A 600-700mW 405nm laser would burn slightly better than 445nm at 1W. The Main upside to 445nm is that it is many times more visible than 405nm so it makes for a sweet pointer as well. I am able to get roughly 1.7W out of my Osram pushing it to 1.7A. So far it runs amazingly stable and it has probably about 2 hours of runtime already. If you are limited on cash and want it to survive as long as possible I would suggest 1.5A as a good current to run them at. The 445nm Osram I have burns better than my 405nm just due to it being almost 3x the output. While the 405nm wavelength has a very tight dot(because they are single mode diodes) and at the same output it burns better, I still think the 445nm wavelength is my favorite burner due to the sheer outputs you can push them to and the very visible midair beams they produce.
nice point ...low diode life.....dont worry i wont be buying or making a 1W 405...thats just insane !!
