Costco 1watt 2AA

[UnknownVT]

These Costco 1watt 2x AA flashlights come 2 in a pack and were further reduced on April/11 to $14.97 per pack of 2. .

I am not a member of Costco -
but CPF member chevrofreak bought a bunch and made them available HERE

Even though most would describe it as about the same size as a standard MiniMag 2AA - it actually looks and feels much bigger to me.

The aluminum alloy cast body is actually very thick for the battery tube - so the light is very "substantial" there.

Details -

The "reflector" is strange it has an intruding capped clear plastic cylinder - so the head view is the emitter through that capped clear plactic cylinder - almost like a "bulb housing" built into the reflector.

Also another effect when viewed from the back the reflector is see through - kind of like one-way glass/mirror. From the front it is definitely silver.

Heads -

The beam is very concentrated - so on first glance the light seems very bright on 2 AA plain alkalines (Duracell alkalines were supplied) - the closest beam this reminded me of is the Dorcy 1w 3x AAA -

as can be seen the Costco 1w is even more concentrated than the Dorcy 1w -
or put it another way it has less coverage side-spill.

Compared to my current favorite 1watt Luxeon 1x CR123 - the S1801 (reviewed) - this is actually my #2 also just received (I got it off GoldenGadgets eBay auction listing at the BuyItNow price of $12 BUT +$8 shipping + $1.50 mandatory insurance = delivered total of $21.50 - still much cheaper than before)

to me the S1801 is much nicer beam despite the very off-centered emitter (see heads photo above) a noticable comma tail and more visible artifacts in the hotspot.
But I just like the tint and coverage of the S1801 a lot more.

Nuwai Q3

Costco holds its own well - but the Q3 simply delivers more light...... with better tint and less artifacts -
but so it should at nearly 3x the price......

Xenon Powered Streamlight Scorpion 2x CR123

different kind of light - the Scorpion simply gives so much more useful coverage - but hey for a $13 (to me) light running on 2AA alkalines the Costco does real well - and I can fool most people to thinking it is as bright /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif (at least in the hotspot)

Just for completeness
comparison of my S1801 #1 and #2 (my notation to ID the first and this #2 I just received)

I'm a bit surprised by the tint difference in the beamshot - as in real life there is very little difference with I feel #2 being just a shade better when compared side-by-side.
However as mentioned my new #2 has a very badly off centered emitter - BUT the hotspot exhibits only a slight comma tail and some internal artifacts - no where near as bad as I was expecting when I first saw the light.....
That reflector must be pretty forgiving regarding centering of the emitter.

This S1801 #2 merely confirms my partiality of the S1801 (reviewed)
and at $21.50 it's a bargain of sorts.

 

[UnknownVT]

Just a few more observations on this Costco 1w 2AA.

I have a set of not too fresh alkalines in one of my MJLED converted MiniMags and when comparing that to the Costco 1w I noticed that the MJLED was kind of dimmer than I expected.

So I did the obvious thing of exchanging the batteries between the two lights to see if it made any difference.....

Yes, and ......no.

Yes, surprisingly, in the case of the MJLED - it was definitely brighter on the newer batteries that came with the Costco 1w.

No, surprisingly, in the Costco 1w with the less than fresh alkalines - it looks just as bright. Of course I can't compare side-by-side - but I did use another reference light. To the best of my estimate the Costco 1w on fresh batteries looked about the same on those not too fresh alkalines.

So.... I'm pretty impressed with that - perhaps the step up circuitry manages to maintain the levels to (over)drive this 1w?

Anyone else with similar or contrary experiences with the Costco 1w -
please try it out with some less than fresh alkalines. I don't mean near dead - but definitely past their peak......

Thanks,

 

[nerdgineer]

Quickbeam's review shows that the Costco light is actually quite well regulated, in line with your observation.

 

[UnknownVT]

[ QUOTE ]
nerdgineer said: Quickbeam's review shows that the Costco light is actually quite well regulated, in line with your observation.

[/ QUOTE ]

Thank you very much for making the link and confirmation for me.

Here's a set of illustrative comparison beamshots -
I used a Dorcy 1w 3AAA as a reference since it's the closest light I have in beam characteristics to the Costco 1w.

Costco 1w 2AA on Old and New alkaline batteries -
Normal auto exposure -

-2 Stops underexposed Costco 1w on Old and New batteries -

OK... these comparison beamshots almost look alike except for the different orientation of the Costco 1w after battery change....
if anything the Old batteries may have been Brighter!(?) my digicam gave the newer batteries beamshots +1/3 more exposure for both shots ie: the digicam thought the scene was dimmer!

An illustration that the older batteries have less power -
MJLED (#2) compared to same Dorcy 1w reference on the same pair of Old and New batteries -
Normal auto exposure -

-2 Stops underexposed

These show that the very efficient but directly driven MJLED (generation 2) definitely is dimmer on the older alkaline batteries....