Good quality ~100 mW laser

Hi. I have been using a 5mW and a ~30mW green laser to teach astronomy for a while, and have gotten hooked on the lasers themselves. I managed to pop some balloons with my laser (using a magnifying glass), and that got me wanting more. What would be a good quality laser in the 100-150mW range? I can't really pay hundreds of dollars for it, but I also don't want a little cheap thing either. I bought a "50"mW laser from some Chinese company a year ago, and sent it right back because it was dimmer than my 5mW. $200 is my absolute maximum, but I would prefer lower.

I was thinking of the optotronics 100 or 150mW green. Is there a noticeable difference between the brightness/burning power? How bright would the laser dot be?

I know I will need some safety goggles, what kind would you recommend?

Oh, and I am in the USA, so I preferably want something that won't need to be imported and possibly confiscated.

Thanks for any help!

2 years here and you need to ask? Try taking a few minutes and browse the forum for your answers.

For a decent quality, affordable green pointer I'd check out www.0-like.com--Ê×Ò³.. They've established a pretty good reputation here.

Tech_Junkie said:

2 years here and you need to ask? Try taking a few minutes and browse the forum for your answers.

Click to expand...

Well, I SIGNED UP 2 years ago to ask a question, but this is the first time I have been back since then...

I will look into o-like. I was actually scared off by their LOW prices when I first saw them, but it seems people here like them.

650nm 200mW laser module 5VDC TTL OEM - eBay (item 360204600080 end time Dec-03-09 16:46:17 PST)

These green ones run way overspec, they will burn plastic.

http://cgi.ebay.com/532nm-50mw-adj-...emQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item5884260a56

Aixiz is a trusted laser retailer also

You can always go to the Wicked Lasers website, & look into their optics section for their add on Burning optics. It slides right over the end of most pen-style pointers & really boosts the burning power of lower powered lasers or ones that are under spec.
rob

hey,
These goggles will be fine for a 100 to 150mW pointer. (I have these so i know they're good )

Welcome to focalprice.com | The lowest Price for DS R4 lite,PSP Slim,Genuine Earphone,SONY EX71 EX082，PS2,Macbook Accessories etc.

And yeah, optotronics are said to have great laser pointers, also a company called rayfoss.

For example

Rayfoss

But it's upto you
stay away from dealextreme and focalprice for greens..

hey,
These goggles will be fine for a 100 to 150mW pointer. (I have these so i know they're good )

Welcome to focalprice.com | The lowest Price for DS R4 lite,PSP Slim,Genuine Earphone,SONY EX71 EX082，PS2,Macbook Accessories etc.

And yeah, optotronics are said to have great laser pointers, also a company called rayfoss.

For example

Rayfoss

But it's upto you
stay away from dealextreme and focalprice for greens..

Those FOCALPRICE goggles say PROFESSIONAL, but do NOT give an OD RATING & neither are they CERTIFIED. IDK but, I wouldn't trust MY eyes to $7.00 goggles without an OD rating or CERTIFICATION. Just my opinion...............rob

phoenix77 said:

Those FOCALPRICE goggles say PROFESSIONAL, but do NOT give an OD RATING & neither are they CERTIFIED. IDK but, I wouldn't trust MY eyes to $7.00 goggles without an OD rating or CERTIFICATION. Just my opinion...............rob

Click to expand...

I have them, they pass pretty much no green. They're fine for the power laser he wants.

Edit, sorry for that random double post up there :S

ChIck3n said:

Well, I SIGNED UP 2 years ago to ask a question, but this is the first time I have been back since then...

I will look into o-like. I was actually scared off by their LOW prices when I first saw them, but it seems people here like them.

Click to expand...

What brought you back here?

It's not so much the GREEN, that you can see that you need to worry about. It's the dangerous amounts of invisible IR radiation that usually spews out in quantity from inexpensive lasers that don't have IR filters on them. Therein lies the problem.......rob

Silvershot said:

What brought you back here?

Click to expand...

Not really sure I just got a little extra money, and was thinking of buying even MORE stuff for my PC, then I remembered seeing someone light a match with their green laser. My PC is plenty powerful already, so I figure why not get something that I can burn things with.

Also, one of my 30mW lasers (I have 2) will not get brighter than my 5mW even with new batteries. I figure why not just go all the way and replace it with a really powerful one.

Thanks for all the help!