Eternalight Idea?

[Darell]

Steady on there Tex. Your description of how simple it all is still confuses me

And you're talking to a guy who drives a car that has more buttons than a 20-device universal remote! (I have to push 12 buttons just to get in the car and start it... but then I don't have to use a key).

NINE dimming modes? Here I thought *I* was the master of dim....yet all I want is ONE dim mode. Really I guess my biggest complaint is that I'm not fond of having to cycle through a bunch of modes I never use get what I want. That's why I'm not very fond of the PhotonIII either. Though once the Photon is set up the way you like it, you don't need to cycle anymore. I like how Don put it. I need a flashlight for dummies.

If we could somehow meld the Arc, the Eternalight and the Opalec, we'd have the perfect light in my book. Strong as a tank, electronically dimmable with great buttons, and totally flat regulation. All these things I want in a light can be done, obviously. I just need to find somebody who can put it all together in one light.

Don't spawn yet - keep thrashing for a bit! It seems to attract the babes.

 

[Darell]

Ya know what I'd like to see in an AAA version of the Eternalight? Simplicity. The single reason that I do not own one of these lights (oh, I know I'm gonna take hits for this) is because it does TOO much. Perfect for me is three settings: Bright, dim and off. A single membrane button could accomplish everything. I don't need it to flash or signal SOS or dance around by itself. I just want it to conserve batteries when I don't need full-brightness, and I want it to be full-brightness in all other situations. Of course this "full brightness" also implies that I'd love it to be fully regulated like an Opalec Newbeam.

Innovative companies like yours are like a breath of fresh air. Thanks for continuing to listen to us. Don't be a stranger!

 

[sunspot]

Ditto Darell. I have the Xray. I use OFF/ON.
I do like the SOS feature being there in case but all the strobe modes hack me out.

 

[Harrkev]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by darell:

But for max efficiency, it should not have 4,2,1 LED for dimming. Much better to dim them all. Four under-driven LEDs at the brightness of one spec-driven (Or over-driven) LED will be much more efficient. By orders of magnitude, probably.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Not true for this light, I'm afraid. It uses PWM (pulse-width modulation). This means that it drives them as hard as ever -- it just turns them on and off very rapidly. A true reduced-current mode would be nice to have. Not essential -- just nice.

I put a coat of glow-in-the-dark paint on the front, so I can find it beside my bed. If I have to get up, I can dim it down so as not to wake my wife.

My ARC-AAA is my favorite light (every day carry), and my Attitude is the brightest, but my EternaLight is the most often used because of the dimming feature, (and my 1-year-old son loves playing with the buttons and watching the lights).

 

[Darell]

Ah well. The good news is that I have plenty of practice being wrong....

 

[Saaby]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by darell:
And you're talking to a guy who drives a car that has more buttons than a 20-device universal remote!<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Unless one of those is the remote to my Sony VCR/Reciever...
1 shuttle ring, 1 switch and 39 buttons on the main level, but many of those buttons are on a sizely panel (Lots of Sony A/V gear does this) that can be flipped up exposing another 31 buttons for a grand total of 70 buttons. My mother finds it all rather confusing, poor thing, but in reality it's simple, 2 buttons from Off and you're watching TV. 3 buttons from Off and you're watching a DVD

ANYWAY, maybe we could "trade in" some of the Eternalight features so to speak. I have hung around their boars just a bit and many people have suggested a light sensor in the X-Ray model to turn on the beacon automatically at night (if so desired) but Techass says that would add cost (It would add a bit) and that there's not room on their chip. Maybe if they took of Dazzle and Strobe and...they could give us a Light sensor and a decent battery check.

Maybe not...

Another option could be a internal switch or something that would let you run it in 'simple' or 'full blown' mode. Simple would simply (No pun intended) turn off 80% of the features, that way you'd still have them for your 1% of showing off...

 

[Darell]

I thought it would be prudent (or, I don't know... maybe just annoying) to point out here that I am in NO WAY wanting to trash Eternalights. My goal here is to give feedback to the mfg. I hope the feedback is useful, as it comes from a guy who spends a bit of coin on lights now and again... and I have yet to purchase one of these lights, for the reasons I've stated.

I don't want my comments to come across as too harsh. I just want them to be heard...

Thanks,
Mr. Friendly.

 

[McGizmo]

Mr. Science is now Mr. Friendly; that's a lot of hats to wear for Mr., Mr.

Point well taken though.....

 

[Brock]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by darell:
and I have yet to purchase one of these lights, for the reasons I've stated.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

WHAT? Darell send me your snail mail *again* and I will get one on the way to you. You have to at least use one before bashing it like that (just kidding).

 

[Darell]

Do you still have the instruction manual?

 

[Brock]

LOL

How many do you need? I just push buttons and see what happens

 

[Spork]

whats the runtime for the elite xray with lithium batteries? I couldnt help myself. I had to buy one. eppes corner has them for 50 bucks plus shipping.

 

[McGizmo]

Darell,
All joking aside, read the manual first or wear a cup. This is serious.........

 

[hotfoot]

Guys, guys .. . .. I'm about to burst into hollering laughter again. It's like that everytime I see Darell and McGizmo taking those hilarious swipes at each other *LOL*

Don't your ribs ache yet? I lost all feeling in my midsection about that photon issue some time back...

 

[MrEternaLight]

Alright, alright fella's. You've made your point! But, let me clue in you that simplification is something we've thought of for a few years now. We were jokingly going to call it the Ergo-SX for you old Intel MPU fans. Unfortunately, we have to also consider the business and marketing perspectives of what we do and the board here agreed that was not in our best interest at the time to make an SX version. However, someone on this thread here posted a very good idea that might become reality. Which is that we put a configuration option in so that you could disable the complexities if you wanted. I like that idea! What do you all think?

 

[sunspot]

darell, you don't need a manual. Just use the clearly marked buttons except for how to enable/disable the blink/steady light on the X-ray.

Mr.Eternalight, I lost my manual. How do I enable/disable my blink/steady mode on my X-ray?

Mr.Eternalight. If you make a SX or the same in a function, in AA or AAA, I will buy it.

 

[Bob Snow]

I would suggest a reassignment of keys in the "simplified" mode. The center key would turn the light on or off. The keys to either side would make it brighter or dimmer. This would be wfully easy to remember and use. Square symbol in the center and an arrow on either side. This is all I would use until I needed to send an SOS. Then I would pull out the instructions and switch modes!

 

[Darell]

If the lights can be made cheaper by dropping the complex features, then I am NOT for simply disabling them for dummies. I want to pay for the features I use. I do NOT want to pay for yet another feature, just to disable the other ones. Your lights, with on/off/dim would be REALLY tough to beat. So what I'm saying here, I guess, is that for my money, I'd like your lights to do much, much less

From a casual read of this thread, it would seem that the majority of users only use the basic on/off/dim. Does the market at large really demand all that other stuff? With your expanding product selection, it would seem like a wise move to make a bare-bones useful light for the likes of me who want a light for lighting tasks, and make a 100-feature gee-wiz light for the rave crowd.

There just seems to be something inherently wrong with a flashlight that requires a manual to remember how to use all the features.

Really, this is the same concept as how I organize my life: If I know I have a useful tool, and I can find it when I need it, that tool is a keeper. BUT, if I know I have a useful tool, and I *can't* find it when I need it, there is no reason to keep the tool around. The tool will be equally useful to me whether I keep it or toss it.

I also don't keep unused tools in the same drawer as my useful tools. The infrequently used, or UNused tools just get in the way.

Just let me know when I should stop beating this point to death.

 

[McGizmo]

Mr. Eternalight,

If the features could be turned off easily and not come back surprisingly with a battery change, and provided the buttons made sense in the "Dummy" Mode, I for one would be interested. You have a better feel for your market than we do and I doubt CPF is a representitive sampling of typical flashlight interest or demand (understatement).

Darell's comment about price is valid but I suspect that we are talking about a programable chip in either case so there may not be a large price diferential. Especially if you are looking at amoritizing tooling and design costs against 2 SKU's as opposed to one.

Peter Gransee gave us an interesting look into the various features and compromises in different methods of regulating the power supply. There is much rave going on about the New Beam as it is said to be completely regulated. Without giving out any trade secrets, if you care to make any comments about the Eternalight in specific or the regulation of power supplies in general, you will find a rapt audience.

Features and their complexity aside, do you have any pearls of wisdom that you can impart to us regarding efficiencies of obtaining optimum light from a set of batteries?

Thank you for taking the time to visit with us.

 

[sotyakr]

sunspot - Not Mr. Eternalight here, but here's how to enable and disable the EternaLight's night light (or, whatever it's called). With the light on (in any mode), press and hold the 'adjust' button, then the 'power' button. This will shut the light off and enable the night light function.

To switch the night light from flash to steady (or vice versa), press the 'adjust' button.

To deactivate the night light,(with the main light off) press and hold the 'adjust' button, then 'power'.