WL or DL

[steve-o]

I ordered a spyderII fromWL not knowing that there was a release problem. Got a refund. Now I'm trying to decide between laserglow dragon or wicked. Any info would be appreciated . Who's the best? (I know this is very subjective but.. [smiley=dankk2.gif]

 

[pyromancer]

The Aries series from laserglow has lots of good features, but they are the most expensive of the three, even with the recent price drop. From what I have heard Wicked has the best customer support. It sounds like most people have been happy with Dragon Lasers, but I don't know much about their customer support system. Dragon obviously has the best deals in terms of price.

http://optotronics.com is another company to consider, too.

How much power are you looking for in your laser?

 

[steve-o]

I ordered a 200 mW to integrate into an existing laser show but I think it might be overkill because my 488nm 30mW argon laser might be overpowered and unnoticeable in comparison. I'm looking for 100% duty-cycle maybe 100-125 mW green. Going to add red later. I'd like 300mW handheld just because it's so cool, but way too much $$$! Just wondering which company has the best rep for quality & cust satisfaction. Maybe like comparing apples and oranges...

 

[NairB]

Difficult to really answer this Steve-o as you really need to decide once and for all exactly what you want from your laser - duty cycle, power, mRad, battery type etc and more importantly PRICE.

Each company have there good and bad points and differences in laser types and capabilities.

Work out the laser you need and see if your budget will cover it.

As far as I know, all of the laser companies mentioned in this forum are extremely helpful.....I have only ever bought from Wicked which has first class customer service and jack at optotronics is said to be very helpful too.

Look at your options then pop them an email to see what they can do for you. Im sure they will be only too willing to help you

 

[steve-o]

Its kinda like buying a car without driving it! If I had 'em all side by side for a comparison then I'm sure that I could decide; but for now I'm going to drop a huge hunk of change on something based on pictures and descriptions. I have read elsewhere that DL's are getting hung up in customs and WL's are not. That could be one deciding factor.
Power>100mW
Dutycycle 100%
price  more than i have=}
mrad<1.5 div
color 532nm green

Thanx

 

[hammer_time]

i dont know of any 100mW 100% duty cycle lasers that are 532nm, you might look into a module, they are a lot cheaper and have a 100% cycle, usually great divergence, and can easily be intergrated into a show. check ebay, ebay is semisafe for modules, just ask here before you buy one please! or check out aixiz, they have some cheap modules, 100mW for ~300usd. if you have a 30mW argon, you might want a lower power level than 100mW if you want to keep it balanced, blue appears less bright to human eyes than green does.

aixiz site http://mfgcn.com/_wsn/page2.html

i bought a 10mW red module for my monster dvd laser, worked reat and fast shipping!

 

[steve-o]

Yeah, those look good. I'll check into them. Thanks!

 

[windstrings]

The Aries series from laserglow has lots of good features, but they are the most expensive of the three, even with the recent price drop. From what I have heard Wicked has the best customer support. It sounds like most people have been happy with Dragon Lasers, but I don't know much about their customer support system. Dragon obviously has the best deals in terms of price.

http://optotronics.com is another company to consider, too.

How much power are you looking for in your laser?

I notice thier power swing is higher than laserglow for a given power rating.. "whether thats accurate" and the cost is a tad higher.

I do like the prospect of dealing with Canada instead of China..... but I hear pretty good reports about the DL dealings.


I also like the portability of a DL.... that half the reason for getting one right?... if you have to carry a case or become obvious you have it, it severly limits where you can take it.
I also like the small divergence and mrad of less than 1.2.. I attibute that to thier ability to toast matches so well with the condensed tiny diameter of the beam to be hotter.
Its true the challenge to have batteries that can maintain the load current is harder when your dealing with AAA's verses C cells, but I have no need for heat sinks and continuous power abilities anyway..... whats the point of that and who uses that?....

So far, I erreing on the side of a DL...... its a hard choice when for another 100.00 bucks you can get an aries 125 with constant output abilities.......

Does anyone know what the typical initial power of the DL 125 is anyway?