looking for a new red laser pointer

I'm looking for a new laser pointer, sticking with red for now due to the cost of the green ones (though they look really cool). Saw a recent thread in this forum on 635nm pointers available on ebay here

People sounded pretty happy with these, I take it the 635nm is supposed to seem brighter than the more typical (I guess) 670's? Anyone have an opinion on stuff that's available in stores? Saw a supposedly ruggedized one at Staples for $40, looked rather industrial, but who knows?

Any thoughts appreciated.

bj, keep and eye on ebay for the greenies. saw one got for 52.50 last week.
jeff

Thanks Jeff, I'll do that. I guess my concern after reading stuff here and at Craig's site is that the greenies are more complex creatures (hence more expensive). Do you think the ones going for cheap on ebay are any good? I mean, some folks have had the more expensive ones give trouble. I know the better ones (from some of our CPF sponsors) are tweaked to the limit, perhaps the ebay cheap greenies are running at lower power? And even if they are say 3mw, will I care? Will it be so much brighter/cooler than a red one that I won't mind the lower power?

Just wondering what others experience has been. Green would be pretty cool....

Blue would be cool too... (yeah, right!)

hell ya.... even green at 1mW will be cool. and yes there are lots more parts in a std greenie. 808nm diode pumping a small Nd:YAG type material, going through a KTP color doubbler, then a concave tuning mirror, IR filter then final colamation lens. I have had mine apart several times, best guess from my high power laser puck (40W) puttin out about 13-15mW (really intense). the price has dropped because of the amount of them out there. I would say keep your eyes on ebay, if you could get one for under $40, crappy or not, a good price. some places offer exchange policy, if it is DOA (check for that). here is a page of someone who ripped a greenie apart.
http://www.repairfaq.org/sam/laserpic/glpdpics.htm
jeff

[ QUOTE ]
bj said:
I'm looking for a new laser pointer, sticking with red for now due to the cost of the green ones (though they look really cool). Saw a recent thread in this forum on 635nm pointers available on ebay here

People sounded pretty happy with these, I take it the 635nm is supposed to seem brighter than the more typical (I guess) 670's? Anyone have an opinion on stuff that's available in stores? Saw a supposedly ruggedized one at Staples for $40, looked rather industrial, but who knows?

Any thoughts appreciated.


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