10mW laser from Wicked Lasers.

Hey everyone,
On Monday I finally caved in to a wish that I've had for years and bought a green laser pointer. For those who don't know, these are awesome little buggers that are different from the normal red lasers you get because your eyes are most sensetive to green, making them ideal for pointing out constellations and such in the night sky. Unfortunately, they're a fair bit more expensive as well which means it's worth your while to scout out prices before settling on a particular one.
The first thing I learned while scouting out my laser is the wattage you find is key: if you're not in a dark area even a 5mW laser will cause complaints because not everyone will be able to see the laser beam when you point it upwards. Due to the fact that I'd primarily be using the laser in the middle of Cleveland, that and I'm a nerd!, I decided to splurge on a 10mW laser from Wicked Lasers. It was by far the cheapest one I'd found online for that type at $90, and a friend refered me to them in the first place so it seemed cool enough.
The first surprise was the speed with which it got here: the lasers are shipped from Shanghai, China yet it got here in five days! Given, the required shipping took a little extra out of my pocket but still, the distance involved there got me quite excited! That and there's something quite exotic about getting something in the mail with Chineese charecters written all over it...
Batteries were a slight problem as it needed relatively high quality AAA ones, so I ended up stealing some semi-used ones from my roommate's remote control in exchange for some cheap Energizer ones. (Note to self: get to store sometime and get fresh batteries!)
Now time for the actual testing! My Physics and Astronomy Club was having an event tonight at the Case observatory, so it seemed an ideal time to test it after all! Of course, it was bright, but no one had any troubles whatsoever tracing its beam up to the constellations I was tracing out amidst the Cleveland light pollution. I must admit, it's a lot easier to point out "ok, this is the summer triangle" when you can just use a laser! So for someone like me who increasingly finds themselves in positions where you're pointing out the basics I highly recommend one of these buggers. I'm actually kind of sad I didn't invest in one earlier.
And, of course, I'm a physics nerd so after the crowd started petering out we decided to begin testing the range of the laser! Of course we're not ones to wish blindness onto anyone and needed a good way of doing it without endangering anyone who might happen to be looking outside; luckily we were on the roof of a building at the heart of campus and most of the lights were out as it was Friday night. We reached all the buildings around us with ease and even tried a few other non-lit ones with the same result that were well over a mile away! Then, of course, we ran out of suitable buildings with the notable exception of the very distant Cleveland skyline, but there's no way you could see a point that far away even if it makes it there so we're stuck. I mean I'm sure there's an equation out there I can use to check it all out but that's just not as fun; that and it's more fun any day to be an experimentalist rather than a theorist! Someone mentioned that in the lab of one of the physics professors on campus there's a special machine to tell how far a certain laser intensity will travel involving a lot of mirrors and such, but somehow I don't think she'd let a bunch of physics majors come in and play with it. Quite a pity!
So anyway, that's my little review of my green laser pointer, the conclusion of which is that they're really cool to play around with (though if you don't really plan on using it often and just want to play with a laser get a significantly cheaper red one). Hope this review helps out anyone considering getting one!
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