5mW greenie... overpowered?

[Assainator75]

I received a replacement 5mW green laser pen   and strangely... i believe it looks somewhat significantly brighter than the first. Maybe it's just because of full batteries, or I've forgotten exactly how bright the dot looked. When pointed at white walls, it is Painfully bright, and when pointed at black objects, it's just plain bright!
The beam seems normal for a 5mW and my dad says it looks about the same. No, black plastic doesn't melt with a tiny lens (it changes dot to a pin prick size), so i don't think it's too overpowered.

Any ideas? Could it be like a little over 5mW on full batteries?  :-/
(laser is the same "look" as a NewWish brand laser, but not bought from DX)

 

[x101xtreme]

It is very hard to tell without access to a laser power meter. However, above 15mw, you should be able to barely make out a beam in a lit room at night.

 

[randomlugia]

I received a replacement 5mW green laser pen   and strangely... i believe it looks somewhat significantly brighter than the first. Maybe it's just because of full batteries, or I've forgotten exactly how bright the dot looked. When pointed at white walls, it is Painfully bright, and when pointed at black objects, it's just plain bright!
The beam seems normal for a 5mW and my dad says it looks about the same. No, black plastic doesn't melt with a tiny lens (it changes dot to a pin prick size), so i don't think it's too overpowered.

Any ideas? Could it be like a little over 5mW on full batteries?  :-/
(laser is the same "look" as a NewWish brand laser, but not bought from DX)

Where did you get it? That might help...

 

[Warske]

I received a replacement 5mW green laser pen   and strangely... i believe it looks somewhat significantly brighter than the first. ...Any ideas? Could it be like a little over 5mW on full batteries?

I've bought 6 green laser pens through ebay from Hong Kong over the years and they differ by at least 10 to 1 in brightness, even though they are supposed to be the same.

Comparing a green laser to a red of the same power, the green should appear about 8 times brighter becauses the human eye is 8 times more sensitive to green.  (This depends on the wavelength of the red, but 8 x is a good rule of thumb).  

If you want to actually measure laser power, the cheapest way I have been able to think of is the Simple Laser Power Meter.

 

[rocketparrotlet]

NO...an overpowered "5mW" greenie?! NEVER!

Yeah, just about all "5mW" cheapo greenies are overpowered, and their actual power varies widely.

-Mark

 

[Assainator75]

The laser isn't THAT overpowered. The previous laser had "problems" (Multiple rings that made up the center dot and the unfocused part around it.) So, this laser could possibly be a True 5mW greenie. Ok it wasn't Significantly brighter, it was just brighter than i'd realized, which isn't really a lot.