50mW Lasers

Yet another 'which laser should I buy' thread, sorry. I've never bought a laser before, and I'm interested in buying one with a visible beam, mainly (if not only) for star pointing.

I want something where I'm at a midpoint of not needing to wear glasses outside in order to look at the beam, but not weak enough that the beam isn't impressive to look at. I figure 50mW is probably about right for this (though I understand I could get away with 10mW at night for star pointing).

Anyway, I've no experience with buying lasers, but these are the ones I've been looking at -- some recommendation on which would be a good idea to buy would be a real help.

50mW transformable green laser/adjustable/burning (from O-like)
Cute pocket Green laser 50mW /adjustable (from O-like)
Focusable 50mW Green Laser Pointer with Safety Key Lock (1*18650 Included) (from DealExtreme)
RF532-50mW-B03 (from Rayfoss)

They all seem pretty similar to me, so I figure it would be good to hear from other experienced buyers on which I should choose. Also, just as an added question; I was considering buying an E2 from Wickedlasers (E2 Series from Wicked Lasers - Evolution Pro Series), but I've heard some really bad things about them so I decided against it (plus the laser is very powerful, bit scary for me).

Hope I can get some help! Thanks

Edit Ok so I misunderstood. The first laser I saw was the S3 at Wickedlasers, which needs glasses just to look at the beam. I hear this is a lot to do with the fact it is blue light, with blue light having a shorter wavelength making it far more powerful. So, am I right in thinking that I could probably go up and beyond 150mW with a green laser while being able to look at the beam without glasses (obviously not directly into the laser, or at the dot). I'll probably still go for 50mW though.

Hello and welcome to he forum!:wave:
You never need any goggles to just look at the beam from the side.
In fact, wearing goggles you wouldn't see the beam at all anymore.
Goggles are there to protect you from accidental reflections.
Or if you want to burn stuff, so you can actually look at the dot while burning without
getting a headache.

Regarding those laser you picked, I'd suggest you just get the one you like most
for it's looks, batteries, customer service, extra functions or whatever, because
in terms of brightness, they will all be quite similar.
The Dealextreme one is likely going to be of a slightly less overall quality.

Thanks for the welcome! And thanks for the info about goggles, I was confused by the S3. Ok in that case, is there any particular green laser you would recommend? My budget is pretty flexible (as long as I'm not looking at $500 lasers). Or should I just go with one of the ones I linked (excluding the dealextreme)?

On second thoughts, very much like the look of this: http://www.optotronics.com/proddetail.php?prod=Opto55 So I'll probably go with this if no one recommends anything better before I order. Thanks for the help.

What's the most amount of money you're willing to spend? O-like is a trusted seller of cheap lasers. They aren't the best quality, but they are very good and a great bang for your buck value. Wicked is an absolutely terrible company, stay away from them.

I don't know what your budget is, but there's basically no limit to how powerful a beam you can look at without goggles. Yet throwing that much light around isn't a safe thing to do for others. How does this one look? www.rayfoss.com

I'd say I'm probably willing to go up to around $120 unless there's something extremely special involved. So I guess my price range isn't as flexible as I thought, what you linked is a little out.

If $120 is your price might I suggest Optotronics? They are a re-seller of Viasho lasers, one of the top brands around. Optotronics is also located in the good ol' U.S. of A. And the owner Jack, provides great customer services and excellent communication.

Here are a couple they offer for around your price:

Opto75mW
Opto100mW

The beams from these will be plenty bright, with some of the best divergence, and you know what you're getting with Optotronics

BTW, Welcome to the forum!!! :beer:

Thanks for the welcome! Also funnily enough if you look at my second reply, I was actually really liking the look of Optotronics. Everyone says they come overspec, and are ace quality. I'm still thinking of getting either the 50mW or the 75mW!

Edit Oh big mistake, I should point out I'm not in the U.S, so my $120 includes shipping. Which is why I was looking at the 75mW optotronics and not the 100mW one. Sorry, should've been more clear about that.

I can fully recommend you this one
200mw 532nm Mini Flashlight Style Adjust Focus Green Laser Pointer(1*CR123A Included) $25.69 Free Shipping


I´m going to review it in the next days.
~70mW power with very low IR inside (about 7%) and also works in lower temperatures!

Lazy said:

Thanks for the welcome! Also funnily enough if you look at my second reply, I was actually really liking the look of Optotronics. Everyone says they come overspec, and are ace quality. I'm still thinking of getting either the 50mW or the 75mW!

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Sorry, I must have read over that

Yeah, Jack test each unit before it goes out to ensure it is at, or, over spec.

If you want a pen style, get the Opto. It's pretty much the only cheap pen style you can get that's reliable. But if you can afford to get something a little bigger, you should check out some of Rayfoss's torches. They are still really nice and a great value, plus you'll get more power and more heatsinking! With the $120 budget this would be my choice:

www.rayfoss.com

randomlugia said:

If you want a pen style, get the Opto. It's pretty much the only cheap pen style you can get that's reliable. But if you can afford to get something a little bigger, you should check out some of Rayfoss's torches. They are still really nice and a great value, plus you'll get more power and more heatsinking! With the $120 budget this would be my choice:

www.rayfoss.com

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I have to say that one is very tempting. I'm stuck in this mentality where I don't want to get something too powerful because of fear of damaging peoples eyes. But really anything over 25-30mW is going to fry your eyes regardless if a mistake is made so It's silly thinking. Ok, I'll sleep on it. Thanks for all the suggestions, I'll probably end up choosing between the 75mW Optotronics or the RF532-150mW-QBT from Rayfoss.

Thanks for all the help, didn't expect to get so much.

What I can say to help is: Take a look at my review in my signature. I'm very satisfied with the SDLaser and for pointing at stars it seems to be enough. In some units, the beam comes out not 100% straight, though. It wasn't my case. I really don't know why would you need the more expensive lasers but I'm not the expert here, so just read my review and good luck with your choice. =)

Lazy said:

I have to say that one is very tempting. I'm stuck in this mentality where I don't want to get something too powerful because of fear of damaging peoples eyes. But really anything over 25-30mW is going to fry your eyes regardless if a mistake is made so It's silly thinking. Ok, I'll sleep on it. Thanks for all the suggestions, I'll probably end up choosing between the 75mW Optotronics or the RF532-150mW-QBT from Rayfoss.

Thanks for all the help, didn't expect to get so much.

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This is good thinking. If you're not going to be pointing the laser around on the ground don't even worry about it. That's what we have 5mW's for!