Take a peek in the experiments and modifications section...TONS of different circuits available there, and lots of assistance with building them, too !
If the batteries you are using are a little weak you might get a few sec to a few min.
If you use brand new Energizer E2 lithium cells it would be insta death.
I know thats how I killed my first good diode I couldnt wait to try it out.
Build a driver for it from here http://www.laserpointerforums.com/forums/YaBB.pl?num=1185701612/0
Trust me its worth waiting if you want to enjoy your new laser
if you get impatient and try to power the diode first you ARE going to fry it! end of story hands down truth. I've seen probably about 90 people at least on this forum that have started trying to run it straight of batteries and they fried the first one. Hell even I've done it and I've had tons of lasers.
take an old pro's advice PATIENCE GRASSOPPA!
yup, even though I used my old NiCds for this, and put a pot into the circuit, it eventually died as it was heating up (and the pot was some unknown thing).
Go ahead and give in to your "I want to try this now!, but consider that this impatience will cost you ~20$ and (if this is your only/last one) about two to three weeks to egt another one.
I am pretty sure that I will try do build one myself, but I would still like to know how much someone would charge to build one for me if I sent my diode and a flashlight (if I can find one) to them