Underpowered green laser from Dealextreme?

Housten44 said:

Hi all.

First of all, I know DX hasn't got the greatest quality goods.
But since they sell lasers at low prices, I couldn't resist to buy a 50mw green laser (as my first one)
Now im pretty satisfied with it, it has a visible beam at night (at least from the angle where im standing) and the dot goes at least for a mile.
Yet, it has to be underpowered, not only because it isn't a TRUE laser, but also because I have been reading things here such as the fact that a 50mw green laser has a visible beam during daytime. Mine only has a visible beam in a 50% dark room, so it must be less than 40mw. It's dissapointing, but something to accept therefor it is still a laser from DX and they aren't so great (also cause they dont have IR Filter.)

As a newbie I wanted to ask a few things: Is the beam less visible also because the laser doesn't have a IR filter? and how could I find out the strenght of the laser (by doing some tests like trying to cut tape - tell me all you know)
I guess modding it requiers a lot of stuff and is too risky.
Sorry for the spelling misstakes. Any reply is good

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Pontiacg5 said:

Save your time and buy a different laser, this one is probably only doing 10-20mW of green. An IR filter will have no effect on the green you can see, only the IR you can't see.

If you really must know what a piece it is search around a little. I'll tell you right off the bat that there is no definitive "it takes 10mW to pop a balloon, 20 to cut tape etc." formula.

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Housten44 said:

I see.
If you'd ask me what I wished to have then my answer would be, well adleast a laser that has a visible beam in normal room during the daytime. I will buy me another one somewhere in the future for sure, only I was wondering if you (or someone else) know if the TRUE lasers on DX would be any better. Im really looking for people with experience and also to keep it under, lets say 30-40 € (which is around max. 50 $) Thats why I choose DX (focalprice is pretty much the same) and websites like dragonlasers are too expensive for me. It is still something to have just for fun. Not a I-will-spend-200$-on-it-thing :yh:

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Pontiacg5 said:

You have to spend money to get a good laser. I doubt you are going to find a laser that does what you want for $50, that's just the way it is. You gotta pay to play.

Any laser from DX will be crap, doesn't matter if it is "true" or not.

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