Blu-ray = Disappointment

[karbon]

Recieved my 30mw laser from o-like. I got it becuase i was dying to see the hype and got bored of green and red. Divergence is huge, and beam seems unfocused. Also, the range on the laser is very poor. The only thing it is good is popping balloons. The laser is quite a bright blue when shone at white objects. Just for $80 i expected more for my money...

 

[iskor12]

30mW is very weak for a Blu-Ray. Don't let that laser get you down. You should have done more research first, that's all. Also, blu-ray dots always look blurry unless you have glasses on. That wavelength messes with your eyes. 100mW+ Blu-Ray lasers are amazing.

 

[ReNNo]

UV light is hard to see and divergence looks much bigger than it is.
Because of that you can see UV dot just few hundred meters away and beam looks really wide.
Some people see UV better and some people not.

Try to use digital camera and you will see beam much easier.

 

[ElektroFreak]

^Just place the laser on a table with the power on, and walk over to the spot. Then you can easily see the true spot size..

 

[rog8811]

18 months ago we were all amazed by 20mw Blu-rays as they were the only way of getting somewhere near to blue, I still use my first one daily for presentations and still think it cool, but these days they have been replaced with ones capable of 500mw... how times change
Enjoy it for what it can do to things you point it at rather than making comparisons with much more visable greens and reds.

Regards rog8811

 

[Archienj7]

A higher powered one would change your mind. I'd take 100 mW's of blu-ray over 200 mW's of red any day of the week. That's my preference though and I've not gotten a green...yet.

 

[YGG]

Yeah, honestly when I built the one I had from scrap parts it was like less than 5mw but the dot does look very confusing, I know I am getting/building a high powered very soon, give it another chance, the beams look incredible. Even with my weak ass DIY hack job I could see a slight beam in the dark if I looked close, so just imagine what over 100mw will do. Remember mine was less than 5mw. I think I might try and go for an 8X myself though:drool:

 

[john_lawson]

yea get a white cotton shirt then shine it on that its still cool or a glow tile
but yea more power is better

 

[ReNNo]

Yeah, honestly when I built the one I had from scrap parts it was like less than 5mw but the dot does look very confusing, I know I am getting/building a high powered very soon, give it another chance, the beams look incredible. Even with my weak ass DIY hack job I could see a slight beam in the dark if I looked close, so just imagine what over 100mw will do. Remember mine was less than 5mw. I think I might try and go for an 8X myself though:drool:

I can't see clearly beam with my PHR803 diode @ 110mA.
Only in smoke or dust.
Is there problems with my eyes? :|

If you see <5mw beam you must have ccd chip in your eyes

 

[john_lawson]

i have one phr at 130 mw is really visable and yet a few more that are'nt ??
strange stuff man

 

[Benm]

Blu-ray is borderline invisible, the only thing that can stand out is fluorescense.

Compared to 660 nm, 405 is much less visible really - especially when you just see the beam without it hitting anything.

 

[YGG]

I can't see clearly beam with my PHR803 diode @ 110mA.
Only in smoke or dust.
Is there problems with my eyes? :|

If you see <5mw beam you must have ccd chip in your eyes

Well I doubt a <5mw driver from a red laser level and the diode from the non phr xbox HD-DVD drive(don't know the name right now)being driven by 4 C size batteries could do much. The average was probably 1.6v for batteries, some 1.7, a couple 1.5V. Keep in mind I am 15 and haven't destroyed my eyes with lasers yet. This was in the dark, accept my old iMac was playing a Simpsons DVD on the other side of my room. I had to look really closely but I could see it. And no the diode was not getting hot at all.

 

[john_lawson]

i have a 270 mw red loc its about the same as my 130 mw 405 phr vision wise
they have about the same burning power it seems some people see the violet diffently lol

 

[YGG]

I see it really well and I am glad because it's awesome. Hope I didn't shine it in my eye to much, yes really dumb but it was barely lasing at first. My vision is fine now, it's a couple weeks later, my eyes were just really tired from looking at it and pulling an all nighter making the shittiest 405nm ever. Maybe my diode is a brighter one, have to check when I get a driver(which should be between this week and next week) even though I am planning on getting a better one(mine is the weaker of the two from the HD-DVD add on, the newer one)

 

[Crossfire]

Recieved my 30mw laser from o-like. I got it becuase i was dying to see the hype and got bored of green and red. Divergence is huge, and beam seems unfocused. Also, the range on the laser is very poor. The only thing it is good is popping balloons. The laser is quite a bright blue when shone at white objects. Just for $80 i expected more for my money...

Yes, 30mW is a small blu-ray, which could be used as a presentation pointer. I have a 215mW blu-ray and it's amazing. The beam, like the dot messes with your eyes and seems a ghastly grey. Point it at the ceiling and you got a laser blacklight for your room. I also have a 43mW blu-ray, I wanted a small blu-ray by design.

405nm is awesome, but the other wavelengths have their merits too. But most people have never seen a violet laser. Build a PHR-based laser (cheap, easy 100+mW) and see the light!

 

[Cenobite9]

Yeah it seems not all 405nm diodes are made equally. I've had 2 PHR diodes (running at 100mw) and the second one definitely had a more visible beam. My 6x diode also has a very visible beam at 195mw. I read somewhere in these forums that the diodes are usually +/- 5nm so if you happen to get one on the plus side then you'll have a more visible beam. I could be wrong though...