Need pointer for work - suggestions?

[InfinitusEquitas]

Thank you very much. I appreciate the info. That is exactly the type of advice (and product) I was looking for. Have a good one.

The divergence on the tiny is terrible... they are actually focused for burning garbage bags and popping ballows. On the o-like it's not going to be as bad, but don't expect it to be great either.

For everyday work use, expect to be replacing them about once a month.

It's generally a good idea to be mindful of who you take advice from. Tenure, reputation and post count are good indicators if someone knows what they are talking about or not.

Take note of the advice given to you by Laserbee.... You do come off like a pompous ass.

Btw, that laser RA_Pierce was offering... I'm the one who bought it... for $99 it would have been the ideal choice for you. I'm glad you passed it up though.

 

[Tech_Junkie]

level-headed, polite, experienced enough to give very good specific product advice

You sir are an idiot. You jump down a veteran laser enthusiasts throat for trying to help you, but you give comments like that to a n00b who just joined the forum? You live in a strange world.

 

[ElectroMagneticFreak]

Adding to what others have said, the first person that came to help you on the forum has been here for 5 years, the forum has been around for 6.

He was one of the most veteran members ready to help you yet you treat him like a nobody. I'll give you a hint: People do not last here 5 minutes if they are a scammer, they are banned immediately. RA_Pierce has been here almost the entire length the forum has been around. There are many transactions that happen here on a daily basis and if there is any shenanigans the perpetrator is gone immediately... period.

The admins keep this place very tidy, and of all people you can trust he is someone that has been here pretty much the longest time as anyone and has an obviously high of a number of posts and rep points. He would not have lasted that long on here if he was in any way a scammer. This is the most highly regulated forum I have ever seen, so it can be kept a safe place to do transactions, and especially with the Veterans that people have known for many years.

All you'd have had to do is ask around and people would have told you he's a reputable guy. That's how the forum works.

 

[tsteele93]

I think we are being trolled. Bad ideas 72 and zombie joined on the same day. Seems.... Odd.

If not, then we have a guy who ignored several vets and took advice from a guy who joined the same day as he did, less than a week ago.

I'm leaning towards troll though...

 

[TacoHerder]

OP, if you would actually learn how to think properly. the first thing you would have done is ask the guy about his laser. Not just assume it was a scam. Did it ever occur to you that he did have all the info over it you wanted? He just wanted to see if you were interested before showing all the specs for no reason. You werent looking for information, you were asking for hand outs. Maybe if you were as smart as you claimed you would have seen the companies section on the forum. maybe then you could have found MANY reviews over companies and their service. Maybe if you would have actually looked the whole forum over you would also notice the review section in the forum. where you could find reviews over MANY lasers.

If you would have done the simplest of searching you would have determined that pretty much any green laser would do the trick for you. Then you could have narrowed down some companies, then asked for help when you are stumped. BUT from what i can tell you are an inspector, as an electrician I HATE every single city inspector I've ever met. Every single one thought they were god and we should bow to them. They all seem to think they are smarter, yet even when wrong they belittle you... Looks like you fit in this category well.

Just goto Wicked Lasers, yall belong together.

 

[forbadideas72]

Adding to what others have said, the first person that came to help you on the forum has been here for 5 years, the forum has been around for 6.

He was one of the most veteran members ready to help you yet you treat him like a nobody. I'll give you a hint: People do not last here 5 minutes if they are a scammer, they are banned immediately. RA_Pierce has been here almost the entire length the forum has been around. There are many transactions that happen here on a daily basis and if there is any shenanigans the perpetrator is gone immediately... period.

The admins keep this place very tidy, and of all people you can trust he is someone that has been here pretty much the longest time as anyone and has an obviously high of a number of posts and rep points. He would not have lasted that long on here if he was in any way a scammer. This is the most highly regulated forum I have ever seen, so it can be kept a safe place to do transactions, and especially with the Veterans that people have known for many years.

All you'd have had to do is ask around and people would have told you he's a reputable guy. That's how the forum works.

It is nice that you feel comfortable, but that is not how real life works. Even if only one percent of people are willing to be unscrupulous, in a world of 7-billion people that is still 70 million opportunities to be screwed over. The anonymity of the internet has been shown to radically increase the willingness of a person to misrepresent themselves or products. I asked for advice, not advertisements. When the first words from a person are "I've got something to sell you." a cautious person's reaction will be to immediately walk away. I will not even CONSIDER purchasing from a private party online without some form of third-party protection. If you're wise, you shouldn't either. Welcome to the internet. All a person needs to get good references is to make multiple screennames for themselves. It happens all the time, especially when money is involved. Go ahead and look at some shop, product or restaurant reviews online and try to figure out how many of the reviews are real. I'm not planning to, but If I so desired I could go to yahoo, make 30 different free accounts and then 30 corresponding accounts here and boost my forum reputation in minutes. Asking around about reputations is worthless online.

It seems that laser enthusiasts like yourself can't seem to comprehend the need for LESS quality. I need sufficient quality to point out items which are at MOST 200 feet away at a construction site. Wal-mart cheapies have almost done the job for under $10, so jumping to your "quality" 100mw lasers is almost certainly unnecessary. Being a forum for people who like lasers, I figured there would be those here with information on or experience with mid-level brands or manufacturers which would work for my specific task. My searches have yielded few mid-level work-appropriate results, so I asked the question here. Instead of realistic practical information, I am berated for not bowing to sales attempt of the first person to reply to my post. Then I am berated for thanking a person who showed me mid-priced, mid-powered, portable products that might suit my needs because he is a "noob."

You wouldn't buy a Lexus to convert into a dune buggy. You wouldn't wear a Rolex to clean a horse's stable. You wouldn't buy a riding lawnmower if you only had a 3 foot strip of grass. You wouldn't buy a laptop when all you needed was a calculator. Likewise, I am not buying a $100+, 6+ inch, difficult to carry and potentially fragile laser with a manufacturer-rated range measured in thousands of feet or even miles when I need an everyday carry tool to work at 200 feet.

Yes, I sound arrogant. Being insulted within the first seconds of asking a real question it is very off-putting. I am a bit irritated. I know that it is immature to continue on with this. I should just leave. But I am a bit bored at the moment and I am hoping that maybe, just maybe you'll read this calmly and learn something before trying to continue a senseless flame war.

Welcome to real life:

1) Laser enthusiasts are not all-knowing wisemen, they just spend more time around lasers than the average joe.

2) Not everyone will share your enthusiasm or be willing to invest the same resources into a product as you.

3) Sometimes a mid-range product is best for practical use. Why do you think there are more Toyota's on the road than BMWs, Ferrari's or Daewoo's? Take some economics classes and maybe you'll understand.

4) You do not own the internet and I highly doubt you even own this forum (if such a thing even can be owned in accordance with copyright and intellectual property law or server leasing agreements). The amount of time you or other "veteran" users have spent on a website is irrelevant to 99.99% of the world -- myself included. I will not prostrate myself before a stranger just because they have logged more hours on a forum than I have. You're upset that I've treated your "veteran" like a nobody. To me, you ARE all nobody. I've never heard your voices, never seen your faces, and never held a conversation with any of you. You are lines of text on a screen I happened upon during a Google search. I owe you nothing, least of all trust.

5) A fool and his money are easily parted. We live in a world where husbands murder wives, where tens of thousands of people are murdered over drug profits, where things like THIS happen. How much more common is a little exaggeration on some product information between strangers? How much easier is it to defraud someone whom you've never looked in the eye? If you haven't been swindled at least once, you are extremely lucky. Don't be so quick to defend strangers on the internet or to chastise those who advise caution.

 

[TacoHerder]

It is nice that you feel comfortable, but that is not how life works, especially online. Even if only one percent of people are willing to be unscrupulous, in a world of 7-billion people that is still 70 million opportunities to be screwed over. The anonymity of the internet has been shown to radically increase the willingness of a person to misrepresent themselves or products. I asked for advice, not advertisements. I will not even CONSIDER purchasing from a private party online without some form of third-party protection. If you're wise, you shouldn't either. Welcome to the internet. All a person needs to get good references is to make multiple screennames for themselves. It happens all the time. Go ahead and look at some shop, product or restaurant reviews online and try to figure out how many of the reviews are real. Asking around about reputations is worthless online.

It seems that laser enthusiasts like yourself can't seem to comprehend the need for LESS quality. I need sufficient quality to point out items which are at MOST 200 feet away at a construction site. Wal-mart cheapies have almost done the job for under $10, so jumping to your "quality" 100mw lasers is almost certainly unnecessary. Being a forum for people who like lasers, I figured there would be those here with information on or experience with mid-level brands or manufacturers which would work for my specific task. My searches have yielded few mid-level work-appropriate results, so I asked the question here. Instead of realistic practical information, I am berated for not bowing to sales attempt of the first person to reply to my post. Then I am berated for thanking a person who showed me mid-priced, mid-powered, portable products that might suit my needs because he is a "noob."

You wouldn't buy a Lexus to convert into a dune buggy. You wouldn't wear a Rolex to clean a horse's stable. You wouldn't buy a riding lawnmower if you only had a 3 foot strip of grass. You wouldn't buy a laptop when all you needed was a calculator. Likewise, I am not buying a $100+, 6+ inch, difficult to carry and potentially fragile laser with a manufacturer-rated range measured in thousands of feet or even miles when I need an everyday carry tool to work at 200 feet.

Yes, I sound arrogant. Being insulted within the first seconds of asking a real question it is very off-putting. I am a bit irritated. I know that it is immature to continue on with this. I should just leave. But I am a bit bored at the moment and I am hoping that maybe, just maybe you'll read this calmly and learn something before trying to continue a senseless flame war.

Welcome to real life:

1) Laser enthusiasts are not all-knowing wisemen, they just spend more time around lasers than the average joe.

2) Not everyone will share your enthusiasm or be willing to invest the same resources into a product as you.

3) Sometimes a mid-range product is best for practical use. Why do you think there are more Toyota's on the road than BMWs, Ferrari's or Daewoo's? Take some economics classes and maybe you'll understand.

4) You do not own the internet and I highly doubt you even own this forum (if such a thing even can be owned in accordance with copyright and intellectual property law or server leasing agreements). The amount of time you or other "veteran" users have spent on a website is irrelevant to 99.99% of the world -- myself included. I will not prostrate myself before a stranger just because they have logged more hours on a forum than I have. You're upset that I've treated your "veteran" like a nobody. To me, you ARE all nobody. I've never heard your voices, never seen your faces, and never held a conversation with any of you. You are lines of text on a screen I happened upon during a Google search. I owe you nothing, least of all trust.

5) A fool and his money are easily parted. We live in a world where husbands murder wives, where tens of thousands of people are murdered over drug profits, where things like THIS happen. How much more common is a little exaggeration on some product information between strangers? How much easier is it to defraud someone whom you've never looked in the eye? If you haven't been swindled at least once, you are extremely lucky. Don't be so quick to defend strangers on the internet or to chastise those who advise caution.

WOW, not only are you arrogant, but you are stupid. You ever hear of a website called PAYPAL? Ya, they offer buyer protection.... You wont get scammed. Even if for some reason he did, paypal would give you your money back.

There is not much research needed it you are looking for a cheap laser. You said you wanted a tool, he offered you a CHEAP one. Considering the same laser cost 4X as much on websites.

Also on her we like laser power meters to be shown for every purchase, you would have been garuntee'd a up to spec laser. He also offers a warranty for it if im not mistaken.


Sorry, we figured you had enough common sense to find the cheap sites you dont want, and needed advise or a source for better but cheap lasers...

Did you even see his laser? How did you know it would be difficult to carry, or fragile? You didnt, just assumed out your arrogant butt.


1. Sorry, im not just a laser geek, Im an IT tech/ electrician/ HVAC tech first. Lasers arent first for everyone. I work 48 hrs a week at a data center. Actually at work right now Welcome to the real world.

2. no one forced you on anything, infact you were too ignorant to post a decent price range to stop that miscommunication from happening.

3. That comment so stupid im not even going to respond.

4. see again you are being stupid. This is a community of friends, who were just trying to help you actually. We dont get off on bullying noobs, just some like you who lack common sense think they are above us and can talk down just cause we are on a forum.

5. Yup, thats why we here dont let scams happen. Sorry please just leave with your crappy attitude and lack of good common sense.

 

[tsteele93]

I think we are being trolled. Bad ideas 72 and zombie joined on the same day. Seems.... Odd.

If not, then we have a guy who ignored several vets and took advice from a guy who joined the same day as he did, less than a week ago.

I'm leaning towards troll though...

I'm invisible!

 

[TacoHerder]

:wave::beer:

 

[InfinitusEquitas]

I couldn't for the life of me find a prick stamp, but now that I think about it... I'm glad I didn't

 

[RA_pierce]

I don't think anybody said you should not be cautious or skeptical. Of course you shouldn't jump at the first deal that is offered to you without question.
But instead of asking for more details or politely declining you decided to be condescending.

You said you are willing to pay for quality. Did you change your mind? Now you want a quality tool for $10? As someone who oversees construction, you should know that reliable tools are not cheap. Good technology will cost you.

You asked for suggestions. I suggested one.
If you had actually followed the link I provided to my sale thread you would have found all the relevant "technical data" you apparently were never shown.

Since you seem to have ignored my help, I'll post it again for you to see:

1. You are looking for more than 50mW for decent visibility at distance and in bright conditions. 100mW or more would be ideal.

2. Divergence should be less than 1.2mRad for best collimation at distance.

3. Green (532nm) is going to be the best color/wavelength for you since you are interested in visibility.

4. If you want quality that will last with the above specifications, you are going to want to spend >$100.

That's my advice.
Now that you know what you are looking for, go find it. Good luck.


This thread should be closed.

 

[forbadideas72]

OP, if you would actually learn how to think properly. the first thing you would have done is ask the guy about his laser. Not just assume it was a scam. Did it ever occur to you that he did have all the info over it you wanted? He just wanted to see if you were interested before showing all the specs for no reason. You werent looking for information, you were asking for hand outs. Maybe if you were as smart as you claimed you would have seen the companies section on the forum. maybe then you could have found MANY reviews over companies and their service. Maybe if you would have actually looked the whole forum over you would also notice the review section in the forum. where you could find reviews over MANY lasers.

If you would have done the simplest of searching you would have determined that pretty much any green laser would do the trick for you. Then you could have narrowed down some companies, then asked for help when you are stumped. BUT from what i can tell you are an inspector, as an electrician I HATE every single city inspector I've ever met. Every single one thought they were god and we should bow to them. They all seem to think they are smarter, yet even when wrong they belittle you... Looks like you fit in this category well.

Just goto Wicked Lasers, yall belong together.

Here is the same event IRL:

Imagine you are trying to fix some cabinets around the house. You go to a hardware store to purchase a power tool to assist you in fixing those cabinets. You want the power tool, but you can get by with hand tools for now so you have plenty of time to comparison shop. You've seen several brands which vary widely in price. You need a middle-duty tool for household repairs. You need something better than the junior "my first toolset" but you don't need to spend money on the tool designed for professional 8-hour per day use. You're reading the back of a power tool's package trying to decide which model to purchase when you turn over your shoulder and ask a seemingly knowledgeable clerk to point out which products might best suit your needs. Just then a complete stranger overhears you, walks up to you and brashly says, "Don't bother, just buy my used one for $109 (three times the price of the new model you were just looking at) it'll do what you need." The stranger obviously does not have the product in his hand for you to see (this is an analogy for internet purchases). He did not answer your initial question as to which product would suit your needs in his statement. He provides no reason why his used product is worth three times the price of the new one you were just looking at. He does not say why his used item will fit your needs. He just says, "buy mine, it will work for you." I want you to imagine that situation in real life. I mean really visualize yourself in that situation. Imagine standing in the aisle of a hardware store when this happens. Would you bother negotiating with that stranger? Would you bother asking questions? I'm willing to bet not. I'm willing to bet you'd be annoyed, maybe even creeped out. I'm willing to bet you'd walk away and maybe tell the store manager.

That is what happened. The internet is my store. The numerous reviews are the backs of the boxes. The seemingly knowledgeable clerk is this forum. So NO I DIDN'T ASK THE STRANGE GUY WHO RANDOMLY APPROACHED ME ABOUT HIS FREAKIN LASER!

And yes, he did supply information after the fact. That doesn't change the fact that his initial approach was disturbing.

And you say I'M not thinking properly. Sheesh. If you think that is a good way to sell used merchandise, I've got a bridge to sell you. It's a great bridge, really. I built it myself using the same kind of steel used on the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. Really, It'll be just the bridge you need. I used to use it all the time. The only reason I'm selling it is that I bought an even better bridge, but it's still the ideal bridge for you. Just send me a check for $109 and I prwomish I'll send it to you.

And FYI I did look at the companies section. It wasn't much help. Yes, companies exist. I knew that much already. In looking at reviews I found several comments about how bright a laser was, how well it could point out stars, sometimes how long the batteries lasted or how many balloons it could pop, and in some rare cases if it was easily broken or defective. What I DIDN'T find was practical daily use information for my application. What does it look like at 50'? 100'? 200'? How easy is it to get scratched up when carried around in a pocket all day? Does it fit in a pocket without weighing it down? Do the batteries rattle in the tube? Will it fit in a tool box? Can I strap it to a fox? Can I use it in the rain? Will it shoot down a plane? Can I use it in the park? Will it irritate a lark?

Frankly I'm surprised how difficult it is to find information on lasers. The majority of the world still views lasers as a specialty technology or a toy, not an everyday use item. For example, I was recently shopping for a flashlight and I was able to find side-by-side photos of beams on numerous websites in varying conditions, battery life expectations, durability information, even reviews of carrying cases. I was even able to find statistical information on the LEDs themselves. When I research buying a new pistol, I can easily find shooting reviews, ballistic data, groupings at a variety of ranges, failure rates with different ammunition types, sometimes even machining tolerance and factory test specifications. When I tried to research lasers, I got 1000 youtube videos of lightsabers and balloon popping. So yes, I got impatient sorting through useless reviews and asked a question on a specialty forum hoping for information. I like to have specific information before I spend money. Why does that offend you and how is that a hand out?

 

[TacoHerder]

lol, it appears you need some better reading comprehension skills. His laser was actually 4X cheaper than the one sold on websites... He merely OFFERED you to buy the laser, never forced you. So for you to jump back the way you did was way too much. You never even gave him time to explain wtf he had. You jumped his butt before he could even offer you spec...

Its a freaking laser, a green ones going to look the same from 50' all the way as far as your eye can see... They answer all those questions, you are just too dumb to realize it.

I just got into lasers this year and I can tell you I never had ANY issue you are having. The companies section gave me everything I needed to know, plus reviews. I honestly am dumbfounded how little you can figure out with whats all in front of you.

What Offended everyone was how you jumped someone balls before you even gave them a chance. Acted as you could talk down to everyone like we are some random joe shmo. Then proceeded to actually change what you are looking for, how much you actually knew, and really shut down every opinion that came your way.

 

[Tech_Junkie]

Yeah starting to smell a troll too.

 

[forbadideas72]

I don't think anybody said you should not be cautious or skeptical. Of course you shouldn't jump at the first deal that is offered to you without question.
But instead of asking for more details or politely declining you decided to be condescending.

You said you are willing to pay for quality. Did you change your mind? Now you want a quality tool for $10? As someone who oversees construction, you should know that reliable tools are not cheap. Good technology will cost you.

You asked for suggestions. I suggested one.
If you had actually followed the link I provided to my sale thread you would have found all the relevant "technical data" you apparently were never shown.

Since you seem to have ignored my help, I'll post it again for you to see:



That's my advice.
Now that you know what you are looking for, go find it. Good luck.


This thread should be closed.

I did not change my mind. I am willing to pay for quality. I do not expect to find it for $10. I've seen lasers online which claim to be visible for several miles for $300-400. I have seen precision lasers for lab experiments for $600-1200. I may be wrong, I know that there are numerous associated technological and manufacturing costs, but it seems to me that if my need is 200 feet, the price should be somewhat proportional (plus constant baseline manufacturing costs). I'd pay $30, $50, yes even $100-200 for the right product, but not without knowing it IS the right product.

If I were watch shopping, I'd be looking for a $50 timex, not the cheapy $9 throwaway brand and not a $400 bulova and definitely not a $5k Rolex. Your suggestions seem to have skipped all the middle ground.

For example a product might be cheap if it is nickle plated, quality if it is stainless steel, and luxury if it is silver.

 

[forbadideas72]

Tags: "anal homo", "big mouth moron", arrogant prick, drama is as drama does, jackass, moronic noob post, pompous fool, -- Those were all added by you guys.

I asked what I thought was a simple question. I was hoping for some first-hand information since a few of the posts I read seemed to be knowledgeable.

The very first thing I see after making my first post is a vague sales pitch. That doesn't inspire confidence. No part of it answered my question. I bluntly (but without crass language) turned it down. AFTER I started typing my reply, he posts a link to the data.

Instead of dropping it, I get called names. I respond only after being directly and crassly insulted, yet somehow I'M the troll. Well, I guess I am now. I certainly spent more time here than I should have. So much for your "highly regulated forum."

Thanks Soren, Zombielaser and Blord for realistic and civil answers to my question. Everyone else, I hope you blind yourselves and never, EVER breed.