# What is the best Laser Pointer I can buy? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 6, 2007, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-laser-pointer-i-can-buy/410779 "2007-07-06T22:42:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2007, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-laser-pointer-i-can-buy/410779/1 "2007-07-06T22:42:27Z")
Ok, I’m looking for a factual answer here: I’m wondering what is the best [meaning the most powerful, durable, longest lasting] laser pointer I can buy? Let’s put the $$$ value at $50 -\> $300 bucks. What will I be doing with it? Mostly playing with the cats, some pointing to very far away things i.e. islands, mountains etc…etc… average distance of a long point: 1500 meters. I live exactly 1 mile from an island off the coast of Connecticut, I’d love to look into my spotter scope and see a red dot on a structure 1 mile away. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2007, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-laser-pointer-i-can-buy/410779/2 "2007-07-06T22:48:35Z")
If you are using it as a cat toy I would suggest a low powered one as not to cause any damage with the cats looking directly at the beam. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2007, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-laser-pointer-i-can-buy/410779/3 "2007-07-06T23:29:16Z")
[QUOTE=Phlosphr] I live exactly 1 mile from an island off the coast of Connecticut, I’d love to look into my spotter scope and see a red dot on a structure 1 mile away. [/QUOTE] Not for less than $500. Beam divergence of most diode lasers will expand at a rate of [1 to 2 millimeters per meter of distance from the l](http://members.misty.com/don/laserdon.html#b)ens, so at one mile, the dot would range from 1.6 to 3.2 meters in diameter. That’s a big dot. And that is if you could even see it at that distance, because the brightness of your typical 5mw laser pointer will diminish to almost imperceptable by the human eye. ---
**Author:** ![yoyodyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a9a28c/32.png) [@yoyodyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yoyodyne)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2007, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-laser-pointer-i-can-buy/410779/4 "2007-07-06T23:30:37Z")
You can get some powerful green ones from [Wicked Lasers](http://www.wickedlasers.com/) but they won’t be safe for the cat’s (or your) eyes. ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2007, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-laser-pointer-i-can-buy/410779/5 "2007-07-06T23:47:41Z")
Ok so perhaps I should buy two: a small one for the cats and a high powered one. Not to see any of the islands off the coast, but to see how far into the woods behind my house I can see the dot. I’ve seen some pretty high powered ones in the past but I don’t know where to buy them. ---
**Author:** ![NAF1138](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naf1138/32/3245_2.png) [@NAF1138](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NAF1138)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2007, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-laser-pointer-i-can-buy/410779/6 "2007-07-06T23:51:44Z")
[QUOTE=yoyodyne] You can get some powerful green ones from [Wicked Lasers](http://www.wickedlasers.com/) but they won’t be safe for the cat’s (or your) eyes. [/QUOTE] Those are crazy cool! The video where the guy lights a match with the green lazer is great. But it does make me wonder…other than etching paper by bouncing the lazer off a mirror (a neat trick), why would anyone want to own one? ---
**Author:** ![ASAKMOTSD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/919ad9/32.png) [@ASAKMOTSD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASAKMOTSD)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2007, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-laser-pointer-i-can-buy/410779/7 "2007-07-07T00:02:34Z")
Meow! \ :eek: ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2007, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-laser-pointer-i-can-buy/410779/8 "2007-07-07T00:23:46Z")
[QUOTE=Phlosphr] …a small one for the cats… [/QUOTE] I was in PETCO last week and they were selling laser pointers for exactly this purpose, to play with cats & dogs, and they were about $2.99. ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2007, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-laser-pointer-i-can-buy/410779/9 "2007-07-07T00:42:58Z")
Moved to In My Humble Opinion. **Gfactor** , General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2007, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-laser-pointer-i-can-buy/410779/10 "2007-07-07T01:39:51Z")
[QUOTE=yoyodyne] You can get some powerful green ones from [Wicked Lasers](http://www.wickedlasers.com/) but they won’t be safe for the cat’s (or your) eyes. [/QUOTE] Or you could get a [blue one](http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/lights/896a/). ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2007, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-laser-pointer-i-can-buy/410779/11 "2007-07-07T03:25:36Z")
[QUOTE=Sunspace] Or you could get a [blue one](http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/lights/896a/). [/QUOTE] Violet/purple, too. > **[LEDs - Gallium Indium Nitride UV, violet, purple, blue, aqua, turquoise,...](http://ledmuseum.candlepower.us/tenth/sonar.htm)** > > A site devoted to testing of LEDs in all common chemistries. Includes test target illumination photos of many LED samples, LED museum, and LED flashlight testing. You can find them from time to time on ebay, too. Like _right now!_ Blue ones should come down in price rapidly as the technology is being quickly developed for next generation DVD devices (Blu-Ray/HD-DVD). Informal experiments have shown cats react better to red lasers compared to green. ‘React better’ used here in the more freaking out and fewer kitty yawns sense. ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2007, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-laser-pointer-i-can-buy/410779/12 "2007-07-08T02:32:42Z")
[QUOTE=NAF1138] Those are crazy cool! The video where the guy lights a match with the green lazer is great. But it does make me wonder…other than etching paper by bouncing the lazer off a mirror (a neat trick), why would anyone want to own one? [/QUOTE] Eye candy at a rave? ---
**Author:** ![yoyodyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a9a28c/32.png) [@yoyodyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yoyodyne)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2007, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-laser-pointer-i-can-buy/410779/13 "2007-07-08T04:23:22Z")
[QUOTE=NAF1138] Those are crazy cool! The video where the guy lights a match with the green lazer is great. But it does make me wonder…other than etching paper by bouncing the lazer off a mirror (a neat trick), why would anyone want to own one? [/QUOTE] I got one simply as a toy.