Dragonlaser

By Evan Ackerman

Boy was I excited when a box from Dragonlasers showed up at my door yesterday. I don’t mind telling you that I giggled like a little girl as I opened up the box to reveal a 250mW (!) green laser. I’ll be, um, experimenting with it over the next week or so, and I thought I’d ask you guys if there’s anything in particular you’d like to see. No, I’m not going to do anything dangerous, expensive, illegal, or immoral. And yes, I’ll be wearing eye protection.

Just to get you started, 250mW has a visible range on the order of 100 miles (halfway to the ISS) and is easily capable of burning or melting anything that’s non-reflective. We’ve reviewed high powered lasers in the past (here and here), but the Hulk is the most powerful thus far.

Post suggestions in the comments, and I’ll see what I can do.

30 COMMENTS

  1. Is this more powerfull than the wicked lasers?

    At any rate, I would suggest trying to ignite fireworks with it from a distance. LEts see some videos!

  2. you should try:
    -cutting through a trash bag
    -lighting a match
    -popping a balloon
    -lighting a cigarette
    -frying an egg
    -set up several mirrors and see if you can make the beam go in a z pattern

  3. Setup a shadow box diorama similar to an evil genius lab with the laser aimed at a green army man strapped to a table. You know like all the cliché spy movies. Then cut him in half!

  4. Nick- I’ll try all that stuff except the cigarette one… And rather than doing an egg, I may try to make a brulee.

    Earthworm- Army man. Good idea.

    Alex- It does. Ow. Oops, that was under the ‘dangerous’ category, wasn’t it?

  5. how about shining it into the night sky tonight towards n orth47degrees 31’1 and West 52 45’5. So I can see it. I’m at an altitude of 84.3

  6. Marshmallows are now on the list. As far as metal, it’s not going to slice ‘n dice, but I will use a temperature gun to see if it’ll heat things up. Up in the sky is one of those potentially dangerous things; I’ll do it, but cautiously.

  7. Does anyone here know for a fact IF the Hercules 400 is even legal to posess in the USA by non military or non law enforcement personel ? Sounds like a much deserving controlled device to me. Can you imagine shelling out $2500-$3500 and then getting busted for mere possession ?

  8. I did some checking, this laser is manufactured by a laser company in China and is sold by a lot of other laser resellers out there and this particular model is available from another reseller at a cheaper price, Dragonlasers sells it for $800 while Techlasers ( http://www.techlasers.com ) sells it at $600 and there they call it a Crossfire 250mW…that’s a big $200 difference…I wonder if there’s anyone else selling it cheaper.

  9. Very interesting, i did more checking last week end including reading up on laser forums and found out why Techlasers is so cheap. They normally sell lasers that are below specification, they have no after sale service and some of their lasers are cheap replicas. No wonder they are so cheap.

    Unless you want to waste your money, stay away from Techlasers.

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