Scrapping DVD writers?

[450nm]

What is the smallest realistic write speed that I would get a diode from worth playing with? My last one (God rest his soul) was a 16X. I'm searching everywhere for scrap DVD writers. Would a 8X or 4X be worth the bother of going to collect and stripping out if it was going for peanuts? I.e. what sort of CW power could I expect from these? Thanks -Dave

[kaz]

Hi Dave, i would imagin a 8x would probably be around half the power of a 16x all depends on what sort of power output you want to play with,a 8x would probably go up to around 60 mw of cw output as these diodes if i am correct normaly work on pulsed mode when they are in the burner and the output can go as high as 250 mw for a 16 x when pulsed, all the best kaz

[steve-o]

I heard they all run around 660nm (except the 'authoring' ones) and a 18X might give you around 160-180 mw cw.