Best high power laser distributors?

I live in the US, and I am interested in getting a 125 mW green laser at a price below $300. I have looked around, and the main distributors appear to be Wicked Lasers, Dragonlasers, Techlasers, and Laserglow. Which of these should I consider? I know most of these are manufactured in China, and some of them are mass produced, which has led to quality control concerns expressed by some users here. I know about eBay "scam" lasers, so I'm not looking there.

From which manufacturer/seller will I get the best product (125 mW) at the lowest price? Or are "low price" and "best product" mutually exclusive?

Since I live in the US, will I have to go through any sort of registration before procuring a class IIIb laser?

I hope this thread does not degenerate into an argument into why x laser distributor is better than y.

Consider Novalasers, Laserglow, And optotronics


thanks for participating...

-chris

beach honda said:

Consider Novalasers, Laserglow, And optotronics


thanks for participating...

-chris

Click to expand...

What he said

go with Wicked or Tech...

I think Wicked is more well known for smaller pens where laserglow is better for larger laser units. Tech sells the same stuff as laserglow but for cheaper...

decision is yours!

Thanks. I'm considering the NOVAlasers Alpha105 Handheld Laser or the Techlasers Infiniti 125mW. Those are both $289.

Have a look at the stuff in this forum and on LPF about Wicked - its wicked!

Go with Nova or Laserglow.

Be curious to why some people or forums just support certain laser resellers, as its been said before, dont trust what you read online, especially in the laser pointer world.

Check out www.ultralasers.com very cheap.

The advice I'll give is everyone has their own opinion on who is the best high powered laser distributor.

If you refuse to listen to what some of the forum members say then you are really on your own. I can't help to comment on comments like these "Be curious to why some people or forums just support certain laser resellers, as its been said before, dont trust what you read online, especially in the laser pointer world." They are contradictory in nature and hold no water.

I think your best bet will be WL, NovaLasers, Laserglow or Optotronics. You may see some of the concerns with WL but if you ever receive a bad unit, you can always RMA it, but keep in mind that you will incur shipping costs and there is no guarantee that you will receive a better unit the next time round. I can guarantee you that you will probably not RMA your Novalasers, Laserglow or Optotronics. That is not to say that you will never RMA your lasers, just that you will have a smaller chance of that happening to you.

Note: This is in no way bashing WL, I'm simply stating the facts. If you've visited WL's forum, a lot of members were RMA-ing their laser, some even more than 4 times. I think this is an issue everyone is overlooking and even saying it seems to be "taboo" in this laser forum.

Also keep in mind that WL is not a distributor, they manufacture their own lasers. WL is in a different league than Laserglow and Optotronics - their lasers are mostly high powered larger modules while WL deals with pen lasers strictly and Novalasers deal with both.

I think you shouldn't be looking for the "best price" only because after purchasing a laser, you might have some trouble with it or have a few questions. That's where customer service plays a part, an important one at that.

well said!

I think you are right about Wicked being on their own. I'm looking through laserglow, novalasers, and optotronics and their lasers look very similar. They seem to get all their lasers from the same source? Wicked's stuff is completely different and, of course, better looking in my opinion. It's up to you to decide which company is best for you .

flare02 said:

well said!

I think you are right about Wicked being on their own. I'm looking through laserglow, novalasers, and optotronics and their lasers look very similar. They seem to get all their lasers from the same source? Wicked's stuff is completely different and, of course, better looking in my opinion. It's up to you to decide which company is best for you .

Click to expand...

Novalasers and laserglow distributes CNI lasers. But the design of some of the lasers in Laserglow are not CNI, Laserglow designs some of their lasers. Or maybe all, I'm not too sure. But for Novalasers, I'm pretty sure they distribute CNI lasers.

Optotronics lasers come from an entirely different manufacturer. For reasons, they do not wish to divulge this information. But from the looks of it (if you are in doubt), the lasers are entirely different than that of Novalasers or laserglow. Although they may have similar physical attributes.

For 125mW there's plenty of places to get a good unit for a decent price.

Techlasers, Novalasers and others all sell the CNI pen style 125mW models. So it's really a matter of how much you want to spend as the prices vary from place to place. I've literally tested dozens upon dozens of these and CNI does make a good unit. Because they are so massed produced though, sometimes small issues arise.

Wicked is coming out with a new Elite series containing models at 95, 125 and 150mW. I'm not sure of the prices though, but as I've had a chance to test one of them I can vouch for their performance and quality.

So if I'm in the market for a CNI, I should just look at Nova, Laserglow, or Techlasers. Choose the cheapest one since they are all the same? They must have crazy price wars...

I wouldn't recommend buying from Techlasers.