Yes, I agree about taking a magazine article with a grain of salt. I rarely see magazines criticize a product. I wonder what the longevity/quality of some of the lights would be over a long term period of use. Usually everything works when it is new.
So, if you know that and know 4wdAction - then you know that Lightforce have zero influence on the magazine, Roothy and co. because their primary sponsors are Roosystems (Bajadesign) and Superior Engineering (Rigid)
No offence, but I see so much rubbish bagging Lightforce in these forums over the last few years that I question the motivation
Lets have a little reality check seeing you're australian. What do you see on the front of the majority of double B's and 34 wheelers that you see driving down the hume, federal and pacific highways (ie 90% of australias trucking trafffic goes down these highways) - the majority are using LF 240's and LF XGT's, after that its Narva Taurus/Bull lights. South/north through central australia and they're usually LF240's - the majority are not salaried drivers - they're spending their own coin - and when their rigs are setting them back $250k-400k then they aren't wasting money on stuff that doesn't work.
I've used LF 240's and 170's for years - and they've been superb lights. I drive across the Hay Plain quite reguarly - and prefer night driving due to fatigue management working better for me at night than daylight - as you know the Hay has multiple stretches of track where you get 120km gaps between towns and where your only objects of
distraction are roos, cattle or vehicles. belting a roo or beef at 110kph is not going to end well for the animal and most likely not happy for the vehicle (unless you're a double B or a 34 wheeler) - so being able to see them well ahead so that you can slow down or go into defensive driving is a must. I used to get far more early warning with the LF's than I did with the Narva taurus/Bulls (you can keep your IPF's they're overpriced for what they do)
At the moment I'm running a 32" LED bar as a centre mount, 2 x 8" OLEDONE LED bars for spread and 2 x 55w HIDS for depth - in over 40 years of long distance driving this is the best combination I've ever had for long distance and offroad work. I've no doubt read the same 4wd aust mags as you have - and what I found was that real world testing and use counted for far more than some academic opinion done in a mag - sure the mags are helpful and can inform - but seriously, ask people who use them - and if possible test drive them
ultimately it gets down to your driving requirements and personal taste - but do your homework properly. Some of the dumbest advice I've ever received was from my engineers who assumed that they knew everything - its a darn shame that they didn't have a decent conversation with the operators and actually understood what they needed rather than tell them things based on their own inherent bias (techno snobs abound with engineers - and I've had them all unfort)