Peak Power <50mW Class IIIa from Amazon

Okay, so I've done quite a bit of searching on this site (doesn't mean I covered everything, obviously) for information on my new green laser. I was wanting something fairly powerful, but not so much so that a novice like myself (yes, I admit that I'm a novice, even though many who are new to lasers claim they are advanced) can learn what I'm doing before I up the laserage (a term I coined to describe the strength of any particular laser). What I ended up finding and ultimately buying was one I found on Amazon for $15.00. I figured at this price I could chance possibly getting something a little underpowered. Worst case scenario, I figured, I have a nice little pointer for my presentations at work.

I think I got a pointer.

It says on the little "DANGER" sticker the following, quoted line-for-line:


So my thoughts are this: could a 2mW laser not also be considered a <50mW laser? 2 is, after all, less than 50. They sold it to me as a 50mW laser. What did I just buy? It's bright, when compared to my 12-year old red laser pen, but I can only see the beam when shining it in total blackness (and it's very faint) or when I'm outside at night in the snow.

Any insight? Do you need any more information from me?

Oh, and when I looked into the end of it I noticed this little red light... just kidding.

Sounds like a 5 mW at best...
Might want to buy one from O-like or Rayfoss next time, there you will actually get a laser close to its advertised power!
lol, last line made me laugh

The stickers do always say <XmW, that's just to cover their asses. At this point, you need to know who are you buying from. Amazon, however, was not the best source. If you can't see the beam clearly at night, you probably got ripped.

If you had read a little more on here, you would have found out that the DX50 is your best buy at that price range.

https://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.1371

chad, welcome to the forum. I went throught the whole learning curve myself just the past few months, the folks on this forum are great. Based on their feedback and my own research, I'd avoid Amazon in the future. There have been enough complaints about underpowered or crappy lasers that burn out after a few hours etc., that I'd just simply avoid them.

Your best best if your looking for the inexpensive but still good quality lasers, you should stick with OLike, rayfoss or LEDShoppe. I've ordered two from LEDshoppe (a 50Mw silver pen green pointer and a 20mW mini pointer, $24 and $14, respectively which included free shipping...the packages got to me in about 8 days). I couldn't be happier with the purchase. They're both working great, they're good quality and I believe they are powered as advertised (they weren't tested, but I can see the beam at night and pop balloons etc.). And given the price, I don't feel bad carrying them around in my pocket to clubs or worrying if they break).

If you want a higher quality laser which is laboratory tested and price is not an issue, I've heard very good things about Optronics.

Best of luck with future beaming....

Optotronics is sure the way to go for the best lasers. Price is killer, however xd

That's the CDRH sticker - as was said you can kind of think of it as a "broad category" that the laser belongs in. In other words, "It's telling the truth, it IS less than 50mW".

A lot of times, advertisers and sellers will quote the CDRH sticker as the specified power. When in reality, the CDRH sticker simply lets you know what the power won't be more than. It serves as no indication of what the power actually is!

Often you'll see HeNe greens advertised as "4mW", when they're as low in actuality as 0.5mW!

Generally, the classification on that sticker gives you a bit of a better idea, though. While the "< x mW" statement is an absolute maximum, classification will usually give you an "idea" of a minimum, since most manufacturers dont want to overclassify a laser. For example:

Class II -- up to 1mW.
Class IIIa - up to 5mW.
Class IIIb - up to 500mW.
Class IV - over 500mW.

You can generally INFER, then - (not always) that a Class IIIa is usually not going to be <1mW, as they'd simply have it classified as Class III. You can usually guess that Class IIIb is >5mW, since, again, they'd classify it as IIIa, if they could.

So seeing as yours is classified as IIIa, its true output is probably between 2-5mw, otherwise it would have been labeled IIIb. Actually, the label on yours is a bit sneaky -- if it actually had a peak of "around" 50mW, it would have to be classified as IIIb, not IIIa. However, I don't think they're supposed to use the terms "peak" or "<" (less than) together... I believe it is supposed to be "<", or "max power". "Peak less than", while true, I think probably would fail on labeling clarity guidelines if they got taken to task on it.

Again, no guarantees, but a decent starting point to get an idea of what 'kind' of laser you're getting.

theycallmechad said:

Oh, and when I looked into the end of it I noticed this little red light... just kidding.

Click to expand...

:crackup: At least we know you read ahead! :beer:

Yep.... what he said^ I own that exact pen(i think, mine was sold by 'super deal' on amazon) and its the same label, mine is weird, comes on now at around 30+mW and instantly drops to 14mW or less(pot modded). The class IIIa is the give away, the sticker says it complies with the FDA stuff, but no saftey features.... There for the only way it can comply is to be <5mW. Read the reviews of the laser, you can tell that anyone that knows anything about lasers, rated it as crap, and 'grossly underspec' was one comment..... Take the advice given above about the diff sites. Amazon is regulated(sorta) like ebay, there for they cant sell >5mW lasers legally, the only way they can is to tell amazon it is really <5mW and complies with article 21 of whatever....
Unfortunatly i modded it before I got my LPM so i'll never know what mine actually put out when I first got it....

Amazon is quite terrible... It was my first green laser, think it was really 50mW, but I only paid $25 with shipped, so I didnt get duped that bad, the laser is 5mW green, and I gave it off to my friend.

^^^I assure you it isnt or wasnt 50mW, most likely 5mW as you stated at the end of your post

theycallmechad said:

So my thoughts are this: could a 2mW laser not also be considered a <50mW laser? 2 is, after all, less than 50. They sold it to me as a 50mW laser. What did I just buy?

Click to expand...

Yes, it could. For safety classes, there is a distinction between < 5mW and anything between 5 mW and 500 mW. Most 2 mW lasers would be labeled <5 mW for that reason... but there is no guarantee < 100 mW would mean 'more than 5 mW' or something like that.

For higher end lasers, the rated power is sometimes a minimum guaranteed output level. This will not be the case for amazon pointers, but the better suppliers do make such guaratees... if you buy something labeled '100 mW', it will produce at least 100 mW of desired light. The warning label on such a unit might still state '<500 mW class III' to be on the safe side.

Yea, the Class level usually tells you, Ive seen class IIIa >5mW and class IIIb <5mW which gives you an idea of the power specs, for instance the OP's rated 50mW laser says class IIIa because it is (probably) <5mW and an ebay pen rated under 5mW mite be rated class IIIb because it really outputs >5mW.....

Hey, thank you all for your replies! I know Amazon was a bit risky, and understood, given the reviews, that the laser would probably under-wow me. I was right; however, I still have a hard time chewing on the fact that they touted the thing as having a maximum laserage of 50mW, even though I totally expected it not to.

I decided to contact the seller. They were sorry the laser I got didn't output as high as they claimed it would and have agreed to do an exchange for me. I asked them how they would like their pointer shipped back to them, and they told me to hold off on it. They are sending me another pointer to test out. If I deem it satisfactory, I keep it and send the other one back. If I deem it unsatisfactory, I send them both back for a refund. What I've decided, even without comparing the two lasers, is this: I will keep whatever pointer is brighter and has the best seeage of the beam, regardless of whether or not it outputs to 50mW. Why? Because the company is awsome. Who does that? Sends an extra pointer to test out? That's amazing. It is my feeling that communist China told them it was 50mW, so they're selling it as such. They don't know any better. They sell all kinds of electronic gadgets, not just lasers.

I should be getting Laser 2 tonight. I'll let you all know how it goes.

Thank you again for all your advice. Though I botched my first laser purchase (somewhat expected, being how after all my research and reading this forum I still got it from Amazon), I will not botch the second.

That company isnt that great, trust me, super deal said the same thing to me, 'oh were so sorry about that, send back the bad one..... Thats how they get you, the majority of ppl that buy that laser from amazon have only seen 5mW reds and some low powered greens, nothing real powerful, so alot of ppl will leave great reviews saying oh yea it was so much brighter than my 5mW, it probably is alot brighter, but its not 50mW or even close to it. Someone catches on to them, then they will say anything to leave you satisfied and not have you making bad reviews of them. If it says class IIIa then it most likely is, a <5mW green pointer, as said above they are telling you the truth the label says <50mW and 5mW is less than 50mW, thats how they can sell on amazon, and how they dupe ppl that dont have experience with lasers.....

I appreciate what you said. I thought the same thing about why they might be mailing me another pointer to test out, but it was a good gesture.

Well, the second pointer did end up coming. It was nice to have them both to hold side-by-side and compare. Honestly, it didn't take me any time at all to realize I liked the new one they sent me. Is it 50mW? No. Is it 5mW? No, it's much higher. I'm not sure where it lies exactly, but in my bedroom with a single dome light in the middle, I can clearly see the beam. At night time, inside or out, the thing is easier to see than a standard vending machine laser is when shined through the fog from a fog machine. I will certainly keep the new one rather than send them both back. It will be great for when I take my boy scouts on campouts and we want to talk about stars. But it's also not too bright that I can't use it at work for my presentations (I hope). I'll get another one some day, and certainly a brighter one. But this is my laser with training wheels, and I'm okay with that. When I learn how to not shine it in my eyes, I'll get another one (only a joke).

Thank you again for all your help, suggestinos, encouraging/discouraging words, and advice. I can't wait to get my next pointer. It'll be >100mW, that's for sure.

Benm said:

Yes, it could. For safety classes, there is a distinction between < 5mW and anything between 5 mW and 500 mW. Most 2 mW lasers would be labeled <5 mW for that reason... but there is no guarantee < 100 mW would mean 'more than 5 mW' or something like that.

For higher end lasers, the rated power is sometimes a minimum guaranteed output level. This will not be the case for amazon pointers, but the better suppliers do make such guaratees... if you buy something labeled '100 mW', it will produce at least 100 mW of desired light. The warning label on such a unit might still state '<500 mW class III' to be on the safe side.

Click to expand...

i know for sure that the 50mW is a true 5mW and the 100mW is a true 10mW

So I thought I'd put my pointer to the baloon test tonight, and in under 3 seconds, it pops a standard Red Robin baloon, when aiming the beam at the black text on the baloon. I was quite shocked. Though I don't believe it's a 50mW, it's probably stronger than a 5mW.

All in all, though, I don't think the match test is even worth trying.