Best cheap LED flashlight from Walmart?
m...@privacy.net
good?
Some are 3 watt units for abt $20
Al Bundy
Are you sure about that 3 watts and what it means? That would be very
high draw for an LED flashlight.
I like the concept of the LED efficiency as far as power consumption.
However, it generally takes an array of several bulbs to provide any
useful light. They seem to work best in total darkness. I have found
that in partial light conditions, you sometimes can't tell the LED is
doing anything. For example, I tried to use one on the street under a
car shining up at the engine while lying under the vehicle in daytime.
It was still dark enough to need light. The LED did not help much. A
regular incandescent light would have worked much better. So it
depends on your need to save energy or have useful light. Also, all
LEDs are not the same. One bulb can be twice as bright as another.
They purposely package those things so you can't test them in the
store. Hopefully, someone can provide more specific model information
for you here.
Siskuwihane
Luxeon LED flashlights are available in 1 watt, 3 watt and 6 watt.
These are single LED's.
My 1 watt, Dorcy, Luxeon equipped LED flashlight has a 10 hour
battery life (IIRC)and uses 3 AAA batteries.
My 3 watt Ray-O-Vac uses 2 AA batteries and has a 2 hour battery life.
I do not own, but have seen a 6 watt, Luxeon Dorcy that uses 6 AA
batteries. HTH.
m...@privacy.net
>Are you sure about that 3 watts and what it means? That would be very
>high draw for an LED flashlight.
Yeah pretty sure it said three watt output on the
RayOVac model in local Walmart. Cost was abt $20 and
'seemed" rugged.
Kind of crazy measuring light output in watts tho as it
SHOULD be measured in lumens I would think.
Anyway..... I'm wanting a good LED smallish
flashlight..... just not sure its worth the premium to
buy a high end ,model such as Surefire, etc. hence the
question abt what Walmart has.
m...@privacy.net
>They purposely package those things so you can't test them in the
>store.
Yep!
No way you can take it out of clamshell and try it out!
m...@privacy.net
>My 3 watt Ray-O-Vac uses 2 AA batteries and has a 2 hour battery life.
I think this is the one Walmart had!
Siskuwihane
> Siskuwihane <Siskuwih...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >My 3 watt Ray-O-Vac uses 2 AA batteries and has a 2 hour battery life.
>
> I think this is the one Walmart had!
Yes, that's where I got mine, well worth the money, especially
compared to those other high priced units.
Don Klipstein
>On Jan 14, 3:09 pm, m...@privacy.net wrote:
>> Are any of the LED flashlights sold at Walmart any
>> good?
>>
>> Some are 3 watt units for abt $20
>
>Are you sure about that 3 watts and what it means? That would be very
>high draw for an LED flashlight.
That is the nominal power rating of the LED. It may have less power
than that delivered to it.
>I like the concept of the LED efficiency as far as power consumption.
>However, it generally takes an array of several bulbs to provide any
>useful light. They seem to work best in total darkness. I have found
>that in partial light conditions, you sometimes can't tell the LED is
>doing anything. For example, I tried to use one on the street under a
>car shining up at the engine while lying under the vehicle in daytime.
>It was still dark enough to need light. The LED did not help much. A
>regular incandescent light would have worked much better. So it
>depends on your need to save energy or have useful light. Also, all
>LEDs are not the same. One bulb can be twice as bright as another.
>
>They purposely package those things so you can't test them in the
>store. Hopefully, someone can provide more specific model information
>for you here.
Actually, I find LED flashlights to be more likely to have a "Try Me"
pushbotton for testing in the store than flashlights with non-LED
technology.
Meanwhile, I have a few evaluation results of ones available at Sears
and Target:
Dorcy models with high power LEDs are ones I find to do well. However,
they are "unregulated", meaning light output droops as the batteries
weaken. However, they tend to not be worse than incandescents in that
area, since incandescents have a major decrease in energy efficiency when
they are dimmed and LEDs do not. Leave such a Dorcy LED flashlight on for
a day, and it will glow somewhat usefully - maybe even for 4 days.
I also like the Mag 3-AA LED flashlight. However, I found the 2-AA Mag
LED flashlight a little wimpy.
- Don Klipstein (d...@misty.com)
Jeff
Almost all the Amish I knew had a one AAA Dorcy LED light. Just enough
light to get around and very small, but dependable.
Jeff
George
>
>
> Almost all the Amish I knew had a one AAA Dorcy LED light. Just enough
> light to get around and very small, but dependable.
>
> Jeff
>>
"photon light" that run on a coin cell and are small enough to put on a
key chain. Since they are small you don't feel like Batman carrying them
and I bought the better quality units and they are dependable and have
lasted at least 3 years so far.
m...@privacy.net
>Almost all the Amish I knew had a one AAA Dorcy LED light. Just enough
>light to get around and very small, but dependable.
Actually a small one is sometimes handier to carry
around
I will have to take a look at it!
skar...@gmail.com
Here is a $8 flashlight for you to look at.
http://www.edealinfo.com/cgi-bin/meritline.cgi?21-leds-aluminum-flashlight-gun-metal
skar...@gmail.com
Oops, there is more to it than just the above URL.
________________________
Meritline.com is carrying this Aluminum Flashlight for $15.99
During checkout, apply 50% off special coupon code "M24805650POFF" on
it (Expires 01/15/2008)
Meritline.com is offering Free Shipping on this item
Your Final Price: $15.99 - 50% = $8.00 + Free Shipping
Don Klipstein
>Jeff wrote:
>>
>>
>> Almost all the Amish I knew had a one AAA Dorcy LED light. Just enough
>> light to get around and very small, but dependable.
I have one of those. No, I have not quite that, but the 1-AA-cell one.
I find it very dependable, and to always run at least somewhat and to give
some actual illumination even AA cells that are so depleted as to make a
2-AA Mag glow dimmer than an idling cigararette, at least after half a
minute. (Personal experience, preliminary results without doing a true
"controlled experiment" with "adequate sample size").
>The best thing I ever bought for that purpose is the something like
>"photon light" that run on a coin cell and are small enough to put on a
>key chain. Since they are small you don't feel like Batman carrying them
>and I bought the better quality units and they are dependable and have
>lasted at least 3 years so far.
I get similar experience. However, those "coin cells" have no chance of
running the LED at "full initial brightness" (often initially exceeding
maximum continuous ratings of the LED) for long. I expect a few
"operating hours" of "bright light" (including as low as 1/3 of
"initial"), followed by the LEDs giving some good impression by having
their efficiency increase slightly as a result of moderate to moderately
severe underpowering, in contrast to incandescents losing efficiency
bigtime when significantly underpowered.
I see LED flashlights, especially when regulation circuitry is lacking,
to be good at "energy efficiency mode" when the batteries are around or
somewhat over halfway depleted. I see incandescent flashlight "bulbs"
to do the opposite (when voltage decreases, light output decreases by at
least the 3rd power of voltage, and current draw at lower voltage able
to achieve any visible glow at all is at best close to proportional to
square root of voltage across the lamp/"bulb", .57 maybe .58 power at
most).
- Don Klipstein (d...@misty.com)
Jeff
> In article <8t2dnRK7LZt7LxHa...@comcast.com>, George wrote:
>> Jeff wrote:
>>>
>>> Almost all the Amish I knew had a one AAA Dorcy LED light. Just enough
>>> light to get around and very small, but dependable.
>
> I have one of those. No, I have not quite that, but the 1-AA-cell one.
I've never seen the AA model. How they get it to run on one cell amazes
me. Where'd you get your AA model? Although I love the small size and
design of the AAA, they are in aluminum housings available in different
colors, a AA should have 2 1/2 times the capacity. For the Amish
electrity is expensive, which is why they love LED lights. I used to
bring them 24 packs of batteries... Another thing about LED lamps is
they give very even illumination... You don't have the hot spots and
darker rings that incandescent reflector lights have.
> I find it very dependable, and to always run at least somewhat and to give
> some actual illumination even AA cells that are so depleted as to make a
> 2-AA Mag glow dimmer than an idling cigararette, at least after half a
> minute. (Personal experience, preliminary results without doing a true
> "controlled experiment" with "adequate sample size").
>
>> The best thing I ever bought for that purpose is the something like
>> "photon light" that run on a coin cell and are small enough to put on a
>> key chain. Since they are small you don't feel like Batman carrying them
>> and I bought the better quality units and they are dependable and have
>> lasted at least 3 years so far.
>
> I get similar experience. However, those "coin cells" have no chance of
> running the LED at "full initial brightness" (often initially exceeding
> maximum continuous ratings of the LED) for long. I expect a few
> "operating hours" of "bright light" (including as low as 1/3 of
> "initial"), followed by the LEDs giving some good impression by having
> their efficiency increase slightly as a result of moderate to moderately
> severe underpowering, in contrast to incandescents losing efficiency
> bigtime when significantly underpowered.
Makes sense as the light is shifting toward the IR with less visible as
the filament cools.
>
> I see LED flashlights, especially when regulation circuitry is lacking,
> to be good at "energy efficiency mode" when the batteries are around or
> somewhat over halfway depleted.
I suppose that most of the cheapies lack regulation and you would
only see regulated models on the more expensive headlamps?
A small flashlight usually serves most needs, the only time I've
really needed more light was on by bike at night. The high power LEDs
may have addressed that need, don't know...
Jeff
Dennis
>Almost all the Amish I knew had a one AAA Dorcy LED light. Just enough
>light to get around and very small, but dependable.
This is the LED flashlight that I carry with me most of the time. It
is barely bigger than an AA cell and works great for
emergencies/casual use:
http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews/cmg_infinity_ultra.htm
Dennis (evil)
--
The honest man is the one who realizes that he cannot
consume more, in his lifetime, than he produces.
Anthony Matonak
> This is the LED flashlight that I carry with me most of the time. It
> is barely bigger than an AA cell and works great for
> emergencies/casual use:
>
> http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews/cmg_infinity_ultra.htm
I have one of those tiny dollar store flashlights on my keychain.
It's bright enough to keep me from tripping over things in a
blackout while I look for a brighter light.
It looks like this...
http://www.milkhoneyland.com/keychain-flashlight-p-697.html
I also got a handful of those single AA flashlights off Ebay.
Even though they are pretty cheaply designed they seem to work
OK and they're a lot safer to use than candles.
The only picture I could find easily is here...
http://www.marketworks.com/storefrontprofiles/processfeed.aspx?sfid=65170&i=230931950&mpid=3888&dfid=1
Anthony
Stormin Mormon
LED and takes one AA cell. Also, a couple years ago I got a couple lights
with 12 LED, runs on a single AA cell. Runs about three hours.
What's odd -- the single LED Dorcy on single AAA runs about three hours, and
the 12 LED light from ebay runs about three hours. They are nearly equal
light output. Wish I'd known, I would have bought the Walmart ones. Lighter,
and much easier to carry.
--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
.
"Jeff" <jeff@spam_me_not.com> wrote in message
news:13orav9...@corp.supernews.com...
Stormin Mormon
would be at all useful. She showed me the light -- very impressive for a
small package. Brighter than the 12 LED light I got from Ebay which uses AA
cell. They both run about three hours on a single cell.
--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
.
"Jeff" <jeff@spam_me_not.com> wrote in message
news:13ooj88...@corp.supernews.com...
Stormin Mormon
--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
.
<m...@privacy.net> wrote in message
news:rgrpo35dcfei0vbci...@4ax.com...
Too_Many_Tools
Highly recommended.
I carry one ALL the time.
TMT
Seerialmom
>
> > Dorcy models with high power LEDs are ones I find to do well. However,
> > they are "unregulated", meaning light output droops as the batteries
> > weaken. However, they tend to not be worse than incandescents in that
> > area, since incandescents have a major decrease in energy efficiency when
> > they are dimmed and LEDs do not. Leave such a Dorcy LED flashlight on for
> > a day, and it will glow somewhat usefully - maybe even for 4 days.
>
> Almost all the Amish I knew had a one AAA Dorcy LED light. Just enough
> light to get around and very small, but dependable.
>
> Jeff
>
through a battery different than electricity through wires (not
scientifically, just on a belief system). Don't they still use
candles or kerosene lamps?
Chloe
news:d7460c2d-a108-496e...@28g2000hsw.googlegroups.com...
As I understand it, it's up to the local bishop to determine exactly to what
extent use of "technology" is permissible within a given Amish community.
Anthony Matonak
>> light to get around and very small, but dependable.
>>
> through a battery different than electricity through wires (not
> scientifically, just on a belief system). Don't they still use
> candles or kerosene lamps?
>
> As I understand it, it's up to the local bishop to determine exactly to what
> extent use of "technology" is permissible within a given Amish community.
Although I'm no expert, it's my understanding that the Amish don't
reject technology completely. They simply believe that not all
technology is good. They choose to avoid using technology which they
feel cause more problems than it solves.
Other religions might choose to avoid smoking, gambling, alcohol or
sex with prostitutes for similar reasons. Sure, we might not be able
to get through the day without these things but are they really any
good for us?
Anthony
Rod Speed
> Chloe wrote:
>> "Seerialmom" <seeri...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
>>> Almost all the Amish I knew had a one AAA Dorcy LED light. Just
>>> enough light to get around and very small, but dependable.
>>>
>> Isn't that kind of cheating to use the technology? How is
>> electricity through a battery different than electricity through
>> wires (not scientifically, just on a belief system). Don't they
>> still use candles or kerosene lamps?
>>
>> As I understand it, it's up to the local bishop to determine exactly
>> to what extent use of "technology" is permissible within a given
>> Amish community.
> Although I'm no expert,
Thats always been obvious.
> it's my understanding that the Amish don't reject technology completely.
Yes, but they do have remarkably silly ideas about what technology they do accept.
> They simply believe that not all technology is good.
Its MUCH more complicated than that.
> They choose to avoid using technology which they feel cause more problems than it solves.
And that in spades.
Why is it acceptible to have a phone in a tiny little thing on the
corner of the property, but not inside the house or business ?
> Other religions might choose to avoid smoking, gambling, alcohol or sex with prostitutes for similar reasons.
Nope, mostly because they claim that pathetic collection of fairy storys of theirs
proscribes stuff like that, even if it was written a few thousand years or more ago.
> Sure, we might not be able to get through the day without these things but are they really any good for us?
Thats not what those fruit loop restrictions are about.
Anthony Matonak
> Anthony Matonak <antho...@nothing.like.socal.rr.com> wrote:
...
>> it's my understanding that the Amish don't reject technology completely.
>
> Yes, but they do have remarkably silly ideas about what technology they do accept.
You could say that about anyone, I would suppose. Lots of folks seem
to have silly ideas about all sorts of things and a lot of people
seem to accept some very bad things in their lives without a thought.
It's a wonder to me that most parents let their children have access
to technologies like unfiltered internet, video games and highly
processed, sugar laden junk food.
>> They simply believe that not all technology is good.
>
> Its MUCH more complicated than that.
Everything is as complicated as you make it. :)
>> They choose to avoid using technology which they feel cause more problems than it solves.
>
> And that in spades.
>
> Why is it acceptible to have a phone in a tiny little thing on the
> corner of the property, but not inside the house or business ?
It's been explained to me that they do things that way because the
phone is a useful instrument but when it's placed inside the home
it interferes with normal social behavior. They prefer to talk to
people face to face and this way they don't have any problems with
telemarketers during dinner or teenagers spending all their time
on the phone.
Anthony
Rod Speed
>>> it's my understanding that the Amish don't reject technology completely.
>> Yes, but they do have remarkably silly ideas about what technology they do accept.
> You could say that about anyone, I would suppose.
Nope. Its quite obvious that raping children isnt a great idea.
> Lots of folks seem to have silly ideas about all sorts of things and a lot of people seem to accept some very bad
> things in their lives without a thought.
Sure, but thats an entirely different matter to some cult attempting to
force nutty ideas like not using cars on those who are part of the cult.
> It's a wonder to me that most parents let their children have access to technologies like unfiltered internet, video
> games and highly processed, sugar laden junk food.
More fool you on that last. When eaten in moderation they wont do you any harm.
>>> They simply believe that not all technology is good.
>> Its MUCH more complicated than that.
> Everything is as complicated as you make it. :)
>>> They choose to avoid using technology which they feel cause more problems than it solves.
>> And that in spades.
>> Why is it acceptible to have a phone in a tiny little thing on the
>> corner of the property, but not inside the house or business ?
> It's been explained to me that they do things that way because the phone is a useful instrument but when it's placed
> inside the home it interferes with normal social behavior.
And having it in a tiny little hut on the corner of the property doesnt ?
And allowing visitors to show up in person doesnt ?
> They prefer to talk to people face to face
Pity that interfers with normal social behaviour too.
So to snail mail letters. They dont ban those.
> and this way they don't have any problems with telemarketers during dinner or teenagers spending all their time on the
> phone.
Its perfectly possible to eliminate both of those
problems with a phone inside the house.
The only approach of theirs that makes any sense at all is the
way they allow their kids to do what they like when they are
at a particular age and decide if they want to be Amish or not.
The Real Bev
> Anthony Matonak <antho...@nothing.like.socal.rr.com> wrote
>
>> It's been explained to me that they do things that way because the
>> phone is a useful instrument but when it's placed inside the home
>> it interferes with normal social behavior.
>
> And having it in a tiny little hut on the corner of the property
> doesnt ?
>
> And allowing visitors to show up in person doesnt ?
>
>> They prefer to talk to people face to face
>
> Pity that interfers with normal social behaviour too.
>
> So to snail mail letters. They dont ban those.
>
>> and this way they don't have any problems with telemarketers during
>> dinner or teenagers spending all their time on the phone.
A side benefit, not the main point.
> Its perfectly possible to eliminate both of those problems with a
> phone inside the house.
The point is to not have it interfere with their lives. If you need a
phone enough to go out to the phone shack a half-mile walk away, then
you NEED it and it's a useful and proper thing.
On the whole, I think it's a good idea. I look at all the time my
grandspawn spend on the phone, including text messaging, and am
not pleased. If they had to walk down to the corner and use it for only
a few minutes at a time I think they'd be better off. There's too much
for a kid to learn to waste more than a small amount of time chattering.
Social interaction is good, but I don't think that text-messaging is
quite the same.
OTOH, I'd probably be better off spending less time on the net. OTOOH,
I don't have to prepare myself for the rest of my life, I'm already
DOING it.
> The only approach of theirs that makes any sense at all is the way
> they allow their kids to do what they like when they are at a
> particular age and decide if they want to be Amish or not.
Religion is weird. Fortunately there's a wide spectrum of weirdness
from which to choose.
--
Cheers, Bev
--------------------------------------------------------------
"Never keep up with the Joneses. Drag them down to your level.
It's cheaper." -- Quentin Crisp 1908 - 1999
Rod Speed
>>> It's been explained to me that they do things that way because the phone is a useful instrument but when it's placed
>>> inside the home it interferes with normal social behavior.
>> And having it in a tiny little hut on the corner of the property doesnt ?
>> And allowing visitors to show up in person doesnt ?
>>> They prefer to talk to people face to face
>> Pity that interfers with normal social behaviour too.
>> So to snail mail letters. They dont ban those.
>>> and this way they don't have any problems with telemarketers during dinner or teenagers spending all their time on
>>> the phone.
> A side benefit, not the main point.
>> Its perfectly possible to eliminate both of those problems with a phone inside the house.
> The point is to not have it interfere with their lives.
Nope. That cant be the reason for using horse drawn
vehicles which do that much more than cars do.
> If you need a phone enough to go out to the phone shack a half-mile walk away,
They aint that far away, they are on the property boundary.
> then you NEED it and it's a useful and proper thing.
Nope, completely stupid.
If you dont like the interruption that a phone can produce,
the obvious approach is to turn it off when you arent using it.
> On the whole, I think it's a good idea.
More fool you. And you clearly dont stick with horse drawn motorbikes either.
> I look at all the time my grandspawn spend on the phone, including text messaging, and am not pleased.
There's MUCH more effective ways of dealing with that particular
problem then having in the phone in a hut on the corner of the property.
AND you clearly dont do your internet use like that either.
> If they had to walk down to the corner and use it for
> only a few minutes at a time I think they'd be better off.
More fool you.
> There's too much for a kid to learn to waste more than a small amount of time chattering. Social interaction is good,
> but I don't think that text-messaging is quite the same.
The same mindlessly silly claim was made by fools when the phone was
invented, and when written forms of communication were invented too.
> OTOH, I'd probably be better off spending less time on the net.
You can make the same stupid claim about all technology, including movies too.
> OTOOH, I don't have to prepare myself for the rest of my life, I'm already DOING it.
And the net is a very handy way to prepare yourself for
the rest of your life with kids which those fools miss out on.
Leaves reading that pathetic collection of fairy storys
written a few thousand years ago for that for dead.
>> The only approach of theirs that makes any sense at all is the way they allow their kids to do what they like when
>> they are at a particular age and decide if they want to be Amish or not.
> Religion is weird. Fortunately there's a wide spectrum of weirdness from which to choose.
And it makes much more sense to make an obscene gesture in the general direction of all those weirdos.