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mafiaxmonk

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Hi I am new to this forum and also new to lasers. I do not have any lasers right now and am looking to buy my first one. I have looked at many reviews and many different companies of lasers. I am looking for something pretty strong, strong enough to burn things. I would like one from 100mw up to 200mw. I am not sure what brand i should buy from though. I also would like to have one with a IR filter on it. I do not want to spend too much money on this since it will be my first laser. I am new to this so any help with be greatly appreciated. :)
 





welcome to the forum, there is a lot of great information here

i would reccomend an X-Series pen-style laser from NOVA Lasers

i have an X-100 and it is very bright and it performs all of the basic laser tricks (match light, baloon pop, leather burning...) it is extremely bright and the beam is very visible outside at night.

i purchased mine for $229 and it came with a neat case and a membership which gives you a discount on some assesories, you can also purchase the laser alone for $209

similar to the X-100 there is the X-75 which is less expensive and the X125 which is a little more expensive but is on sale right now

and dont forget to get eye protection!

if you have any other questions feel free to ask and i will input as much as i can, if not there are many people here to help you out.

enjoy!
Andrew
 
Thanks, I have looked at those lasers before but never really read anything about them. I have thought about buying one but never committed because I didn't hear anything about them until now. By the way I have heard that the performance of the lasers will also depend on the type of battery's you use, do you have any suggestions for what type to use?

thanks
 
mafiaxmonk said:
Thanks, I have looked at those lasers before but never really read anything about them. I have thought about buying one but never committed because I didn't hear anything about them until now. By the way I have heard that the performance of the lasers will also depend on the type of battery's you use, do you have any suggestions for what type to use?

thanks
Click to expand...
Use Energizer e2 Lithiums for best results.
 
these lasers drain batteries quickly so don't use alkalines, they suck and the power wont last

i use rechargeable Ni-MH batteries that i got at Radioshack. i got 4 AA's, 4 AAA's and the charger for like $25 of something. they dont put out as much voltage as other batteries (about 1.4V fully charged) but they last very long.

i have heard that Energizer e2 lithium batteries work best (above 2V per battery) but they cost like $9 for 4 of them and they arent recgargeable

the best way to go is rechargeable Ni-MH batteries because you will save a bunch of money. they are they only thing that i have used in my X-100 so far and they work very well. when i have $9 to throw away i might get some e2 batteries to see how they perform for the heck of it 8-)

bottom line, go with rechargeables so you dont burn a hole in your pocket ( not literally ;) )
 
Greetings,

I, too, am new to this forum and new to lasers, at least when it comes to building them. I have had a fascination with lasers since I was little and had a few cheap laser pointers over the years.

I am considering the purchase of a higher quality laser to get myself into the hobby. Since I like to tinker and break things (by accident of course!), I think I would learn a lot more about lasers if I could start off by building my own. There seems to be a few laser hobbyist over at Instructables_dot_com demonstrating how to make a simple laser and this forum also looks like a good place to start.

While reviewing the specs of the Nova X125 laser, I noticed its "burn distance", for lack of a better phrase, is fairly short. The specs show that it does *not* have the ability to "Light fireworks fuse from a distance (2 ft)".

This leads into one of my questions: burn distance. Could a home-made laser be built for the same cost of a Nova X125 (~$200) that has a much higher burn distance and is just as reliable as a high quality store bought model? I could almost see why the technology would purposely be restricted so that a few sour apples aren't going around abusing a laser and ruining it for the rest of us.

In the meantime, I am reading up on laser safety over at Wikipedia_dot_org and looking around for an "introduction to laser technology" type of article/book.

I'm sure I'll have more questions about lasers the more I learn about them. Thank you for your help :)

Nick
 
I'm actually going away from the crowd and recommending the Dilda-Laser. www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.11315 It's recieved some decent reviews, and you won't find a better price anywhere. You don't need to worry about IR from a red either.

You never said you wanted a green laser :P I can't recommend the high-powered greens from DX (not good), so if you want green you're going to have to fork out for a Nova.
 
Yea I forgot to say that I wanted a green laser but i might get the red one just because of the price and that it still does everything.

Thanks for the link and info.
 
No problem bro. Greenies will have a more visible beam but reds are more bang for the buck. Infrared lasers are even more so, but you get no nice shiny effect whatsoever.
 
I bought a 7.5mw green laser for $1100 about 9 years ago. I just spent $770 for a 244mw green. I don't know how your cash flow is but IF you can put the cash together the more powerful beam is really exciting and fun. There is also a big responsibility to other peoples eyes and especially your own. Some people right here have retinal burns. I got a 30mw greenie with my order from Optotronics (because it has a peak of 300mw). I must say if I had gotten the 30mw laser before I bought the big one I would have held at 30mw. But now that I have the 244 I want 400!!! Try buying a 30mw first. They are VERY bright and you can see the beam well at night.
 
7.5mw for $1100 ????? wow

I'll sell you a 15mW for $200 :) buy one get one free too! hah

jk
 
maybe you could get a 10mw greenie from dealextreme. my first laser was a 5mw and after playing with it for a while, learning more, expecialy safetyl, like shining it at my walls, kinda took a while to realise it was shining back at me. but i still have that 5mw and only that, still looking for a good trustworthy laser.
oh, and i had a crappy red one that fits 3 button cells into it.
 
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