[dorkbotsea-blabber] Laser pointers $2.50 at Walgreens

[Kevin Purcell]

I'm curious of the laser diode in the pen. Is it a 670nm or 635nm  
laser diode? To my untrained eye it looks more orangey (rather like a  
HeNe at 632nm) so I suspect it's 635nm. That would account for the  
increased perceived brightness. Anyone better calibrated than me?

I bought four of these (one to point with and the others to play  
with) at the CapHill Walgreens on 15th Ave. Looks like they had two  
"hangers" of these set out. I think they were down to about 10% of  
stock when I checked last on Tuesday.

Cheap laser pointers are out there on the web under other names. For  
example, Nexxtech Laser Pointer Pen. Circuit City had them for $0.99  
earlier. All gone now. But there are $1.99 pens (no pen or LED but  
telescoping pointer) for $1.99.

<http://www.circuitcity.com/ccd/productDetail.do? 
oid=100503&WT.mc_n=4&WT.mc_t=U&cm_ven=COMPARISON% 
20SHOPPING&cm_cat=GOOGLE&cm_pla=DATAFEED-%3EPRODUCTS&cm_ite=1% 
20PRODUCT&cm_keycode=4>

And don't forget safety issues if you are playing with them :-)

<http://www.ibiblio.org/Dave/Dr-Fun/df9706/df970626.jpg>
<http://members.misty.com/don/lasersaf.htm>

On Oct 4, 2006, at 10:34 AM, Bill Beaty wrote:

> The local Walgreens drugstore is selling pens at two for $5.00,  
> with built
> in red laser pointer, blue LED flashlight, and three 1.5V coin cells.
>
> I don't find them on the Walgreens website, so maybe these are a local
> Seattle phenomenon.

--
Kevin Purcell
kevinpurcell at pobox.com