Best light for under 1000.00?

I am considering the X990... it appears that most of the reviews I have seen reflect the McColluch model which has been ungraded as far as water resistant and some things with the ballast.

The X990 seems to be the best bang for the buck for under 400.00, but I would consider going more if it was worth it.
The X990 has a great spill as well as distance, but I would be willing to give up some spill for a tighter beam for throw... especially if it is focusable.
I think all things considered, the X900 has pleaty of worklight spill for its wide setting and therefore should have a tighter spot setting for throw.

I appreciate the volume of light emitted by the X990 and I am wondering if there is another I should consider.
I prefer Lithium, but NiMh is ok too... I want to avoid Lead acid batteries.

I want to be able to carry it in my hands without it being too awkward.

Some of the lights out now perform well, but still seem to have ballast issues and often it takes several attempts to turn on.. I want to avoid that also.

It seems the 50W lights perform a tiny bit better, but shamefully eat up battery power for the little power illumination they give.

Does anyone have any recommendations I should consider?
I would appreciate any and all now that you have an idea of what I'm looking for.

http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?p=1609431

This might fit the bill.

Dear Windstrings,

I have experience with the X990 for over a year now, and so far as the light output is concerned, it has lived up to the comparisons on this Forum in other threads. I strongly suggest that you check out the beamshots and comments by people with much more comparative knowledge before deciding based only on cost. In my suburban area, I have only been stopped once by a police officer, who was polite, but wondered why anyone needed such a bright light. That having been said, I am waiting for a "pre-owned" 75 watt Barn Burner to arrive, also below your threshold of $1000, which hopefully will not cause mayhem with the local police and neighbors.

As for drawbacks, the NiMH batteries leak their charge at a fairly annoying rate, after a year of use. I need to keep recharging nearly every other day to try to approach the 60 to 70 minute run time which they could deliver when new. The LiIon technology is superior in this respect, and it is available with other units as noted in this thread above.

My X990 is not suitable for even moist environments, and I do not know if the new ones are significantly different.

Aside from these issues, the light works perfectly, and functions both for my nighttime walks as well as utility work around the house. It weighs about 6lbs., which is not troublesome for me to carry when I am walking about the neighborhood. Lighter would, of course, be better.

For the higher price of the Australian unit you get a handle, which I would find valuable, and a longer run time, plus the bonus of a 50 watt overdrive if you should need more light. If you search the pre-owned Forum on this website, you may just find a better featured light at the price you want.

In summary, at its price point, the X990 is a very good performer. As always, more $$ allows newer features, more power, runtime, etc, with virtually no upper limit. You alone must decide where the cutoff should be. This stuff is addictive -- it is my duty to forewarn you.

Happy Hunting,

Harvey K.

frogs3 said:

As for drawbacks, the NiMH batteries leak their charge at a fairly annoying rate, after a year of use. I need to keep recharging nearly every other day to try to approach the 60 to 70 minute run time which they could deliver when new. The LiIon technology is superior in this respect, and it is available with other units as noted in this thread above.

My X990 is not suitable for even moist environments, and I do not know if the new ones are significantly different.

Click to expand...

yea.. I know about the addictive part....
The new one is supposed to be "water resistant" with no claims to be able to go underwater. http://www.magnalight.com/p-97-acro-990x-3200-lumen-hid-rechargeable-flashlight-click-to-buy.aspx

The only other light I'm scratching my head about is another 500.00 bucks..
http://www.xevision.com/

This light has longer run times.. even if you opt for the 50W version, waterproof, nicer case, comes with a DC Charger, less recharge time... etc etc... lots of nice options. Lithium Battery... "great shelf life!"
Is slightly lighter, more compact. More sophisticated battery checker, possibly a better ballast, Tighter focus "1 - 15 degrees" compared to the X990 which IMO is a bit too wide, but great if your trying to play baseball at night!!!
.. all in all the Xevision a very well built product.... But so is the x990 "for the money"

But is it over twice the light?.... Humm.. thats a hard one.. prob not.
One of these batteries would last as long as two of the X990's.

blahblahblah said:

http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?p=1609431

This might fit the bill.

Click to expand...

Wow... can you spell "tank!".. that looks like a monster next to the other lights... It doesn't specify whether it is a V1 or V2.

the only thing bad I've read about the razors are that they are inconsistent... but if at thier worst thier still stinkin bright, I guess that doesn't matter much.

From what I've seen, the X990 beats this light?.. http://home.earthlink.net/~kenshiro2/hid2/35comp.html

Seems the Costco HID kicks butt and takes names for the money, but I fear its too cheaply made and a monster to carry anywhere.

Thanks for the suggestion.....

windstrings said:

From what I've seen, the X990 beats this light?.. http://home.earthlink.net/~kenshiro2/hid2/35comp.html

Click to expand...

Well the X990 is a 35W light. The Rayzorbeam is a 35W light that can go up to 50W with one hit of a button. So the X990 will beat the Rayzorbeam at 35W But it won't beat it the Rayzor when it is set to 50W.

-Thats from my understanding -

Also I think since the review the Rayzor people made some modifications to there lights.

As I posted in that "sell" thread of the Razorbeam, the negative problems turning on the light, and the wide zoom beamshots on the Kenshiro's review which regarded V.2 Razorbeam as "more of a prototype," left me with significant negatives about this light.

I have not see what has actually been corrected, or if this one for sale (admittedly at an excellent price of $500) has the purported corrections.

I have not seen any revised beamshots in the zoom mode to see if "the corrected" version is now a tighter and more intense beam.

You would think RazorBeam would want to promote whatever improvements have been made after Kenshiro's shootout spanked it into being a prototype version...but alas, there is no mention of any revisions on their site, or how you know a prospective model is a newer version.

NAW said:

Well the X990 is a 35W light. The Rayzorbeam is a 35W light that can go up to 50W with one hit of a button. So the X990 will beat the Rayzorbeam at 35W But it won't beat it the Rayzor when it is set to 50W.

-Thats from my understanding -

Also I think since the review the Rayzor people made some modifications to there lights.

Click to expand...

I just received the RayzorLite on Sat. The X990 and the Armondotech 3152 easily outperforms the RayzorLite, even with the 50 watt boost on. Maybe there is something wrong with my RayzorLite.

LuxLuthor said:

As I posted in that "sell" thread of the Razorbeam, the negative problems turning on the light, and the wide zoom beamshots on the Kenshiro's review which regarded V.2 Razorbeam as "more of a prototype," left me with significant negatives about this light.

I have not see what has actually been corrected, or if this one for sale (admittedly at an excellent price of $500) has the purported corrections.

I have not seen any revised beamshots in the zoom mode to see if "the corrected" version is now a tighter and more intense beam.

You would think RazorBeam would want to promote whatever improvements have been made after Kenshiro's shootout spanked it into being a prototype version...but alas, there is no mention of any revisions on their site, or how you know a prospective model is a newer version.

Click to expand...

I tend to agree with your hesitation and paranoia... I am always skeptical of someone that wants to sell a brand new product that should still be under warranty for a price lower than they paid for it?..
Unless its stolen or has a funky problem the manufacturer will not honor, it doesn't make much sense...

but nevertheless.. I think the final statement from the 50w comparison link you provided gives IMO a very fair assessment of what I have found also.

larryk said:

I just received the RayzorLite on Sat. The X990 and the Armondotech 3152 easily outperforms the RayzorLite, even with the 50 watt boost on. Maybe there is something wrong with my RayzorLite.

Click to expand...

Dang Larry.. I'm really sorry to hear that... is this the light that was on sale for 500 or is this a new one?...
At any rate, there should be a money back guarantee if you just bought it.

I do remember reading that the consistency of the outputs were erratic enough that the pictures presented in the shootouts could not be trusted because with one test they would be really bright and other times not..

I don't know if you have had similiar results, but I would definately see about a refund if you can swing it.

Unless you like the light enough to keep it anyway... I"m sure its a really nice light nevertheless.

I had a hard time figuring out how much they cost? http://www.rayzorbeam.com/rayzorproducts.html

BTW... which of the two lights do you like the best?.. I'm not crazy about a lead acid battery... but I am curious to hear which light you think has the best throw... the X990 or the Amondotech?

larryk said:

I just received the RayzorLite on Sat. The X990 and the Armondotech 3152 easily outperforms the RayzorLite, even with the 50 watt boost on. Maybe there is something wrong with my RayzorLite.

Click to expand...

If the Rayzorlite isn't focused then it wont outhrow either of the lights because the light is all flooded out. Have you tried focusing the Rayzorlite?

Wave Particle focused his Rayzorlite. Check out post reply #511 for deatails, and post #529 for beamshots.

http://flashlight-forums.com/index.php?topic=3238.0

I bought the RayzorLite used here on CPF. It came from the group buy on FF. I also noticed that in some beamshot photos the RayzorLite didn't fare so well and other beamshot photos the RayzorLite looked just fine. I hoped that mine would have been one of the better ones. All in all it's a nicely designed light, looks good (to me), well balanced, and built like a tank. If this was your first HID light you would be very impressed.
NAW, yes it was focused for the best throw.
As far as the differences between the 3152 and X990, the X990 has a nicer beam with less artifacts, and the 3152 has a tighter hot spot with a little more throw. For the money the are both good picks. Here is a link that will show beamshots of both the X990 and 3152, and some other spotlights at about 150 yards.

http://homepage.mac.com/rouses/beams/PhotoAlbum349.html

larryk said:

NAW, yes it was focused for the best throw.

Click to expand...

Maybe you do have a defective light then...maybe you should contact Rayzorbeam or Rhino90.

Better to be safe dan sorry.

windstrings,

The regular Polarion is also in your price range. I have seen the Rayzorbeam, Rayzorlite, X990, and Polarion. I like the Polarion the most out of those choices. Of course I like the Helios enough more then the Polarion to be saving for one of those.

Take Care,
mtbkndad :wave:

NAW said:

So the X990 will beat the Rayzorbeam at 35W But it won't beat it the Rayzor when it is set to 50W.

Click to expand...

I don't know how its built, but it sounds like they are hitting a 35watt bulb with intermittent 50watts, which in turn would kill its bulb life if done very often?

mtbkndad said:

windstrings,

The regular Polarion is also in your price range. I have seen the Rayzorbeam, Rayzorlite, X990, and Polarion. I like the Polarion the most out of those choices. Of course I like the Helios enough more then the Polarion to be saving for one of those.

Take Care,
mtbkndad :wave:

Click to expand...

I thought the Polarion was more?... http://www.polarion-store.com/pd_helios.cfm

Although it does have some flat out awesome features.. I question it would beat the 50watt Xevision? http://home.earthlink.net/~kenshiro2/

It does look like its close to par however.

You could try a LarryK12 - those are pretty bright.

TigerhawkT3 said:

You could try a LarryK12 - those are pretty bright.

Click to expand...

Looking at lumen value alone "1200", they are less than 1/2 that of a X900... almost 1/3!

It seems it comes right down to when you take away all the fancy bells and whistles... its all about how many lumens and how is quality of the reflector with size being a major factor regardless of quality.

Theoretically, a perfect reflector could be tiny... just enough to catch the backsplash of the bulb to reflect it forward.. but since none of them are.. the bigger they are, the less demand on the reflector per sq centimeter because less electrons are bombarding each sq centimeter of reflector. Good reflectors have little heat left over because all the energy is reflected forward.

I see many cheaper versions "Costco HID" that do an awesome job.. but you will be walking around with a mini dish and far inferior quality than the more expensive... but for the money, they are a bargain.

windstrings said:

Looking at lumen value alone "1200", they are less than 1/2 that of a X900... almost 1/3!
...

Click to expand...

No no, not twelve hundred lumens - twelve thousand.

TigerhawkT3 said:

No no, not twelve hundred lumens - twelve thousand.

Click to expand...

Whoa.. my apologies.... I must have had a brain fart.....
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/printthread.php?t=111545

Thanks for correcting me.....

thats a wonderful example of American "thinking out of the box"... playing around like this is what brings around new thought and projects....

As soon as someone wants to put enough money to developing this little toy with bigger better batteries, cooling ability, and a higher quality case and features we may be well on the way to a "usable" 14K lumen light. Of course it will cost a bit more than 250.00 bucks!

Its also a good example that brighter is not always better... Unless your merely trying to make a rocket that shoots to the moon and then after 5 minutes your battery is dead. But its a major fun toy!... It reminds me of playing with a fully automatic weapon.... Blllllllll... and your out of ammo! and reloading.. but wow was it fun!...

Wow.. it would be cool to have a useable light this bright!

Technology always has to have a balance of power with real life useablity..... Until battery technology improves or we are willing to walk around with more weight, we are limited if we want a light that has enough runtime for practicle use.

I would sure like a 75 watt option with an extended battery. I hate to drop to 60 minutes of runtime. If I could toggle to lower wattages to maintain runtime.. that would be perfect....
But if that is not avaliable.. then its just a dream for now.