X75 vs X100

[jangles]

I'm going to get one of these for shining at the mnts. clouds, windmill farm at night. (that should be interesting) don't really care about burning stuff so my question is will I really get much more with the 100 as far as night beam quality to warrant the $60 difference?
Thanks in advance, this is really helpful!

 

[laserman22]

at night, probably not.

But I dont know for sure, so take someone else's opinion first.

 

[RA_pierce]

As far as brightness goes, there won't be much of a difference. But if you were to compare the two you would see one.

If you get the X75 it's likely to average around 90-100mW anyway so its really the most "bang for the buck." I hate that phrase.
It's the most reasonable option.

However, the divergence on these lasers isn't exactly great.
They are built for short range burning, so the initial diameter of the beam will be tiny, but the beam will expand greatly over large distances.
The brightness makes up for this up to a certain point.
I can point out a tree or building at least a kilometer a way, but after that the spot is barely visible because of it's large size.
There are a few mountains about 1.5 miles from my house, and from my point of view, I cannot see it touch the mountains (I've got the X105 averaging ~120mW). When clouds are low, it can project a dot, but that's only when clouds are low.

With additional optics the divergence can be improved, but it does subtract from the aesthetic value and simplicity of a pen sized laser. It kinda defeats the purpose.
I modified my laser to increase the beam diameter and improve divergence (without adding optics), which worked very well, but I soon "un-modified" it as the crisp, thin beam looked nicer and burned better.

It may be difficult to find a pen sized green laser of that power that has a divergence less than 1.0mRad, so unless you modify it for better divergence (http://www.laserpointerforums.com/forums/YaBB.pl?num=1211946562) or want to spend a $90 on a beam expander from Dragonlasers (http://www.dragonlasers.com/catalog/Laser-Beam-Expander-p-16332.html) plus $5 for the adapter (http://www.dragonlasers.com/catalog/Viper-Adapter-For-Laser-Beam-Expander-p-16335.html) then you'll have to live with >1.2mRad divergence.

If you ask, Nova will pick out a special one with low divergence, but don't expect anything less than 1.1mRad.

All things considered, it is a good laser, but for pointing over very long distances, it may disappoint.

 

[jangles]

As far as brightness goes, there won't be much of a difference. But if you were to compare the two you would see one.

If you get the X75 it's likely to average around 90-100mW anyway so its really the most "bang for the buck." I hate that phrase.
It's the most reasonable option.

However, the divergence on these lasers isn't exactly great.
They are built for short range burning, so the initial diameter of the beam will be tiny, but the beam will expand greatly over large distances.
The brightness makes up for this up to a certain point.
I can point out a tree or building at least a kilometer a way, but after that the spot is barely visible because of it's large size.
There are a few mountains about 1.5 miles from my house, and from my point of view, I cannot see it touch the mountains (I've got the X105 averaging ~120mW). When clouds are low, it can project a dot, but that's only when clouds are low.

With additional optics the divergence can be improved, but it does subtract from the aesthetic value and simplicity of a pen sized laser. It kinda defeats the purpose.
I modified my laser to increase the beam diameter and improve divergence (without adding optics), which worked very well, but I soon "un-modified" it as the crisp, thin beam looked nicer and burned better.

It may be difficult to find a pen sized green laser of that power that has a divergence less than 1.0mRad, so unless you modify it for better divergence (http://www.laserpointerforums.com/forums/YaBB.pl?num=1211946562) or want to spend a $90 on a beam expander from Dragonlasers (http://www.dragonlasers.com/catalog/Laser-Beam-Expander-p-16332.html) plus $5 for the adapter (http://www.dragonlasers.com/catalog/Viper-Adapter-For-Laser-Beam-Expander-p-16335.html) then you'll have to live with >1.2mRad divergence.

If you ask, Nova will pick out a special one with low divergence, but don't expect anything less than 1.1mRad.

All things considered, it is a good laser, but for pointing over very long distances, it may disappoint.

Wow thanks for the in depth! I might have to save up for an RPL165! I notice the alpha series has the same divergance as the X series but all in all that being a better unit than the X would the beam be more stable at distannce than the X? I'm thinking alpha 105Mw

 

[RA_pierce]

You're welcome.
The RPLs are good lasers too. They have a longer run time than the X and Alpha lasers, but they are much larger.
They do tend to have better divergence too (generally 1.0- 0.9mRad). If you ask, Jack (the owner of Optotronics) will select a good one for you.
I also believe he offers a discount for forum members.
Which reminds me, there is also a 5% discount at Nova for forum members.

The Alpha will have similar specifications to the X-series, as they are essentially built with the same components. The main difference is that they have more heatsinking mass, run on larger batteries, and have the 5-point safety features.
More mass for heatsinking means longer run times (you dont have to let it cool down as often).
The fact that it runs on AA rather than AAA batteries is a plus because you won't have to recharge/replace batteries as often.
The safety features include: Safety shutter, LED emission indicator, key lock, safety dongle, and 3 second output delay.
Most like the shutter because it keeps out dust and other things that may dirty the lens. The LED is also nice to have for aesthetic purposes. The key lock and safety dongle prevent anyone without the keys from operating the laser (if you have anyone around you that may misuse the laser i.e. small children, siblings). The output delay, however may be somewhat of a nuisance. But I'm sure all it's other positive features make up for this.
Most people here that own the Alpha lasers seem content.

The divergence will be the same, but you will be able to run it longer, and it is still relatively small for a laser with that many features.

Although, I'm not sure what you mean by "stable at distance."
As far as stability, the Alpha will likely be more stable (maintain continuous output power, less susceptible to mode hopping) because it is a better heatsink. Small pen style lasers often switch modes or drop off in power after about 60-90 seconds of use because there is not enough mass to dissipate heat.