I agree completely - while LEDs have been getting better all the time, they are still not the most "efficient" source in lumens per watt. Now someday that may change with the news I was reading, and we will no longer be a society that uses a hot wire to produce light.
When I measured my batonlight at 1/4 A (well - after adding a few more LEDs) - I realized that these things really do draw some power to get the brightness people expect out of a light. Most surefire incandescent lamps only draw 1A - with tons more light! It's clear that in the lumens per watt category, the xenon/halogen lamps have LEDs beat hands down. LEDs still beat most of the vacuum miniature lamps, with better color too!
Today - my biggest "plus" for LEDs is that they can be beaten, dropped, smacked, etc - and you still KNOW they will work - same can not be said for filament lights, or CCFLs for that matter. This is why I buy LED lights - especially those made out of metal - it doesn't do any good to have a working LED after the plastic case is broken and full of water.
<FONT COLOR="#000000" SIZE="1" FACE="Verdana, Arial">This message has been edited by hmmwv on 01-27-2001 at 08:59 PM</font>