Hey there, I like lasers and I'm sure many of you do too. However, I'm pretty new at this and I don't want to get scammed into a shitty buy.
I'm looking to buy a 1W+ 445~nm Blue laser for under 200 bucks. I've looked at some recommendations found on some other threads and so far I've checked out Scifi lasers, laserbtb, lazerer and jet lasers. I've heard good and bad things about all these sites so I'm looking for your advice.
So far I'm leaning towards scifi's 2W version of this:
SF501B 445nm Blue
I'm pretty new at this so tips and pointers will be greatly appreciated. (possibly specific recommendations?)
As 3Pig and Shakenawake said, a 1w blue laser might not be the best laser to start with, but you could buy a set of 3 lasers (red, green, violet) off eBay for around $8. They are usually much more powerful than the 5mW rating but they are much better to practice with before jumping at a death star. I have already had my green and violet laser reflected back into my eye once or twice and I am very glad it wasn't anything close to a class 4 laser.
I ordered 2 pairs of safety glasses as I would rather not have any more flashes to my eyes.
But as for which company to choose from once you are ready, many people here recommend Jet Lasers, Laserbtb and Sci-Fi Lasers of the four you listed.
Laserbtb has been known to have pretty high quality metal hosts and diodes with pretty good prices most of the time. Their customer service is OK and they are usually willing to send 1 replacement laser if one gets stuck at customs.
Jet Lasers seems to be almost like Laserbtb but with slightly higher prices and with more appealing hosts. I do not know much about their diode quality or customer service but I usually hear good things about them.
Sci-Fi Lasers is actually located in Israel with the owner being a member on the forums. I hear they have great customer service and with some of the best deals for high quality handheld lasers in metal flashlight hosts.
Lazerer used to be a great company, always responding to emails and selling high quality lasers for awesome prices but they have recently gone downhill FAST. Some people do not even receive their lasers from them today and their customer service has disappeared almost completely. So I would recommend staying with the other 3 companies or buying from a forum member.
Some forum members like Jayrob or Blord also make very nice custom lasers with even better prices a lot of the time.
I hope this helps and be sure to use eye protection!