LED christmas tree - pre-lit

[Darell]

OK. I'm old. I'm grumpy. I want my life to be easy in December.

But Hey! I like LEDs and Christmas cheer. Especially the cheer of hot, mulled wine.... mmm. but I digress...

My old, fake Christmas tree has served a long and useful life. And now it is time for something new. Something small-ish, and pre-lit with quality LEDs. So... why the heck can't I turn up anything like this today? I mean really? I found a great 4.5' pre-lit tree. Good size. Good looking. Reasonable price.... incandescent lights. What?

What do you suppose I'm missing? Where is my perfect tree hiding?
4-5' would be ideal. "White" LEDs preferred. Colored if I have to. Quality beats cost. help?

 

[nightshade]

Darell, how ya been? I purchased a 4.5 ft tall, pre-lit, warm-white led, Christmas tree, from Walmart ,for my boat. Made by Vickerman Corp. and it looks very real, especially after the spiked egg nog.
Walmart # 554382340
Hope that helps, and Merry Christmas to you and yours!

 

[Darell]

Why Mr. Nightshade! good to hear from you.

Great pointer... I'll go have a look. Oddly enough, I don't generally do much - if any - business at WalMart. Yet, it turns out that my aged tree (I should cut through the metal stand and count the rings) that I hope to replace ALSO came from Walmart. Hmmm.

Shopping list: LED tree and eggnog spike.

Cheers!
.....
Now that I've looked at it... (and it looks great! Real Italian LEDs... whatever those are)... Does this have any means of accommodating efficient storage? Or do you toss a sheet over it and find a place to store it "whole?"

 

[nightshade]

Darell, yeah, I'm not a big Wallie fan either. Vickerman is a major maker and sold at many different stores. Check Vickermans website for model # to make searching easier. And yes , the tree can be disassembled and returned to its original box to save space, if needed. I am really pleased with its appearance, before and after the libations and spiced egg nog.

 

[ShineOnYouCrazyDiamond]

Personally I like a real tree, but I've seen some really nice fake ones lately.

I was at Lowes a week or so back and saw one that was LED pre-lit, had a rotating base, colored or white (you can change or have it alternate). It was pretty expensive at $300, but maybe all the good ones cost that much. I think I was impressed because the quality of the LEDs was really nice - no AC rectifier flicker and clean color and a nice neutral white.

 

[Darell]

Oh, I LOVE me a real tree as well. I also love napping, huge piles of cash and endless cold beer.

Sometimes we have to make compromises. And since I won't give up the piles of cash and beer, I'm stuck with a fake tree and having to occasionally work. No, I have no idea why that means I have a fake tree... Oh... I was on about the compromising, and then gave a poor example. Never mind.

Great that they're making these with higher quality drivers and emitters. The RGB idea is one of the wonderful advantages of LED, right? Just about any sort of color/white combination you could ever want. Everybody made happy in one package.

Any idea what size this tree was? A challenge for me is that size I'm after, and the Vickerman seems to fit the bill REALLY well. And white makes me happy.

 

[Kestrel]

[...] Just about any sort of color/white combination you could ever want. Everybody made happy in one package.

This is CPF we're talking about - with lots of choices, that makes everybody unhappy.
I long for the good old days when everything here came in black - a lot fewer complaints back then.

 

[ShineOnYouCrazyDiamond]

Any idea what size this tree was? A challenge for me is that size I'm after, and the Vickerman seems to fit the bill REALLY well. And white makes me happy.

Sorry - I wish I could help. I had a look on Lowes website and I can't find something that matches the description. I see what you mean though about limited options in the 5' range.

 

[nightshade]

Oh, I LOVE me a real tree as well. I also love napping, huge piles of cash and endless cold beer.

Now that's what I call keeping one's priorities straight :santa:

 

[markr6]

I looked into LED trees as well. Just like the outdoor lights, they make me nauseous. The super fast PWM flickering; I don't know if it's technically that or not. But either way I can't stand it. If you look around quickly, chew something crunchy (potato chips) or blink quickly, it really becomes obvious. Is it just me? It's also funny to record them on an iPhone in slow motion - you watch the slow strobe effect.

 

[ShineOnYouCrazyDiamond]

It has to do with cheap setups that only use half-wave rectifiers rather than full-wave rectifiers with decent filtering capacitors. It took me a while to find LED christmas tree light strings that didn't have a really bad flicker to them.

 

[Darell]

I looked into LED trees as well. Just like the outdoor lights, they make me nauseous. The super fast PWM flickering

It's the same with many LED tail lights on the road as well. My wife doesn't notice it at all. It drives ME nuts. They aren't all like that. As mr. Shiny Diamond says, it's all about the cheap rectifiers. When we base our shopping choices on cost alone, this is the crap we ask for, and the crap we get. :sigh:

 

[Darell]

Now that's what I call keeping one's priorities straight :santa:

I may have ordered them wrong, but I think it gets the idea across.

 

[Darell]

Hey look! I can help. I found the "best one in the known universe."
http://www.hammacher.com/Product/Default.aspx?sku=86592

The lifetime satisfaction warranty is impressive. Commensurate with the price, I guess. This guy has a LOT more tips, and 50 fewer lights.

And so I don't keep losing it... and so others can vote for what I ultimately purchase, here's the Vickerman unit, model A110346LED, Wal Mart #554382340
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Vickerman...Christmas-Tree-LED-Warm-White-Lights/46300248

 

[Darell]

I long for the good old days when everything here came in black - a lot fewer complaints back then.

Ahh... like a black, cold cloud on an otherwise, bright, sunny day.

 

[nightshade]

Hey look! I can help. I found the "best one in the known universe."
http://www.hammacher.com/Product/Default.aspx?sku=86592

The lifetime satisfaction warranty is impressive. Commensurate with the price, I guess. This guy has a LOT more tips, and 50 fewer lights.

And so I don't keep losing it... and so others can vote for what I ultimately purchase, here's the Vickerman unit, model A110346LED, Wal Mart #554382340
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Vickerman...Christmas-Tree-LED-Warm-White-Lights/46300248

I vote for the Hammacher Schlemmer, because of :

#1. That's a great looking tree and fantastic warranty.

#2. The sheer entertainment of friends trying to pronounce the manufacturers name after several cups of spiked eggnog.

 

[Beamhead]

Hmmmmmmmm................. the Darell I knew would have designed, engineered and meticulously assembled a pre-lit LED tree that all would envy.


Happy Holidays to you and yours.

BTW my Luxeon dome light is still going strong.

 

[ShineOnYouCrazyDiamond]

I have seen that some trees use a fiber optic system rather than being decked out with multiple LEDs. Does anyone have any information as to which is better?

 

[Darell]

Hmmmmmmmm................. the Darell I knew would have designed, engineered and meticulously assembled a pre-lit LED tree that all would envy.

Hey! Look who's here.
Man! I hate to disappoint like this... but Darell 2.0 is old and lazy.

Happy Holidays to you and yours.

And to you as well! Are you still in the area?

BTW my Luxeon dome light is still going strong.

Awesome. Countless units have been deployed, and I've only had one warranty claim. Just last week, in fact. Module still working, but somehow the little mount tabs were BOTH busted off. No idea how that can happen, but there you go. Five minutes later it was good as new, and back off to the customer for another ten years of service.

 

[Darell]

I have seen that some trees use a fiber optic system rather than being decked out with multiple LEDs. Does anyone have any information as to which is better?

Yeah... the ones I've seen don't make me very happy. The little pin-points of light are... well... pinpoints of light. Normally, I've seen them with one 50W halogen at the base of the tree, and a spinning color disk so they all wave through the various colors on the wheel. I'm sure they can do it all with RGB LEDs as the source now, though I haven't seen one. Dunno. Just not my thing.