N30 or wait?

[eagleswhite44]

I have been kicking around the idea of purchasing the N30 for my early Christmas present to myself, the wife would not understand why I want or need the light. Should I purchase this now or wait fot the L35?

 

[FredM]

Frankly until I see something for sale and in stock I do not assume I can get it in the future.

 

[Flashanator]

No doubt in my mind, the L35.

 

[Border]

If you want the light before Christmas, you should probably go for N30.

If you are more patient, willing to spend some more money and want a slightly refined model, you should probably wait for the L35.

...or perhaps you should just buy both.

I currently own a N30 myself, and have no immediate upgrade plans. But only time (and the upcoming L35 reviews) will tell...

 

[Patriot]

The N30 isn't in stock right now and there is always the chance that the L35 could be offered at or before the same time that the N30 is available again. It seems the dilemma may have solved itself for you.

According to MattK's input in this thread, I'm expecting the L35 long before Christmas. I'd like to see it next month as previously indicated.

 

[BlueBeam22]

The N30 appears to have just come back into stock and is now available again. I own the N30 and find it to be an amazing HID searchlight. It spots objects over 1/2 a mile and has a perfect floody searchlight beam around the hotspot. I highly recommend it!

 

[Patriot]

The N30 appears to have just come back into stock and is now available again. I own the N30 and find it to be an amazing HID searchlight. It spots objects over 1/2 a mile and has a perfect floody searchlight beam around the hotspot. I highly recommend it!

....lol! :laughing:


Poor eagleswhite! Dilemma back in place. :laughing:


I can't call it for ya then eagleswhite. From the standpoint of value the N30 is a great light for $150 and the L35 isn't going to offer twice the performance. From the standpoint of improvements the L35 is going to be a substantial step up in run-time, beam quality (judging from the new reflector), water resistance, and it will have about 10% more output. That's worth double the price to me.

 

[BVH]

When the N30 was being proto-typed, the L35 was also in the proto-type stage. Mtbkndad had them both. Testing at that time, showed the N30 was actually a bit brighter than the L35. IIRC, he determined that the individual bulb could possible make a difference, or manufacturing tolerances/factory adjustments to the ballast could make a difference and it might just be luck of the draw. In any case, I'm not really counting on any increase in Lumens in the L35. Even if the L35 produced a 10% increase in Lumens, the human eye will probably not see a difference. The other differences make it worth it to me. I guess we'll see when they hit the streets!

 

[PhantomPhoton]

If you don't need it now (aka just want one) then I'd say wait and see how they compare to each other. We'll see plenty of comparisons when they hit the market around here. :naughty:

 

[mtbkndad]

The upgrades to the L35 are not in terms of light output?
The upgrades will also make the L35 significantly more expensive then the N30.
The N30 is a nice tough little light at a price that can't be beat.
You can get a whole new light for the price of batteries or bulbs from competitors.

If you are primarily going to use this around your house, on camping trips, hikes, etc. you will be served well with the N30.
However, for sheer light output in a compact size to dollar spent the N30 is still tops

Once again there are numerous upgrades to the L35 that make it work the extra money for people that need the improvements. Just make sure you understand light output is not one of them.
BVH has seen these two lights in the early prototype stages more then anybody but me, so he knows what he is talking about.

Take Care,
mtbkndad :wave:

 

[Metatron]

one thing stopping me going for the n30 is that i cant plug it into a 220v socket. am aware of adapters, but that makes the whole thing top heavy so to speak, its a pity the global market wasnt factored into the n30:sigh:

 

[eagleswhite44]

Thanks for the input. I don't think the upgrades would make that much difference to me. I wanted this for around the house, camping and for the couple times a year I get to go hunting. My 3mil vector is too much to carry all the time. I will be purchasing the N30 soon.

 

[mtbkndad]

one thing stopping me going for the n30 is that i cant plug it into a 220v socket. am aware of adapters, but that makes the whole thing top heavy so to speak, its a pity the global market wasnt factored into the n30:sigh:

The N30 requires a power supply that delivers

18V DC
600 mA

I know some other CPF members just purchased an appropriate power supply in the country they live in. They can generally be gotten fairly cheap at electronics supply stores.

The original owner of Amondotech had been burned by International customers on numerous occasions with LARGE orders so he stopped shipping outside of the US. As a result when the N30 was being developed he was specifically NOT considering shipping to different countries. They quickly became popular and so he was willing to ship them in part as a favor to me.

Another part of his change of heart was the success of the Amodotech Illuminator that had come out before and success dealing with a few international CPF customers with that light.
By the time he changed his mind and decided to ship the N30's to different countries the light was already developed.

Take Care,
mtbkndad :wave:

 

[Illum]

The N30 appears to have just come back into stock and is now available again. I own the N30 and find it to be an amazing HID searchlight. It spots objects over 1/2 a mile and has a perfect floody searchlight beam around the hotspot. I highly recommend it!

with the note that the NiMH must be conditioned for a bit to achieve the advertised runtime, but once thats done the runtime at times surpasses the advertised runtime:thumbsup:
The beam, like smooth reflectored spot lights, leave a bit to be desired. It was the CCT and the resulting color rendition that made the most impression on me,:naughty::naughty::naughty:

 

[jxwhadley]

I read that the N30 will get the same reflector that the L35 will have. Based on the the shots of the N30 and the Secret 35 watt HID in https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/199730, I'm thinking that if I go for an N30, maybe I wait till it gets the new reflector. Is that really in the works, and if so, any estimate as to when that might happen?

 

[mtbkndad]

It is not in the manufacturer's best interest to keep the old reflector and the new reflector for two lights that share the same bulbs, molds, etc.
The switch will happen if for no other reason then to keep both lights as cost effective as possible.

However, it will depend on when new N30 orders are placed and delivered.
Only Matt could say when more N30's will be ordered.

Take Care,
mtbkndad :wave:

 

[Metatron]

The N30 requires a power supply that delivers

18V DC
600 mA

I know some other CPF members just purchased an appropriate power supply in the country they live in. They can generally be gotten fairly cheap at electronics supply stores.

The original owner of Amondotech had been burned by International customers on numerous occasions with LARGE orders so he stopped shipping outside of the US. As a result when the N30 was being developed he was specifically NOT considering shipping to different countries. They quickly became popular and so he was willing to ship them in part as a favor to me.

Another part of his change of heart was the success of the Amodotech Illuminator that had come out before and success dealing with a few international CPF customers with that light.
By the time he changed his mind and decided to ship the N30's to different countries the light was already developed.

Take Care,
mtbkndad :wave:

would my Bantam BC 6 do the job then?

 

[Patriot]

That should work Metatron, since it looks as though that charger is fully programable. If you can set it to charge at 18.V and 600mah or something close to it, that should do the trick.

 

[Metatron]

That should work Metatron, since it looks as though that charger is fully programable. If you can set it to charge at 18.V and 600mah or something close to it, that should do the trick.

i can only control the amperage, the voltage is auto detected, so u may be correctonissimo:twothumbs

 

[BVH]

In the N30, the charging circuit is built into the battery pack. If you use a BC-6 (that's a charger, right?). you'd be using a charger to power a charger and I would suspect have some pretty strange results. Although I am not an electronics expert so don't take my word as gospel.

All you need is a constant power supply to the N30 pack. The pack does the rest.