Have been away from "lasers" for over a year and just curious to know if there has been any major improvement in putting together 650nm laser modules at around the 1 watt level for use in a projector scanner without BREAKING THE BANK? High power blue is certainly affordable and green was ok, but to obtain a nice tight beam of 650nm (or thereabouts) for a projector was damn expensive.
Is that still the case??
Thanks to all who can provide some information.