- Joined
- Jul 2, 2011
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I am looking for a new laser, a 532nm (however I will consider a 520nm, maybe). Here are the things that are important to me (in order of most important to least important.
Quality: (reliability, feel in hand, looks)
Cost: No more than $600
Beam diameter: 2mm or less (preferably 1-1.5)
Beam divergence: 1.2mRad (I will consider 1.5mRad, maybe)
Duty cycle: At least 60 seconds on (preferably continuous duty cycle)
Warmup time: No more than 60 seconds (preferably 30 seconds or less)
Power: The power has to be at least 250mW, but preferably much more (400mW+)
Common battery: I would prefer to be able to use 18650/16340 but as long as it's not some weird super expensive battery (such as 32650) that doesn't come with the laser then it's fine
Option 1: 500mW PL-E pro from jetlasers but the divergence is listed as 2mRad and that just isn't ok, I could get a beam expander but then the beam would be huge. I guess the combination of not using a beam expander at short range and using it at long range would work but I would rather not have to deal with that, it would just be annoying.
Option 2: Laserglow Aries-225, this laser is everything I am looking for except for one thing: power. The max listed power is 265mW and that just isn't really what I want, I am looking for something in the 500mW range, or at least 300mW. I could get the Hercules, but that thing is just insanely expensive.
Option 3: Some other laser that I don't know about (that's where you come in!)
Note: Laserbtb is not an option, yes they are cheap and acceptable quality as well as the lasers being often overspec but that is not what I'm looking for. I'm looking for quality, I used to have a PL532-300 that did 400-500mW, and it just wasn't what I was looking for. It took 5 minutes to reach peak power (1-2 of which were just to get to 300mW) and the beam was huge (2.5-3mm), I don't recall what the divergence was like, but I'm pretty sure it was nothing to brag about.
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To better understand what I am looking for and why read below:
Hi
, I recently sold off the remainder of my laser collection (not that big), and now I am on to new things. I have had many, many different lasers in the past but none of them have really ever met what I was looking for, some of them came quite close but in the end I sold every single one of them for one reason or another and bought new lasers. For the most part this has been fine, I have no regret's except for selling my first "good" laser, it was a 200mW laser from lazerer (when they were still reputable), and I sold it because it wasn't as amazing as I expected and the lens got dirty which made me afraid it would break (silly me). But that is how my collection works, it's a rotation of new lasers until I find one I really like. This time around I have gone for quality over quantity (quantity meaning output power as well as amount of lasers), as quality is what has always failed me in the past. Right now I have 3 lasers, laserglow libra, laserglow anser, and laserbtb LP520. Here is what I think of each of them:
Libra: Alright overall, the dot is kind of messy and there is a splash around it. I would rather the laser be 650nm rather than 635nm, although I'm not really sure why, maybe it has to do with my bad experience of 635nm in the past. It is definitely my least favorite laser, and if I could I would probably go back in time and not get it but on the other hand it is the first red laser that I have ever had that is both eye safe for my cat's to chase and works reliably so there is that. It will probably be one of my first lasers to go this round.
Anser: Awesome laser, it's alot brighter than I originally expected it to be and it's eye safe which is a very nice plus. The divergence is great, and the beam is nice and thin. If this laser were more powerful (100mw-150mw), and in a slightly better looking host (i.e. dragonlasers viper) then it would be my perfect green pointer. But for what it is, I love it. And unless I really need the money, this one will probably stay with me
LP520: Much brighter than the Anser, the beam is quite a bit thicker as well, it's hard to tell due to the power difference but the divergence doesn't seem quite as good as the Anser, definitely a completely different pointer than the anser to suit completely different needs. I like it, but I don't love it. I used to have a 200mW 520 with insanely good divergence (like 405nm) but I would have to focus it perfectly and it broke... So I was hoping that this would be the same but fixed focus and less powerful, but it isn't. It'll due for now but will probably not be mine for long.
:thanks:
EDIT: Just splurged on a 1.75W 520nm
Quality: (reliability, feel in hand, looks)
Cost: No more than $600
Beam diameter: 2mm or less (preferably 1-1.5)
Beam divergence: 1.2mRad (I will consider 1.5mRad, maybe)
Duty cycle: At least 60 seconds on (preferably continuous duty cycle)
Warmup time: No more than 60 seconds (preferably 30 seconds or less)
Power: The power has to be at least 250mW, but preferably much more (400mW+)
Common battery: I would prefer to be able to use 18650/16340 but as long as it's not some weird super expensive battery (such as 32650) that doesn't come with the laser then it's fine
Option 1: 500mW PL-E pro from jetlasers but the divergence is listed as 2mRad and that just isn't ok, I could get a beam expander but then the beam would be huge. I guess the combination of not using a beam expander at short range and using it at long range would work but I would rather not have to deal with that, it would just be annoying.
Option 2: Laserglow Aries-225, this laser is everything I am looking for except for one thing: power. The max listed power is 265mW and that just isn't really what I want, I am looking for something in the 500mW range, or at least 300mW. I could get the Hercules, but that thing is just insanely expensive.
Option 3: Some other laser that I don't know about (that's where you come in!)
Note: Laserbtb is not an option, yes they are cheap and acceptable quality as well as the lasers being often overspec but that is not what I'm looking for. I'm looking for quality, I used to have a PL532-300 that did 400-500mW, and it just wasn't what I was looking for. It took 5 minutes to reach peak power (1-2 of which were just to get to 300mW) and the beam was huge (2.5-3mm), I don't recall what the divergence was like, but I'm pretty sure it was nothing to brag about.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
To better understand what I am looking for and why read below:
Hi
, I recently sold off the remainder of my laser collection (not that big), and now I am on to new things. I have had many, many different lasers in the past but none of them have really ever met what I was looking for, some of them came quite close but in the end I sold every single one of them for one reason or another and bought new lasers. For the most part this has been fine, I have no regret's except for selling my first "good" laser, it was a 200mW laser from lazerer (when they were still reputable), and I sold it because it wasn't as amazing as I expected and the lens got dirty which made me afraid it would break (silly me). But that is how my collection works, it's a rotation of new lasers until I find one I really like. This time around I have gone for quality over quantity (quantity meaning output power as well as amount of lasers), as quality is what has always failed me in the past. Right now I have 3 lasers, laserglow libra, laserglow anser, and laserbtb LP520. Here is what I think of each of them:Libra: Alright overall, the dot is kind of messy and there is a splash around it. I would rather the laser be 650nm rather than 635nm, although I'm not really sure why, maybe it has to do with my bad experience of 635nm in the past. It is definitely my least favorite laser, and if I could I would probably go back in time and not get it but on the other hand it is the first red laser that I have ever had that is both eye safe for my cat's to chase and works reliably so there is that. It will probably be one of my first lasers to go this round.
Anser: Awesome laser, it's alot brighter than I originally expected it to be and it's eye safe which is a very nice plus. The divergence is great, and the beam is nice and thin. If this laser were more powerful (100mw-150mw), and in a slightly better looking host (i.e. dragonlasers viper) then it would be my perfect green pointer. But for what it is, I love it. And unless I really need the money, this one will probably stay with me
LP520: Much brighter than the Anser, the beam is quite a bit thicker as well, it's hard to tell due to the power difference but the divergence doesn't seem quite as good as the Anser, definitely a completely different pointer than the anser to suit completely different needs. I like it, but I don't love it. I used to have a 200mW 520 with insanely good divergence (like 405nm) but I would have to focus it perfectly and it broke... So I was hoping that this would be the same but fixed focus and less powerful, but it isn't. It'll due for now but will probably not be mine for long.
:thanks:
EDIT: Just splurged on a 1.75W 520nm
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