# Which laser brands are good?



## LEDrock (Jun 6, 2011)

Totally new to the laser community so this will be a pretty basic question. 

What laser companies are the good ones. For a comparison (for those here who also like LED flashlights), which laser companies do you think are on par, quality-wise, with companies like Fenix, 4Sevens, Maglite, etc.? Also, which laser companies (or brands) do you think can be compared to Surefire?

Just for fun, which ones are the ones to stay away from since they make cheap, unreliable stuff?

I've looked at some ads I've found by google, and Wickedlasers seems to be the "king", but that's from just looking at their site and not owning or experiencing anything.

A secondary question: Are these things legal? On Wicked's site, it claims their 1W laser is the most powerful legal laser we can own, but I thought low power 5mw ones were the most we could legally own and that the more powerful ones are illegally shipped from China and many are confiscated by Customs if they find them being shipped, with the customer taking the loss. Are any made in the USA?


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## jeowf (Jun 6, 2011)

Depends on the country your in, they are illegal here in australia. The only other brand of laser i've seen is dragonlasers. Also you want to make sure that you get an IR filter so that you don't have dangerous a IR beam coming out of the end which you can't see, it may spread out like a flashlight as well so you could have IR in your face without having the visible laser beam, its also very hard to detect IR with a camera because the visible laser lights just blinds the camera.


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## LEDrock (Jun 7, 2011)

jeowf said:


> Depends on the country your in, they are illegal here in australia. The only other brand of laser i've seen is dragonlasers. Also you want to make sure that you get an IR filter so that you don't have dangerous a IR beam coming out of the end which you can't see, it may spread out like a flashlight as well so you could have IR in your face without having the visible laser beam, its also very hard to detect IR with a camera because the visible laser lights just blinds the camera.


 
Wow! Now that's something I didn't know about. I thought the IR part of the beam would be along with the rest of the beam. Maybe these things are more dangerous than I thought!


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## jedirock (Jun 8, 2011)

Some good laser outfits:

Dealer (Manufacturer):
DragonLasers (CNI)
LaserGlow/NovaLasers (CNI)
Optotronics (Viasho)

Also check out this thread on LPF: http://laserpointerforums.com/f45/guide-buying-your-first-green-laser-30608.html#post516853

EDIT: As to the type of lasers you could look into, I would stay away from the 1W 445 (royal blue) lasers if you're new. Start out with a low power (<50mW or so) 532 green or 650/660/670 red and work your way up from there. The greens are bright enough as is, as green appears about 3x as bright to our eyes compared to 445 blue, mW for mW. I have a 750mW green, and I can't imagine getting anything brighter than that. :devil:


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## daisyjanet (Jun 11, 2011)

jedirock said:


> Some good laser outfits:
> 
> Dealer (Manufacturer):
> DragonLasers (CNI)
> ...



Well, I just need to learn more before I want to get a high power laser. I cannot imagine how powerful can a 750mW green be.


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## jedirock (Jun 11, 2011)

daisyjanet said:


> Well, I just need to learn more before I want to get a high power laser. I cannot imagine how powerful can a 750mW green be.


 
It can burn. 'Nuff said. :d


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## Murray B (Jun 23, 2011)

Back in the late seventies I worked on equipment thatcontained lasers and had to get my eyes checked by a special eye doctor everysix months. Even a small laser could do instantand irreparable damage to the retina. Ofcourse, an inexpensive laser at the time cost half the price of a car so ordinarypeople did not own one.

Today it is possible to buy a dangerous laser for a few tensof dollars. There are even some DVDplayers with fairly powerful solid state lasers. Of course unless someone is a certified technicianwith a need to for such devices buying one online will almost certainly resultin being put on a watch list or two. These lists are shared internationally now and being listed on one couldlead to hassles down the road.


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## laserguy (Jun 25, 2011)

Many laser store or factory are scam.....unless you can find one to be able to proof their power. I order a 100mw laser from link removed. It comes with a sheet of power certificate of the laser. Yes IR is the important part as well your laser may be powerful by not shiny if IR percentage is high. The IR content will also be listed on the certificate. So i will recommend this site.

Myself turn out 130+mW. Don't buy cheap one as 90% of them are fake.


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## Mo13 (Jul 7, 2011)

Some good "Cheap" brands are Budgetgadgets, O-like, and Rayfoss.


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## susanawalkly (Jul 31, 2011)

well, it is just a right choice for you to get a laser pointer with an IR filter. It is a necessity. In addition, you should just know what kind of power is allowed in your country. I hope you can get a right one.


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## bshanahan14rulz (Aug 1, 2011)

Real laser nerds buy green lasers. It's probably the cheapest solid-state laser out there, and it's frequency doubled too.


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## jeowf (Aug 2, 2011)

bshanahan14rulz said:


> Real laser nerds buy green lasers. It's probably the cheapest solid-state laser out there, and it's frequency doubled too.


 In terms of $ per Watt red lasers are the cheapest thing around.


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## bshanahan14rulz (Aug 2, 2011)

Indeed, red is definitely the economic choice. I just think it's neat that with a green laser you are actually holding a complex solid state laser in your hands. Intracavity frequency doubled diode pumped solid state mmmmm!


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