Cheap LED Flashlight Review

[fbrdphreak]

Thought I would post this there for all the people who haven't seen the hot deals post from Jokersmoker, here:
http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...atid=40&threadid=1732515&enterthread=y

Some great deals on cheap LED flashlights w/free shipping.

I ordered this one:
http://www.surpluscomputers.com/store/Main.aspx?p=ItemDetail&item=CES10934

Ordered Friday, maybe Saturday and it got here today (Monday) :Q Odd thing is the pre-printed USPS First Class label said it shipped from CA, but CA-->NC from Friday to Monday seems highly unlikely.....

EDIT Actually I ordered Thursday. So I guess if it shipped Thursday me getting it Monday isn't so un-realistic

Anyway, the small 8-led one is nice. Well built, compact, light, and fairly bright. Not something that you want to use for shining a long distance, say greater than 15 feet roughly, but great for illuminating small areas with a bright white light.

The larger four LED one is a cheap POS. Horrible cheap plastic, it turns on by you slightly rotating the head of it. Rotating the head brings two metal terminals into contact, but its so cheap that even while in the "on" position you can easily cause it to turn off by turning it ever so slightly in one direction. Good spare flashlight to have, but not one I would carry for important usage in a vehicle or something.

One last note: despite the small one having 8 LED's, they seem to have the same brightness and the same shining distance. No advantage to the larger one from my perspective. Also, the small one activates via a button on the back end of the flashlight, "like the police use" or so the website says.

I think the best deals on these flashlights are either the one I got, since you get free shipping and an extra flashlight, or they have two packs of the small flashlights for 12.99 shipped "ground" (USPS First Class). They also have 5-packs, but figure how many you want and do the math to see which is the better deal. I'm gonna pick up a bunch as stocking stuffers :thumsup; Great for vehicle flashlights.

They also have a lot of other neat deals on little stuff like this. Just thought I would share with ATOT!

EDIT Forgot the pics! Fairly large, 1280x1000 something

http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/fbrdphreak/flashlights.jpg

 

[ghostman]

Do both operate on AA? And if so, how many AA's does each take?

I'm looking for a good LED flashlight that takes either 1 or 2 AAs. Preferable if it has the fancy circuitry to drain the battery and maintain a consistent light.

 

[fbrdphreak]

The larger one takes 3 AA's, I think. It came with no packaging at all. I put three AA's in, but I put them in series and they got REALLY hot, so I'm guessing they go in parallel Either way, it needs 3 AA"s

The smaller one takes 3 AAA's

They might have one on their site that takes 1-2AA's. On the bottom left browse to "Flashlights" and then at the upper right there is an "LED" category. (Not 8 LED, there seems to be fewer flashlights in that category)

 

[fbrdphreak]

The 2-packs of the smaller 8 LED ones seem to be the best deal for stocking stuffers, just ordered 6 for $39 shipped. 5-packs are like $34-$35 too

 

[DaWhim]

I have the small 8-leds one and I like it.

I got the ARC AAA this weekend and loving it.

 

[BrokenVisage]

I have the larger 4 LED one and you are absolutely right.. it's a POS that never stays on or off.

 

[mercanucaribe]

Anyone know where to find a cheap SINGLE led flashlight that uses AAs? AAAs are stupid, since they are about 800mah each, compared to 2500mah for AAs. That means that those 3 AAAs take up more space and provide the same amount of power as a single AA! The best would be 4AAs, since that's the capacity of most chargers, and it wouldn't be too big unless they tried to make the barrel cylindrical.

4xAA = 4x the power of 3xAAA, and the weight won't kill anybody!

 

[Specop 007]

Its all about SureFire.

 

[Xyclone]

Wow... good thing I didn't buy it.

 

[sharkeeper]

If you want a single AA light you're gonna have to spend more $$$. No getting around that. (unless you steal it!)

I suggest looking at the Fenix.

Text

Cheers!

 

[aceO07]

I want the Fenix too. Unfortunately it's $40+.. and I already have an HDS EDC U60..

 

[sharkeeper]

I want the Fenix too. Unfortunately it's $40+.. and I already have an HDS EDC U60..

You got the bug too? My U60GT is perfect. I will probably skip the U85 and go for the U120 when it comes out.

The peak caribbean looks so damn tempting too!

 

[aceO07]

Originally posted by: mercanucaribe
Anyone know where to find a cheap SINGLE led flashlight that uses AAs? AAAs are stupid, since they are about 800mah each, compared to 2500mah for AAs. That means that those 3 AAAs take up more space and provide the same amount of power as a single AA! The best would be 4AAs, since that's the capacity of most chargers, and it wouldn't be too big unless they tried to make the barrel cylindrical.

4xAA = 4x the power of 3xAAA, and the weight won't kill anybody!

You should look into the Streamlight propolymer 4AA luxeon.

http://flashlightreviews.com/reviews/streamlight_propolyluxeon.htm
http://www.fox-intl.com/searchresult.asp?id=3034

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

Yeah, I've misplaced my Arc AAA-P somewhere after only 3-4 months of usage, it's somewhere in my room very likely, just don't know where....

An HDS would be ideal but it's a bit more expensive

 

[aceO07]

Originally posted by: sharkeeper

I want the Fenix too. Unfortunately it's $40+.. and I already have an HDS EDC U60..

You got the bug too? My U60GT is perfect. I will probably skip the U85 and go for the U120 when it comes out.

The peak caribbean looks so damn tempting too!

I just hope some new technology comes out before the U120 comes out. The prices need to drop. At the current pricing system, the U120 willl probably be $400+. The U60 was already a HUGE leap for me. I'm not complaining, but my wallet has limits.

 

[sharkeeper]

Still can't find that Arc?

That's what so great about the HDS Ultimate series. The locator beacon has allowed me to locate the light immediately when it was AWOL from where I put it down. Things tend to be in different places on their own accord on a ship. Now that I'm on land it feels funny always trying to put things down thinking they will move around, etc.

An HDS would be ideal but it's a bit more expensive

A bit more expensive? Yeah quite a bit!

Cheers!

 

[Eli]

Flashlights r0x0r my b0x0rz.

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

Still can't find that Arc?

Nope, although to be honest I haven't really looked around much, moving my room into another room in the next 1-2 weeks once I get my Paradigm's and hopefully I'll find it during the move.

I lost them on a night when I only had 3 hours of sleep... got home at 10PM, did some work, slept at 3, woke up at 6 and I was out the house again... couldn't find it after that but I do remember having it in my car that night on my way home so it's either in my car or somewhere in my room... blah

 

[sharkeeper]

Three hours sleep in a night? How do you do that?

I've had about three hours so far this week! :Q

Cheers!

 

[FP]

$250 for a flashlight? Wow...

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

Originally posted by: binister
$250 for a flashlight? Wow...

http://www.candlepowerforums.com - Just like anything else in life there's pretty much no limit

 

[FP]

Just got mine in the mail from the same company except I ordered 3 4-LED flashlights @ $5.99/flashlight.

http://www.surpluscomputers.com/store/main.aspx?p=ItemDetail&item=CES10177

None of the three worked out of the box. They were literally shipped with no packaging like op said. Just the flashlights thrown in a box with some packing popcorn. I had to bend the contacts of each flashlight with a tiny screwdriver and then twist the back on just perfectly for them to work. The on/off button on the back is also extremely hard to push. As far as brightness, they are fairly bright for their size but I was expecting more from the description. Oh well, they will be good stocking stuffers.

I wouldn't even consider these things worth the $5.99 I paid for each of them.