A 1W handheld laser is amazing. I remember back in the early nineties, we got our hands on a, IIRC, 400mW Argon laser. I thought that was powerful, and it was a

A 1W handheld laser is amazing. I remember back in the early nineties, we got our hands on a, IIRC, 400mW Argon laser. I thought that was powerful, and it was a ~6"x6"x2ft box with a huge fan and a power cord. To have that sort of power in a battery-powered, pocket size package is... well, I'm amazed. FYI, in Sweden, what's called "Class 4" lasers (>0.5W, basically) are regulated (or at least back in those days they were.) You need a permit to operate one, and you need to implement strict safety arrangements to avoid exposure. (I got a waiver for my 10W home-built CO2 laser, but that's a different story... ;-)