What would be more bright?

[Encap]

Wouldn't say far less dangerous, at 1W it's still extremely dangerous as far as eye hazards go. Less chance of damage from diffuse reflections and less chance of setting your house/ceiling fan on fire though. :beer:

Yes, good goggles are a must. Check out the offerings from Survival Lasers for a good set at a reasonable price.

Agree ---both are extremely dangerous --goggles required---all things being equal if the only choices are 1W or 7W exposure--1W is less dangerous than 7W in a few ways is what I meant.

 

[Poisonednumber]

thanks for all the replies, didn't even know that relative brightness calculator website was a thing its pretty cool. And thanks laserbee iv learned a lot the past 1.5 years about building lasers and have recently built a 1 ish watt 405nm laser.

 

[Cel]

If long-distance pointing is desired, then beam divergence and shape should also be taken into account.

Color is a matter of personal preference. 450 is kinda purpleish, 465-470 is nice, ligher blue. 520 is essentially definition of green.

I myself prefer beam specs over power, as there is already plenty of power available.