Energizer 8 nichia LED lantern?

[jzmtl]

Anyone has one? It takes 4 D cell and runs for 175/86 hours on low/high, sounds pretty good.

How do you like it? How's the efficiency compare to say a cree LED based lantern?

I saw it in a local store's catalogue, and it's actually cheaper than online prices I found. You can see it here: http://www.lebaron.ca/pdf_files_sp08.../energizer.pdf

[James S]

I've got one, it's terrific. Not quite as bright as the tube lanters, but definitely usable. The light color is cool, but not blue. The output is really impressive for just that number of LED's.

The quality is otherwise as good or better than the other energizer products. I got it just as a huge long runtime lantern in the case of long term outage. I haven't had to use it for that yet, but I was quite happy with something that can run nearly forever on a case of D cells.

[jzmtl]

How bright would you say the high/low level is? A fauxton, mini mag, 3d mag incan?

[James S]

I would have difficulty guessing compared to a mag or other regular flashlight as it's so diffuse it would be hard to compare. I would say that it's slightly less bright than the regular tube version of the same thing. I would say it's similar to the luxeon or cree based mini lanterns that I've seen, a little less bright, but more useful as the light is better distributed. It definitely beats any of the of the multi-5mm lanterns that I've had. The color temperature isn't blue, but "bright white" maybe 4000k? The "high-low" settings aren't really all that different. I always ran it on high when I used it.

[Sigman]

Who knows where these are available in the States?

[Uncle Bob]

Got mine at Target.

[James S]

I got mine at Home Depot. They still carry them here. Along with another 3 or 4 AA light which is 2LED flashlight, 3 LED lantern or 1 LED nightlight. Like that one too

[PJ]

While traipsing around Target recently I noticed they dropped the price on these to $19.99. I think this is what they are going for at Home Depot.

[Phaserburn]

I have one and the 2xfluoro version as well. Like them both, but the fluoro is definitely more than a little brighter. I'd estimate the led at 35 lumens and the fluoro at 3x that, or more. The led version gives you a bit more durability (although neither are going to handle really hard knocks) and tons more runtime.

[Niteowl]

Oddly enough, the thing I like most about these lanterns is the 9th LED, an amber "nite-lite". That feature has seen the most use, particularly during power failure or traveling, for the kids.

[Phaserburn]

Oddly enough, the thing I like most about these lanterns is the 9th LED, an amber "nite-lite". That feature has seen the most use, particularly during power failure or traveling, for the kids.

Yeah, I'm quite fond of that myself. I found that the led unit really overdrives the leds to the tune of 50+ma each. If you run it on three cells instead of four, the hi/lo comes down to 30/20ma instead, a very nice amount. You don't sacrifice alot of brightness at all, and runtime goes way up, too. Total brightness isn't this lights specialty anyway. Obviously, this doesn't work with the fluoro which needs the voltage.