I honestly tried to ignore this but I just couldn't, sorry. This is the newcomer's section and we should avoid misleading information that might confuse the new commander.
Here is a quick video I made to illustrate the difference between the small (class 1) and large (class 2) mining laser. I hope it illustrates how frustrating it can be to do laser mining in craft with only size 1 hardpoints (the video uses a CobraIV).
Personally I go mining in a Python but I understand some people like the AspX, Keelback and the Kraits.