What is the maximum power needed for laser pointing?
A power of 50 milliwatts is probably the maximum needed power for almost any laser pointing use. For seeing the laser “dot” on a wall or surface, 5 milliwatts of green is fine. The most demanding general-use application is for pointing out stars (NOT airplanes!!), when it is necessary to see the beam in mid-air. It takes more power to see the beam than the dot. For this use 50 mW should be fine. If you like to pop balloons, or put the laser through textured glass for a light show, you may want a more powerful laser. But this is no longer a POINTER application.