Need a reliable pen laser.

[darklandz]

what's the best bang for buck at the moment on a true ~100mw greenie??
having a few nights in the countryside next week, would like something reliable. have a small budget of around $150. can anyone recommend a good laser please?

 

[bryce007]

probably go with those Optotronic pens

 

[x101xtreme]

I second that. The 150mw that I have is extremely reliable with an average output of 158mw. You won't be disappointed with the quality and power of either the 100mw or the 120mw premium pens from optotronics.

 

[darklandz]

hehe the first name that came to mind was indeed optotronics. i emailed Jack, but no reply as of yet.
what about Novalasers and Dragonlasers????
how are these 2 companies doing these days?? still very reliable and at the top of the CNI penlaser market are they??

 

[x101xtreme]

CNI pens are good, but I don't see a huge difference in quality between the CNI pens and the opto pens. I've owned both, and the opto seemed a little more stable in that it doesn't mode hop and maintains its power for longer periods. In addition, with your budget, a CNI pen meeting your power requirements 100mw+ is much more expensive than the opto 100 and 120. A viper 95 is $200 and the x-100 is $229. You can get an opto 150 for the same price. Even if you plan on doing the GB, the CNI is still more expensive. If you intend to get a CNI, go with either novalasers or get one through scopeguy's group buy. Last time I purchased from dragon lasers 125mw, it ended up being 105-115mw on an LPM so I returned it. My opto 150 peaks at 180mw and averages 158.

 

[styropyro]

Nova and Dragon are still great companies for the higher end pens, but there are a lot of companies selling the NewWish stuff these days for low prices with pretty good reviews, like Opto and O-Like.

If you can wait a little while, check out the CNI GB, there are some nice prices for CNI stuff there.

 

[RA_pierce]

CNI pens are good, but I don't see a huge difference in quality between the CNI pens and the opto pens. I've owned both, and the opto seemed a little more stable in that it doesn't mode hop and maintains its power for longer periods. In addition, with your budget, a CNI pen meeting your power requirements 100mw+ is much more expensive than the opto 100 and 120. A viper 95 is $200 and the x-100 is $229. You can get an opto 150 for the same price. Even if you plan on doing the GB, the CNI is still more expensive. If you intend to get a CNI, go with either novalasers or get one through scopeguy's group buy. Last time I purchased from dragon lasers 125mw, it ended up being 105-115mw on an LPM so I returned it. My opto 150 peaks at 180mw and averages 158.

The X100 is actually $209. With the 5% LPF discount it's $200.
Opto pens are not IR filtered, so the output reading may not be 100% accurate for green only.
I purchased an X105 years ago. It averaged 118mW and peaked at 120mW. It was my first "high power" green and If I were looking for another green pen, CNI would be my first choice.
A CNI pen is worth the money IMO.
There is also a GB for WickedLasers' new 2010 Evolution Pro series (100mW). If you are interested, you can check it out in the Group Buy section. There are lots of reviews on these and they have gotten good ratings.

 

[f22warzone]

The X100 is actually $209. With the 5% LPF discount it's $200.
Opto pens are not IR filtered, so the output reading may not be 100% accurate for green only.
I purchased an X105 years ago. It averaged 118mW and peaked at 120mW. It was my first "high power" green and If I were looking for another green pen, CNI would be my first choice.
A CNI pen is worth the money IMO.
....

I second that
I have owned both the Opto Pens and the CNI pins and would say quality wise with weight and the outer shell the CNI beats it hands down. now don't get me wrong their both good quality but what sets good from great is just the feel I think no both will probably provide hours of entertainment until you drop them or they go out from overuse and if you stick to the duty cycle of 100/10 it will be the first. I currently own a CNI 125 2nd hand and I must say this little thing rocks : ) most stable DPSS I have ever seen like in my signature plus the beam diameter is smaller the divergent is about the same though
Either way you can't go wrong but if your budget allows it go with the CNI

 

[vinsion]

same quality of module , lower than 150mW should be more stable .
or consider forget pen style , buy flashlight type .

 

[f22warzone]

same quality of module , lower than 150mW should be more stable .
or consider forget pen style , buy flashlight type .

The first part you are wrong. I have taken apart both of these pens and seen reviews of both taken apart the CNI module uses bigger crystals and a bit better heat sink module then the NewWish style lasers remember your still talking about the same laser that DX sells its just opto holds them to better stability and beam standers returning the ones that don’t pass.
the second aprt its more of a choice between pen and flashlight type

 

[LaserRX]

CNI pens have much better components with a much higher ability to mod and achieve even higher output. This is due to the larger crystal set being used, which will not saturate at pump inputs that smaller crystals will.

Of course this doesn't mean that the Opto lasers are not better tested, they are. This is where the high rep comes in of the company. The end result is that perhaps the Opto is better tested with stable output etc. However the CNI units do have beefier crystals that would result in a superior laser "if" they were tested to the same standards as the Optos.

 

[jeffd]

Either brand of laser, cni or opto, you will be very pleased with. I went with the opto because it was cheaper and i was extremely pleased with it.