BessieBenny's Budget LED (DX/KD etc) Flashlights Review Roundup (Part V)

[bessiebenny]

UPDATED SEPTEMBER 14
- Couldn't resist. Romisen RC-T6 has been ordered! (2-6 weeks to arrive)
- P.S. I will be overseas between Sep 22 - OCT 10.
- I have put up a early stage review of RC-A8 here. (posted a while back)
- Here are my quick reviews of 6 recent lights. (posted a while back)
- My house is now 80% organised. It's getting there! (moved in on 1st of Sep)

UPDATED SEPTEMBER 6
- Still unpacking in my new house. Found some of my flashlights. =P
- So I'll start reviewing lights actively from then onwards. (I promise)
- I'm sending back 2 faulty lights back to KD next week. (Aurora/Eastward)
- Hopefully I can get some other lights as a replacement soon to test.

BIG CHANGES ARE HAPPENING TO THIS THREAD
This thread will be the new sticky thread with the following:
- Any news and updates by me related to this thread and products.
- Ratings chart. (Rating system may be changed for future reviews)
- New reviews will now be a new thread on its own and linked here.
- Meaning, every light review will have its own thread like how others do.
- This will allow me to write bigger, longer reviews per each light. =)
- Hence... This thread will act as a "master" thread for all my reviews.
- Nature of the thread doesn't change. So feel free to use it as before!
(Old thread used too much bandwidth so this should keep it nice and slim)

PLEASE SEE PART 4 FOR ALL THE REVIEWS THAT HAS BEEN DONE TILL NOW.

[Budget LED DX/KD Flashlights Review Roundup]

Part 1 and Part 2 and Part 3 and Part 4 and now Part 5! (WOW)

[Coming Soon]

## Lights that are ordered and expected to arrive within the next 1-6 weeks:
- Romisen RC-T6 Gray (Ordered on September 14th)

## Lights that I'm currently interested in and possibly get if I have enough funds
- UltraFire WF-606A Q5 (Brighter version of superb WF-606A!)
- Fenix TK20 (Super solid looking 2AA light with neutral tint Cree LED)

[FLASHLIGHTS] - Not all flashlights reviewed may yet be shown below.


Submitted by MetalZone

[RESULTS AT A GLANCE]

Star Rating
★★★★★★ - Buy it now! Amazing bang for the buck!
★★★★★ - It is excellent. A great buy! Recommended.
★★★★ - Pretty darn good. It's not the best but is not bad.
★★★ - It's okay but there's nothing that great about it imo.
★★ - Not good. Avoid if if you can coz it's not worth it.
★ - Why am I even reviewing this?! Total waste of $$$.

[HIGH PERFORMANCE / HIGH RATED LIGHTS]
- Link to reviews for below lights HERE

[LOW RATED, LOW PERFORMANCE or DISCONTINUED] - Link to reviews for below lights HERE

NOTE: Output values are for the near absolute peak while batteries are fully charged at its highest voltage.
Always check the runtime graph if available as you cannot expect all light to maintain such values for very long.

[help~!] [help~!] [help~!]
I am constantly running short on funds to buy and review more recent lights. :mecry:
Feel free to send me $2 or $4 or $8 donations so that I can keep adding new lights. :devil:
(fyi - Paypal takes away a 37/44 cents respectively per donation which sorta sux.)

All new lights from FEB 2008 will be bought with the addition of your donations. (if any )
I thank you for all for the amazing support so far. It helps greatly to keep this thread alive!

You may instead opt to use my referral id at DX. It doesn't cost you anything which is the best part. =)
To use my id, just add ~r.29749062 directly to the end of any product url address. (without "" of course)
Every ~$1300 spent using my referral id, I get $10. Not a lot but better than nothing I guess. =P

Donations received in 2008 (most recent first):
holeymoley < SEPTEMBER FlemingWak < AUGUST gunnut, PhantomLights, tmlwyb, Dandan, Crescendopower < JULY RafS, ScottM, SteveZ, Rizky ,WarriorZ, kostas, yekimak, JoeBob, smootik, RepoUK < JUNE stinky, Wolf359, alohaluau, johnnyngo, OCDGearhead, Wagen < MAY Wolf359, Centropolis, amdaxiom, t3h, Deks, SPRocketman, Flash25296, Fabio, tip61 < APRIL Wolf359, dudu84, marcus, Pokerstud, wmissen, RecycledElectron, qtaco, fizzy, briiansd, meuge, SportyBen, Raymond < MARCH Schierle, HenryL, Andres(ocau), baconheist, Dougmeister, linterno, anarchocap, saedwards, docian37, violatorjf, MikeSalt, Debbie, Luke, dulridge, martinSE, mmbeller191, ReGet, Mascione, Probedude < FEBRUARY

I would like to thank everyone who supported this thread and my reviews so far!!
Every dollar is put forward to purchasing more lights/equipment for this thread.

 

[bessiebenny]

Re: BessieBenny's Budget LED DX/KD Flashlights Review Roundup (Part V)

After discussing with the moderator here, this will be my new slimmer thread. =)
It should allow easier management of light reviews and a faster loading time.

I will try and convert some of my old reviews to the new format that I'm working on.
But I don't expect all this to be done soon as life is hectic as it is right now. =(

 

[alohaluau]

Re: BessieBenny's Budget LED DX/KD Flashlights Review Roundup (Part V)

G'day BB,
Congrats to your ongoing flashlights review thread, wow, part 5!

Cheers,
Luau
P.S. Move safely and don't lose your lights!

 

[alfreddajero]

Re: BessieBenny's Budget LED DX/KD Flashlights Review Roundup (Part V)

yes, make sure all your lights are packed up safely.....

 

[xmarkx88]

Re: BessieBenny's Budget LED DX/KD Flashlights Review Roundup (Part V)

Is it just me or is kaidomain really really stupid for not getting the lights to bessiebenny faster. I mean, I have always ordered from dealextreme and have always wondered if i should give kaidomain a shot. I think that i will stick to dealextreme because it seems like you have been waiting on those lights forever. Bad business decision on the part of jerry and the crew to not get you those lights asap, imho. just my 2cents:thinking:

 

[lucid]

Re: BessieBenny's Budget LED DX/KD Flashlights Review Roundup (Part V)

Just wanted to thank BessieBenny for this great thread - it's an extremely valuable resource. This has saved me a lot of time, money and hassle. It was easy to pick the clear winner for me, Romisen RC-F4 Q5 from ShiningBeam. Great size, no modes to mess with, and no stupid crenelations to get caught on my pockets (do I really need to mash someone's face to a pulp?). Very impressive light for the money, and shipping was FAST. Thanks everyone!

 

[cpf]

Re: BessieBenny's Budget LED DX/KD Flashlights Review Roundup (Part V)

I'm quite new to this forum. I have a SS UF C3 P4 1xmode. I really like this flashlight and will be using it for a long long time. Do you think future Cree LEDs will work with 1.2V batteries ( I use Eneloops ). Many Q series flashlights seem to use Li-ion batteries only. If I'm unlikely to get 1.2V friendly spares ( emitters & drivers ) in the future, I would like to stock one/some now.
I was actually considering getting sku 12093 - the Q3 multimode C3 - that way I would get a spare emitter, driver, o-rings & switch for $22.
Thanks.

 

[richardcpf]

Re: BessieBenny's Budget LED DX/KD Flashlights Review Roundup (Part V)

Part V! Very nice, hope they dont delete the pics this time for future comparisons. :laughing:

 

[uspc_e2]

Cree R2 runtime from dealextreme

Anyone have tried the runtime on these suckers? I must say it is quite impressive for the price. The flood is great comparing to my e2dl (tried that in the garage). I am assuming e2dl throws further but i have yet to try that. I wasn't sure if the runtime is as good as e2dl.

 

[LukeA]

Re: Cree R2 runtime from dealextreme

Cree R2 is an emitter that is in lots of lights and dropins. Which one are you talking about?

 

[kramer5150]

Re: Cree R2 runtime from dealextreme

Mine runs for about 50 minutes using ultrafire unprotected cells before it starts to turn yellow. I try not to run it that long though. I dont need a grenade going off in my pocket

It should run almost 90 minutes off primaries given their higher capacity. Although I have never tried.

I for one would be surprised if an E2DL out-throws an 11836. Mine can toss a beam of light out to at least a ~150 yard radius.

 

[uspc_e2]

Re: Cree R2 runtime from dealextreme

Maybe I'll try it out tonight and see which one throws further. R2 seems to have more flood and thats why i think e2dl would throw better. we'll see.

 

[kramer5150]

Re: Cree R2 runtime from dealextreme

Maybe I'll try it out tonight and see which one throws further. R2 seems to have more flood and thats why i think e2dl would throw better. we'll see.

cool, thats the fun part. Its surprising how obvious strengths and weaknesses become when you are out in the field. IMHO white walls only tell part of the story.

 

[Disaster]

Re: Cree R2 runtime from dealextreme

Can't seem to find what these "drop in" to.

 

[Unforgiven]

Re: BessieBenny's Budget LED DX/KD Flashlights Review Roundup (Part V)

Some posts in violation of CPF rules have been removed.

Counterfeit is a crime. Do not promote such items on CPF.

We reserve the right to reveal your identity (or whatever information we possess) in the event of a complaint or legal action arising from any message posted by you.

 

[Wolf359]

Re: BessieBenny's Budget LED DX/KD Flashlights Review Roundup (Part V)

didn't promote a thing asked a question if it was worth getting before all the hoopla, haven't seen any proof that the light is counterfeit just some statement ment to be from a surefire tech rep from a german forum.

 

[alfreddajero]

Re: BessieBenny's Budget LED DX/KD Flashlights Review Roundup (Part V)

Hey what happened to the links to the lights.....and whats going on here.....counterfeit, what is.

 

[LukeA]

Re: BessieBenny's Budget LED DX/KD Flashlights Review Roundup (Part V)

Hey what happened to the links to the lights.....and whats going on here.....counterfeit, what is.

Check PM.

 

[NoixPecan]

Re: BessieBenny's Budget LED DX/KD Flashlights Review Roundup (Part V)

Wow. This multi-part thread is amazing ! Very helpful indeed.

I was thinking that the XLight Cree Q3-WC that recently showed up on DX would be worth reviewing. It is a 3 x AAA, but a regulated one. Should it perform as advertised (170 lumens for 4 hours) it would be pretty good for $14. This is not impossible, since the Cree Q3 is a good emitter (only 14% less efficient than Q5).

 

[LEDninja]

Re: BessieBenny's Budget LED DX/KD Flashlights Review Roundup (Part V)

- Circuit current output measured at LED: 800mA (manufacturer rated)
- 4~5 hours estimated total runtime (manufacturer rated)

Since AAA NiMH batteries are 800-1000mAh you will get 1 hour runtime.

The 4-5 hours runtime is probably from using alkalines (1/2 the output dropping) running until there is no light.

I would stay with the Romisen RC-W4.