Need help picking a laser

[trigg]

ok, i want a violet or blue laser where the beam is very bright and visible. i want something i can point to constellations with and i would like to see the beam at least to about 15 20 feet in the day. i can spend up to 100 but preferably less. also i would like something that has power too something that can cut tape ect..

also i have heard about laws in the usa that say you cant buy a laser over 5mw but ive seen some forums where people say they order anyway off line and they never got in trouble for it. ive checked this sight called dino direct and they have quite a few higher powered ones but im still a little iffy about trying to purchase one.. should i just give it a shot :/ if anyone could shed some light on this that would be great.

 

[anselm]

Hello and welcome to the forum!:wave:

Violet 405nm lasers are not very visible, even at high powers. Unless of course the beam hits something
that fluoresces!
Blue 445nm is slightly more visible, but the most visible laser light readily available is
532nm green!

Even a low powered 5mw or 10mw pointer of that wavelength will give you a visible beam at night,
ideal for star pointing.

Burning stuff is possible with lasers >50mw, but at those levels even a quick accidental
reflection can seriously hurt your precious eyesight!

You might wanna familiarize yourself with some low-powered lasers first.
For that I suggest you get yourself one of each 405nm and 532nm pens off ebay,
if you search for the lowest price, they can be had for as little as 5~7$US each.

Also, nevermind dino-direct, try o-like or rayfoss instead.

 

[qumefox]

Your goal of daytime beam visibility isn't going to happen on the budget you have allotted. Lasers with beams visible with large amounts of ambient light are going to be in an entirely different power class than ones visible at night . And you can completely forget about getting a visible daylight beam with a handheld with anything other than 532nm, and even at that wavelength, it will still take lots of power.

O-like's 400mW 532 is the only thing I can think of 'cheap' that might even come close. and even that is over double your budget. For daylight beam visibility, your talking about lasers that cost thousands..

 

[snoutke]

O-like's 400mW 532 is out of stock :cryyy:

Waiting for it to be restocked:umbrella:.

 

[jakeGT]

is this the same guy in these other 3 threads about a purple/blue laser for under a hundred bucks can point at stars and burn but 1W is too much kinda thing? I very well could be mistaken, it just seems like these two users who both joined within days of each other want the same thing and have the same questions?

http://laserpointerforums.com/f40/question-about-getting-blue-lasers-60966.html#post863192

http://laserpointerforums.com/f46/reccomendation-60967.html#post863091

or am I imaging this all?

 

[John7788]

hello, welcome to LPF
I recommend olike, they are pretty well.