Laserglow Lyra F and Galileo vs. WickedLaser Core

Guys, I'm trying to decide on which laser to get and I'm having trouble making a decision. I know alot of people don't recommend WickedLaser for many reasons but I wanted to get your guys feedback, and I figure after that I'll be set to make a purchase.

I'm mainly looking for something that has a TRUE 5MW output, however some of the 15mw hand held pointers interest me as well. I'm very tempted to go with Laserglow with everybody giving them two thumbs up on other sites and reviews, but I figure I'd run it by the "laserpointerforum bunch" before making the final decision. I dont wanna burn anything, just looking for a high quality laser that outputs what its supposed to and not just UP TO 5MW, if you know what I mean. Something that can shine for miles for star pointing/gazing.

Let me know what you guys think

Re: Laserglow Lyra F and Galileo vs. WickedLaser C

the CORE is <5mw but since its a greenie you can see it pretty good. im not too sure of the others as ive never owned either of them but laser glow is an awesome company and most times their stuff is a little over spec...

Re: Laserglow Lyra F and Galileo vs. WickedLaser C

The Lyra and Galielo both come in two different models- the 3 and 5.
Obviously, the 5 is more powerful by 2mW but when it comes to visibility, there is no difference that you can see.
I would recommend the Galileo because it looks awesome, it has lots of heatsinking mass, good divergence, and it has a constant on clicky. You can run it as long as you like until the battery is depleted. The beam is very stable and it stays at TEM00. Mine never flickered or dimmed unless the battery is out.
I turned up the pot on mine and I got probably around 40-50mW out of it.
Unfortunately, I let it soak up in the summer sunlight by accident and the diode burned out. I would recommend that you leave the pot alone for the longest life for your laser.
It is IR filtered, but it still leaks a little, but not enough to be a threat to you or anyone else.

The Lyra is also pretty nice looking and is offered for a very good price for such a nice 5mW laser.
It should be just as good as the Galileo.

Laserglow is also very easy to work with. Customer service is important and the Laserglow staff (I believe I spoke to Justin who is here on the forums) excels at this. The first Galileo I received developed an alignment problem after use and only a couple days after I notified them and sent them the defective laser, they shipped out a brand new one.

The CORE has gotten some good reviews, but also some bad ones. The price is good, but shipping is expensive and ruins the deal. If you decide to get the CORE, get it on eBay. There is/was a seller that sold them for a pretty good price with cheap shipping.

You can't go wrong with Laserglow.  

Re: Laserglow Lyra F and Galileo vs. WickedLaser C

Awesome, I called it a day and purchased the Laserglow Galileo 5. Heard nothing but AMAZING things about it, not to mention your post pretty much convinced me to go ahead and purchased from Laserglow.

Thanks for your input, appreciate it

Re: Laserglow Lyra F and Galileo vs. WickedLaser C

You guys do an awesome job of doing my job for me.

Thanks for your purchase, I'm sure you won't be disappointed!

Re: Laserglow Lyra F and Galileo vs. WickedLaser C

I have the Galileo-5 and loves it, I've dropped it a few times, kept it with keys which was a mistake [ruined the finish a bit] but the beam did not go out of collimation nor did the contacts loosened. The only issue for now happens to be intermittent contact when the laser is pointed directly downward...where it'll cut off all together but a minor tap will put it back on.

I'm thinking of getting a Lyra-G for a friend, Hopefully I can have it laser engraved by someone who has the ability to do so.

Re: Laserglow Lyra F and Galileo vs. WickedLaser C

Congrats on the purchase!  I would have also voted the Galileo-5.  It's the god of Class IIIa green lasers, IMHO.  I have one, too.  My wife bought it for me as a Christmas gift, since I like having a Class IIIa laser in each color.  Does everything a 5mW laser should do, plus no duty cycle, excellent (<1mRad) divergence, etc.

To quote pierce:

Laserglow is also very easy to work with. Customer service is important and the Laserglow staff (I believe I spoke to Justin who is here on the forums) excels at this. The first Galileo I received developed an alignment problem after use and only a couple days after I notified them and sent them the defective laser, they shipped out a brand new one.

I had a scratched lens on mine, but Justin and the Laserglow staff fixed my problem quickly and hassle-free.  They truly back up their products.  It's a little pricey, but your satisfaction is 100% guaranteed.

It's a great green laser to start with and I assure you that you will want more power in the future.