Help picking red laser as a gift

[Vattic]

I have looked through the "Basic FAQ's... Read before posting!" thread but I am still not sure what to get.

A little while ago a friend of mine expressed great interest in getting a laser pointer and I have decided to get him one for Christmas. Mostly he will be using it indoors either getting his cat to chase it or when giving talks alongside a projector.

So I need to find a red pointer, UK legal with a reasonable range on it. I want it to be as safe as possible. I cant really afford to spend more than £20.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Cheers.

 

[Eudaimonium]

If you are searching both 'safe' and long range, you definetly want to go with GREEN laser here, but anything over 5 mW of optical power is already dangerous...
If it were me, I'd pick a 50 mW green laser, it will go as far as you can see, and they are not so pricey, depending where are you looking at for them.
See here:
50mW 532nm Green Laser Pointer Black Laser Pointer, Laser Pointer Green Light, 50mW Laser Pointer Green Light - DinoDirect.com
This appears to be very fine laser, it was bought by my friend and he is more than satisfied with it, you have a review here:
http://laserpointerforums.com/f52/dinodirect-50mw-532nm-green-laser-pointer-black-46117.html

And it will cost you half of your budget, if I'm not mistakin'.
Enjoy!

 

[billg519]

It seems that the friend will be using the laser as a cat toy. It should therefore not exceed 5mW for the sake of the cat. There are plenty of inexpensive 5mW pointer pens around. DX, O-like, Rayfoss, Dino, etc. Try a post in "buy/sell/trade", maybe a member will sell you one.

 

[Eudaimonium]

It seems that the friend will be using the laser as a cat toy. It should therefore not exceed 5mW for the sake of the cat. There are plenty of inexpensive 5mW pointer pens around. DX, O-like, Rayfoss, Dino, etc. Try a post in "buy/sell/trade", maybe a member will sell you one.

Yeah... I agree except the 5mW part, does cats' eyes have same range of safe and dangerious wattages as human exes?
We played around with my friends cat, it ran after 100mW bluray and 50 mW green, but it kinda looked scared by 200mW red... I think they also know when are they not supposed to try to play with that. It seemed reppeled by the light.
However since the OP has a big budget... why not go with little higher power? As soon as he unpacks and starts using the 5mW greenie, he will search for more powerfull one

Vattic, the choice is up to you!

 

[lasersbee]

@ Eudaimonium....

why do you keep pushing High Power Green Lasers when the
OP title says he only wants and is looking for a Low Power RED
Cat Toy...
IIRC... cat's eyes are even more sensitive to light than humans...

@ Vattic...

Got to eBay and get a cheap RED one to start with... like these...

New Powerful Red Laser Pointer Pen Beam Light 5mW on eBay.ca (item 260520666802 end time 07-Jan-10 21:29:44 EST)

or even Reds like these...

3in 1 Red Laser Pointer LED Flashlight Torch W Keychain on eBay.ca (item 250548585765 end time 15-Dec-09 13:43:21 EST)

or look at a local Dollar Store if you have any in your area...

BTW....

to the Forum....


Jerry

 

[Eudaimonium]

@ Eudaimonium....

why do you keep pushing High Power Green Lasers when the
OP title says he only wants and is looking for a Low Power RED
Cat Toy...
IIRC... cat's eyes are even more sensitive to light than humans...

...

Jerry

Sorry dude, but I figured if he wants a cheapie, he would go into first china shop and buy one for a dollar. I don't think he would be asking for advice if he didn't want something worth the money...
But alright, objection aproved
BTW you sure about cats' eyes more sensitive? If they were, they would all be running away from my lasers, since my friends who don't deal with that kind of stuff, find it difficult to look at the dot close range.

 

[lasersbee]

N/P....

Logic dictates that if cats can see better in the dark that humans...
then their eyes are making use of a lot less photons of visible light
to see in the dark making their eyes more sensitive...

Correct me if I'm wrong...:undecided:

Jerry

 

[Eudaimonium]

N/P....

Logic dictates that if cats can see better in the dark that humans...
then their eyes are making use of a lot less photons of visible light
to see in the dark making their eyes more sensitive...

Correct me if I'm wrong...:undecided:

Jerry

They could be more sensitive to IR spectrum than us, there is more IR than visible light in dark conditions... I think.
I dunno and don't care... Let's ask this guy what exactly does he want.

Hey OP, along safe and cat toy, you mentioned a long distance pointing...
Well you see, a 5 mW green laser is about 5 to 10 times brighter in our eyes than 5 mW red.
So, I suggest 5mW (or other power ) GREEN laser... not only it is more visible, is also looks more beautifull than red, and is not as common as red.
However it is more expensive, and possibly dangerious if it is not IR filtered (bad quality).

 

[Deleted member 8382]

Dealextreme, 5mW red laser keychain with flashlight 1.66$ WITH FREE SHIPING. nothing better for a cat!

@Eudaimonium: IR is not dangerous on such low powered green lasers no matter how cheap they are.

 

[Eudaimonium]

Dealextreme, 5mW red laser keychain with flashlight 1.66$ WITH FREE SHIPING. nothing better for a cat!

@Eudaimonium: IR is not dangerous on such low powered green lasers no matter how cheap they are.

IR pump diode still exceeds class IIIa... in 5mW green, you could have 30 mW IR pump diode. It can be dangerous... but yeah, if you know what are you doing, you are safe.

 

[HIMNL9]

Cats eyes are more sensitive, only, they don't see the colors in the same range and way that we see .....

As example, they are, as far as i remember, almost 7 times more sensitive than humans to light, but see less colors, and also, they see the colors less intense ..... i mean, where you see bright colors, they see the same objects as "pastel color" ..... hope it's clear that what i mean .....

So, probably the cat is scared from a high intensity pointer, just cause is the same, for him, to point a high intensity light in your eye, looking at a too much bright point .....

Edit: by the way, this may also mean that cats can be LESS efficent in daylight, with sight ..... just imagine how you see the objects, in daylight, if they are 7 times more luminous than that what you see now ..... too much light cause difficults same as too few, looking at things

 

[Asherz]

IR pump diode still exceeds class IIIa... in 5mW green, you could have 30 mW IR pump diode. It can be dangerous... but yeah, if you know what are you doing, you are safe.

What??

Yes it has a pump diode, but it's used for PUMPING the crystals which produce green light. Only a small amount of IR light would get through.

Unless he opened it up, tore out the crystals and put it back together again would he be in any danger.

 

[Eudaimonium]

What??

Yes it has a pump diode, but it's used for PUMPING the crystals which produce green light. Only a small amount of IR light would get through.

Unless he opened it up, tore out the crystals and put it back together again would he be in any danger.

What do you think why do they put IR filters on high quality lasers? Heard of IR leakage?
Let's get a bottom line here: lasers are dangerous, different powers less but they are not to be taken lightly...
However, 5mW green cannot be of much danger if used correctly...