Having a Tough Time Deciding

Well I can't decide between a 532nm Laserglow Aries or a Wicked Lasers Evolution Fusion.

I am interested in power between 20mW - 100mW. I want to be able to view the beam and dot without always using goggles and I believe <50mW is safe for viewing from a distance. Is that correct?

It would of course be fun to burn and I would consider more power, but then I would never be able to view the dot without goggles. It seems to me though, that I will wish I could burn shortly after I start working with the laser.:cryyy:

I live in a ground-floor apartment and have fairly heavy white curtains, do you think you would be able to see the light of my laser experiments glowing an odd shade of green out my windows? And I don't mean aiming the laser at the curtains, just the diffuse light from the laser on the wall?

This will be my first green laser and my only laser over 5mW.

What I like about the Aries:

-closing aperature for dust and safety
-I can keep the key to prevent unathorized use on camping trips etc.
-Laserglow quality (CNI)
-ships within my country (Canada)
-customer service
-C cell batteries (longer running time?)

What I don't like:
-this laser is pretty expensive
-this laser is pretty big
-lots of fiddly safety features
-C cell batteries! (going to have to get some rechargeable$) - I know I only need to buy them once just adds to the cost.

The Evolution Fushion is also very attractive:

The good:
-its cheap
-its small
-its attractive
-simple design simple safety
-AA batteries!!! (love this)

The bad:
-Wicked Lasers quality?
-warranty (shipping to China if I have trouble)
-crappy safety features (the safety pin looks like trouble in waiting)

I almost went all the way through Laserglow's shopping cart for an Aries 35 but thought I should seek some advice. :eg:

Thanks.

The Laserglow is invariably better.

They also have a representative on these forums (Justin), and they have a proven track record of good customer support.

Wicked has crappy customer support, and they're struggling as it is to keep up with the Arctics, let alone ship out new lasers.

Well, if you want the best of both worlds, how about a comproimse?

Have you ever heard of the Spartan series from DragonLasers?



Their 30mW one starts at $199, and although isn't eye-safe at close range, is more than enough for beam-pointing in the night sky.

Green Handheld Laser --- 532nm Laser ----- Spartan Series Lasers :: Handheld Lasers :: Dragon Lasers

As a rule of thumb, anything over 10mW will need goggles, and will be too bright to use as a day-to-day pointer, especially on white surfaces.

That looks like a good laser, do you know if it has an IR filter or what the duty cycle is? I cannot seem to find that information on their website.

In the end I have a good feeling about the Aries I just don't like the price.

Thanks.

The laser does have an IR filter, and if there is any IR it usually is <1mW.

They don't give a duty cycle, but according to members who own this laser, the 100mW gets warm after 5 minutes, so I'd expect the 30mW to be able to run for at least 10 minutes without issues.

I am probably going to be using this laser inside most frequently and I understand completely about stray reflections, shiny surfaces etc. and will be extremely carefull to never shine near any of these things. If I am very carefull what is the max mW dot I can safely observe on a matte textured white wall without goggles?

I have read quite a bit about safety (I have skimmed through most of the Safety and Legal Issues forum) and there appears to be a bit of controversy surrounding this issue, the thread: http://laserpointerforums.com/f53/laser-dot-danger-43384.html :talks about this and would seem to be saying you cannot view the dot of a laser over 5 mW. I seem to recall another thread where people where saying the dot is safe up to 500 mW because according to the old classification system it is considered safe for Class 3B lasers:

Class IIIb From Wikipedia:

Lasers in this class may cause damage if the beam enters the eye directly. This generally applies to lasers powered from 5–500 mW. Lasers in this category can cause permanent eye damage with exposures of 1/100th of a second or less depending on the strength of the laser. A diffuse reflection is generally not hazardous but specular reflections can be just as dangerous as direct exposures. Protective eyewear is recommended when direct beam viewing of Class IIIb lasers may occur. Lasers at the high power end of this class may also present a fire hazard and can lightly burn skin.

I will be buying a pair of Lasershields rated OD 2 so I will have goggles on hand - perhaps I should focus on burning power and forget trying to get a decent powered laser with safely viewable dot? I mean I don't think I will be able to get a buring laser with a viewable dot, correct?

Thanks for your help on this.

Correct. Anything that burns well will injure your eyes from looking at the dot at <3feet. However goninanbl00d is kind of blowing it out of proportion a little. Generally any dot under 100mw >10 feet away will not cause permanent eye damage, but your eyes will get "tired" from looking at it. When a laser hits something like a white wall, the light is scattered everywhere. It's like looking at a 1 watt green led. Not very pleasant, but permanent eye damage is not likely.

445 and 405nm are a different story though...

But since burning is often going to be at close range, goggles are necessary for that. I would go with at least an OD 4 goggle too.

Go for the LG, their quality is great.

It is too bad Laserglow only offers OD 2 or OD 7 goggles, I imagine with the OD 7 googles the dot will be invisible from a 100 mW laser? I can always get goggles elsewhere that are OD 4, I will have to check OEM.

Wickedlasers also offer OD 2 Lasershields - both companies offer you OD 2 goggles as options with your purchase, hardly seems adaquate.

OD2 is fine for close burning, you don't get directed power reflected from burning stuff... OD2 is only inadequate if you look into the laser directly.

I think it now comes down to choosing between burning and safe dot viewing.

For safe dot viewing, if there really is such a thing, this is what I will do: carefully shine the stabilized laser at my wall while viewing it from a distance >3 feet, In effect using the laser as a "pointer" with a viewable beam. What is this safe mW level if this is possible? If it isn't so be it, I am not willing to risk my eyesight.

Thanks!

Wratchet said:

What is this safe mW level if this is possible? If it isn't so be it, I am not willing to risk my eyesight.

Click to expand...

It's all a matter of how long you look at it. But so long as you don't sit down, crack a beer and stare at it, <100mw is fine for indoor use. Just avoid specular reflections!

It's safe, just be careful of reflective objects and you'll be fine, beam pointing outside is fine, dot viewing isn't dangerous as long as you are careful, you'll find that the dot may not even make your eyes feel tired, different people have different tolerances to brightness.

I would go with o-like module and a custom host

Your shades will probably glow a little green....but there is nothing wrong with that...

and please for the sake of god, don't pay $200 on a 30mW laser.

Your just paying extra $ for the same shit everyone builds theirs with.

True dat^ ...Even though I still buy premade lasers... lol

Here.
Buy this: O-Like 80-100mW green laser modules(3v DC) [GRN100] - $62.99 : Modwerx Shop

Now go to the buy/sell/trade section and find a host to put it in.......

Uranium, perhaps I am blowing it out of proportion a little, but I did find that 30-50mW on a white wall within three meters uncomfortable to look at.

Wratchet, have you considered O-Like's lasers? Fine, they might not be as well known as Laserglow, but their products are still damn good.

They've got a (reasonalby) eye-safe 50mW focusable unit that can burn.

50mW transformable green laser/adjustable/burning [OLV50] - $41.99 : Welcome to O-Like.com, Your source for laser products

Mohrenberg, that's a good idea. Having said that, Jayrob's only green build kit is $75, which kinda ruins the whole value proposition.

The other option is to have Ehgemus custom-machine you a host (that's around a more sensible $45-55, as well as having much more visual appeal than any of Jayrob's kits).