I have gotten maybe 15 of these(gifts for my laser-hater friends)- some were 40+mW some were closer to 15mW-
They make nice gifts for the younger people that have a good understanding on safety-
Cons IMO were-
the on button is TOO exposed- its too easy to make it work when you may not want that. I fixed this by addding two thick O-Rings above and below the button- thus its much less likely to be pressed by accident- kinda like butt-dialing a cell phone--lol
(also you can use one of the rings to hold down the momentary button- just be sure to not run for more that a few minutes without a rest cycle)
the lens in front is very thin- easily broken and will just fall out when you take one of these apart-( and get lost too) Using without the lens means dust etc can get inside- going w/o may give you a few more mW-
the laser makes the circles by bouncing off a very tiny mirror glues to a spring- SO
on some there is more clipping than on others- in most cases however when you rotate the disco laser ( also sold as the disco-dapper) you will find a position where there is no clipping or at least much less.
An extensive review with nice pics inside has been done years ago so do a search until you find it (made by Member 'Hallucinagenic' or a spelling close to that.
edit here is the link http://laserpointerforums.com/f52/laserlands-green-30mw-disco-laser-extensive-review-47799.html
about a TEC forget that idea as TECs must in almost all cases aslo need a fan to keep the hot side from getting too hot. just use it is short on / off cycles.
the roll knob on the side moves a tiny bounce mirror into the beam path- so this is how you get two efx- the cap side has two diffraction gratings with the one in front rotatable and that gives you different results, but it will not turn on its own.
Last con ..... a few of these came to me with no warning sticker attached.
it really needs one-
Focal price had them on sale and they have a sliding price scale so buy more pay less per piece- that is how i got some for 10$ eack with free ship= you can find them at close to this price by simply running a search at feeBay- ['Dapper Disco Laser']
Try placing one on top of a speaker (but not for more than 60sec) the vibs will make the circle bounce to the music- (take care that it does not fall)
ALSO try this- play music- and gently tap the laser with your fingertip as this too will make it bounce to the beat if done right.
REMEMBER -- most here will tell you that there is NO laser that is safe to point into ones eyes- handing this over to a kiddo is NOT advised- parental supervision is a MUST.
AND there is always a chance another child will play with this and he/she may not understand the danger---likewise- 99% of the youngsters WIIL try/want to take this with them to school-- BAD Idea!!!!!!!!!!!
most schools have a no- tolerance policy on such items. only problems can come from this- so safety first on ALL lasers-
hope this helps
hak
edit- I dont see a lot to be gained by swapping the green for another of higher power as opposed to modding these to have the other three colors- R B & V-
another nice thing is being able to make a nice tunnel efx with thick undisturbed smoke or foggage-
