Thank you for your excellent points and for paying such close attention to our data sheets.
As the inventor of LASORB, and as the person who wrote every word in all of our data sheets, I can tell you that my recommendations are based more on my experience than on a few words in the data sheet.
Every application is a bit different, which is why, in the back of the data sheet, you will find a sentenced like "We strongly recommend OEMs contact Pangolin to ensure that the best part is designed in".
With that in mind I applaud you contacting us and asking these questions, rather than just grabbing a part and running with it. Although the simple recommendations in our data sheet work pretty well most of the time, there are exceptions.
With this in mind, I stand by my recommendations for your particular laser diode. 122-208 would be good if you don't modulate the current (and especially modulate the voltage). 121-228 would be good if you do.
I will also look into amending the wording in the data sheet to indicate that our 208 part can indeed work well for high-power IR laser diodes.
Best regards,
William Benner