it to even light up fully. This happens regardless of the batteries I use (which it did not include). Additionally, the build quality is dirt cheap. Nothing like the excellently designed pen pointer I originally purchased from thinkgeek. The optotronics model felt like it was made of cheap plastic, with wannabe-metal elements. Worse, it rattles around terribly, as if it were going to fall apart, like something out of a vending machine.
As a result, I decided to go with my second choice, a laserglow lyra. Somewhat more expensive ($59.00 + $14 shipping), but still less expensive then my original pointer in 2005. This time around, my expectations were actually exceeded. The laser lights up to full brightness immediately. The build quality is superb, better then even my first pointer. Smooth solid metal, no flaky machined parts, surprisingly compact (shorter then both of my other pointers, while still a decent length), and very nice (but not in-your face) embossed logos on the side and cap.
Well, as you can probably guess I attempted to return the optotronics model. When I called them the person I briefly spoke with basically said that they don't do returns unless the items are defective. Wonderful. Guess that means I need to go to ebay.
So... I guess I'm left just a bit curious as to where this glowing optotronics reputation comes from. There was nothing about the 4.99 mw model that I found to be excellent or worthwhile; in fact I frankly fail to find a single redeeming feature.
Am I missing something?
This being an enthusiast forum, where people play with lasers way out of my league, maybe the reputation only applies to high end-bazzilion milliwatt models, which doesn't filter down well to their basic pen pointers.
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