Rothrandir
Flashaholic
i've been surprised with the amount of new luxeon lights showing up on ebay and other places lately. most of them appear to be cheap lights (sometimes knockoffs) made in china.
while i'm happy at the increased availabity of these, i'm also concerned that some of those manufacturers aren't taking design concerns as seriously as they should.
all of us know we can trust companies like arc, surefire, elektrolumens, streamlight and others to take their time and produce a good quality light that is well engineered and should last a long, long time. when i hear that streamlight is producing a new led light, i think "yay!", i'm not too worried, because i know that they will do what it takes to ensure that the electronics are decent, and that the led is heatsunk appropriately, not too much overdriven, etc.
what concerns me, is that some of the cheaper lights we've been seeing lately might not be engineered in a fasion to suit the consumer, but rather in a fashion to make the light for as cheap as possible and sell it.
most of these lights i've seen appear to be very attractive. a lot of them even look like they're knockoffs, sometimes even knockoffs of mods created around here!
whenever i see one of these lights i get one or more of several reactions. "wow, that's purdy", "that's a clone /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif", "those claims are bogus! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif", "wow, that seems like a cheap price", etc.
personally, when i see an ad with an obviously exaggerated claim, i get very angry. even when i see more realistic claims i tend to be leery. when they say "5w led with 120lumens", i realize that they aren't measuring the ouput, they are just stating the typical lumen output of the led itself. this tends to get my angry also.
i have no desire to do business with any company being less than honest about their products, and i would hope that they get what's coming to them.
i wonder how many of these companies even know what they are talking about, or if they just throw something together and try to be honest about what they think the output might be. or even if they throw something together and blatantly lie about the specs. i have little tolerance for the former, and as to the latter, i would hope they get trampled by a heard of llamas.
another concern of mine is the engineering behind the light. many of the lights i've seen on ebay appear to be designed with one intent in mind: to look good enough to sell. i highly doubt that the elctronics are that good (even if there are any), or even if thermal issues are being adressed appropriately (in case you havn't noticed by now, thermal managment is a passion of mine). i've even heard of 1w leds running dd off of 2-123s!!!
certainly i wouldnt' expect them to be very waterproof, or have very good switches...
i guess i'm not really sure what i'm trying to say here, i suppose i just wanted to ramble out a few thoughts and concerns that i've had for a long time. whenever i see bogus claims or a light that looks like it hasn't been designed well i just get this icky feeling, like watching a guy on the corner of the street selling watches to pedestrians. i guess i just wanted to know if i'm alone in my thoughts. maybe i just felt like i needed to warn people about my concerns (i'm sure most here know more than enough to need me to warn them about my concerns anyway...)
maybe i'm overreacting here, maybe these lights are ok, and i'm just looking for problems where everything is peachy /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon3.gif
has anyone taken apart or examined some of the lowercost lights being sold on ebay and from places like goldengadgets? i'd be interested in hearing how well they are producing and packaging these things...
what's worse is i can't even buy one for modding purposes!
what fun is it to mod a light that's already a luxeon? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon15.gif
sorry for the ramble, merry christmas /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif
while i'm happy at the increased availabity of these, i'm also concerned that some of those manufacturers aren't taking design concerns as seriously as they should.
all of us know we can trust companies like arc, surefire, elektrolumens, streamlight and others to take their time and produce a good quality light that is well engineered and should last a long, long time. when i hear that streamlight is producing a new led light, i think "yay!", i'm not too worried, because i know that they will do what it takes to ensure that the electronics are decent, and that the led is heatsunk appropriately, not too much overdriven, etc.
what concerns me, is that some of the cheaper lights we've been seeing lately might not be engineered in a fasion to suit the consumer, but rather in a fashion to make the light for as cheap as possible and sell it.
most of these lights i've seen appear to be very attractive. a lot of them even look like they're knockoffs, sometimes even knockoffs of mods created around here!
whenever i see one of these lights i get one or more of several reactions. "wow, that's purdy", "that's a clone /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif", "those claims are bogus! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif", "wow, that seems like a cheap price", etc.
personally, when i see an ad with an obviously exaggerated claim, i get very angry. even when i see more realistic claims i tend to be leery. when they say "5w led with 120lumens", i realize that they aren't measuring the ouput, they are just stating the typical lumen output of the led itself. this tends to get my angry also.
i have no desire to do business with any company being less than honest about their products, and i would hope that they get what's coming to them.
i wonder how many of these companies even know what they are talking about, or if they just throw something together and try to be honest about what they think the output might be. or even if they throw something together and blatantly lie about the specs. i have little tolerance for the former, and as to the latter, i would hope they get trampled by a heard of llamas.
another concern of mine is the engineering behind the light. many of the lights i've seen on ebay appear to be designed with one intent in mind: to look good enough to sell. i highly doubt that the elctronics are that good (even if there are any), or even if thermal issues are being adressed appropriately (in case you havn't noticed by now, thermal managment is a passion of mine). i've even heard of 1w leds running dd off of 2-123s!!!
certainly i wouldnt' expect them to be very waterproof, or have very good switches...
i guess i'm not really sure what i'm trying to say here, i suppose i just wanted to ramble out a few thoughts and concerns that i've had for a long time. whenever i see bogus claims or a light that looks like it hasn't been designed well i just get this icky feeling, like watching a guy on the corner of the street selling watches to pedestrians. i guess i just wanted to know if i'm alone in my thoughts. maybe i just felt like i needed to warn people about my concerns (i'm sure most here know more than enough to need me to warn them about my concerns anyway...)
maybe i'm overreacting here, maybe these lights are ok, and i'm just looking for problems where everything is peachy /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon3.gif
has anyone taken apart or examined some of the lowercost lights being sold on ebay and from places like goldengadgets? i'd be interested in hearing how well they are producing and packaging these things...
what's worse is i can't even buy one for modding purposes!
what fun is it to mod a light that's already a luxeon? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon15.gif
sorry for the ramble, merry christmas /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif