LEDBeam vs Taskforce 3W review/comparison/beamshots...

I'm having so much fun with these lights I just had to write up a review on them...

Both of these lights attracted me because they use easy to find "C" size cells.
Both lights have a single power level (On, no medium settings)

Taskforce- ~$40
The Taskforce uses 2 C size cells and has a "star" style 3W luxeon diode. It has a regulator of sorts in it. So brightness remains similar throughout the batteries life. It is built fairly well (feels tough), and the threads operate and line-up fairly well. I didn't find any "burs" or evidense of poor machining here. The grip is a nice "knurled rubber" style sleeve that feels good. The head of the lights has some "heat-sink" looking ribs with indentations that serve as "anti-roll." It comes with a decent little belt carrier and strap that attatches to the rear. The bulb seems to be mostly focused by a lense, and therefor, has very little "spill" in the beam... just a nice "blotch" of light. The button is on the rear.

Pros: regulated, uses easy to find C size cells, built decent, easy to find at lowes, rubber handle, good "click" action in button.

Cons: batteries rattle inside when shaken, lack of spillbeam(could be a pro for some people) and no adjustable beam, button looks to be a weak point for water resistance.




LEDbeam- ~$25
The LEDbeam uses 3 C size cells and a non-star style emitter. There is no regulation in this circuit, so it gets dimmer through the duration of battery life, however, NIMH would probably reduce this problem. The build quality is lower than the taskforce- It body is made from thinner metal, and the threads aren't perfect. (they squeak/grind and are hard to operate freely and lineup) The threading also had some minor burs. Some silicone would help this flashlight out a lot. However, I do like the "looks" of the flashlight. It is an example of elegance through simplicity. No fancy design here. The handle is in the form of a lightly knurled section of the body(not rough). The head is simple and shares the same simplistic look of the rest of the light. No anti-roll here. The bulb is focused by the reflector entirely, no lense is used here. The result is a typical spillbeam and tightly focused spot in the center. The beam is adjustable by spinning the head- however... the beam generates "rings" when it is adjusted out of "spot" mode, but overall, it is brighter than the Taskforce. The button is just behind the head on the body. I also wanted to mention, that out of the 3 lights I got, 2 of them seemed to be a "white-blue" color, and 1 of them had more of a greenish tint to it. The light output of the 3 is very similar however.

Pros: Uses easy to find C cells, brighter than taskforce, adjustable beam, good amount of spillbeam, excellent value (very cheap for a 3W LED).

Cons: Batteries rattle when shaken, poorly machined threads, when adjusted out of "spot" the o-ring that seals between the head and body would probably not be in "contact" well enough to repel water, lack of regulation circuit. "Ringy" beam when adjusted to flood.





Conclusion: I like both of them, and both lights seem to be good "values." However, I like the LEDBeam better purely on performance/price ratio. You get more light and an adjustable beam for less money. I can live with the cons easily when I consider the price.

now... for some fun- BEAMSHOTS (ooooo, ahhhhh)... (and some more oooo, ahhhh)...


side by side, taskforce left, ledbeam right.... against a door on the floor.
http://photobucket.com/albums/b72/mdocod/flashlights/?action=view&current=100_1644.jpg

again- side by side with TF on the left, this time with them both pointed at a wall from about 2.5M away. (The wall is painted blue). The ledbeam is focused tight.
http://photobucket.com/albums/b72/mdocod/flashlights/?action=view&current=100_1646.jpg


same as before, but ledbeam is fucused a little wider.
http://photobucket.com/albums/b72/mdocod/flashlights/?action=view&current=100_1647.jpg




I should point out that most of the "ambiant" light in the beam shots against the wall was produced by the ledbeam.


i'm still trying to learn how to use this camera.... if I were better with It I could take individual shots of the beams, with the camera set "the same"... but for now, i put them side-by-side to ensure that the auto-settings would not effect comparisons of brightness.


This is my first "review" of flashlights... so be gentle, lol.... hope this was usefull for someone.

mdocod,

Excellent review/comparison. I was actually waiting for your review before deciding to purchase one of the LEDBeam lights.

Would it be possible for you to go outside and take some beamshots of the LEDBeam at objects far away? Say 50-100 yrds?

Thanks for the work. :wave:

indiglo- thankyou for the positive feedback on my first review....

the long range beemshot is a good idea....


I'll see what I can do.

well... i tried.... but my camera doesn't pick up much at that range/light.... I tried at about 50 meters. I'll try something closer....

ok... here are some shots.. at aprox 25M...

I should note.. that my camera... does't seem to do any of these lights "justice." The output is much better for all of them than aparant through these photos... These shots are taken against the side of our house.

the Taskforce-
http://photobucket.com/albums/b72/mdocod/flashlights/?action=view&current=100_1656.jpg

LEDBeam-
http://photobucket.com/albums/b72/mdocod/flashlights/?action=view&current=100_1657.jpg

and a stock Thor 15MCP for comparison(and fun)
http://photobucket.com/albums/b72/mdocod/flashlights/?action=view&current=100_1658.jpg


as you can see.. the LEDBeam, has a pretty tight focus. I should point out, again, that these pictures don't do the lights justice- there is much more usefull lighting going on at this range than the picts show. I probably should have zoomed the camera in on the lit area..

I just purchased the LEDbeam, and to say price/performance is high is an understatement.

I debated buying one of the mods selling for $ 75-90, but refrained.

Glad I did. My LEDbeam is brighter than all heck, only very slightly icey blue, does NOT need any beam improvements, and has tremendous spill light.

has anyone else had this problem?
my ledbeam cracked on the inside. after using it for about 1 hr, i unscrewed the battery to try some nimh, lo and behold, a big piece of the switch mechanism came out. it's almost as if someone in QC maybe slammed the batteries in, and cracked the positive contact side. this light was only 1 hr old. i contacted ledbeam and they told me to send the light in for a replacement. we shall see what happens.

I haven't had anything quite like that happen, peekay and mine has seen very limited rough use.

I've been building Mag mods for several months now and while I prefer the slight extra heft of the Mags, overall, I was VERY impressed with the LEDBeam, esp for the price. The only real 'at home' improvements I can think of is it will take a 52.1mm UCL lens and if you cut down a Mag reflector to the proper length (which you would need to do with a Mag Lux III build), the reflectors will swap out and the Mag reflector will allow a tighter focus and therefore a bit more throw.

Personally, I like the wider hotspot for most of my uses and the LEDBeam reflector is currently in my very favorite Lux III Mag.

just wanted to update a little and give my review a bump for people to notice...


I've been playing around with this ledbeam more and more. The more use I get out of it, the more I realize how much of a bargain this light is.

I'm about 2 hours runtime into my first set of batteries in this thing, and it is still very bright.... I was looking over on flashlightreviews.com, he ran it for over 32 hours on a set of batteries... obviously, at that run time, it was significantly dimmer... but for a light of this "power" to be able to run for this long is incredable. Really shows where LED has an edge on incandecent, especially when you use cells commonly used for incandecent lights.

I am going to order some high capacity NIMH and do a run test... i'll update the review with how long this sucker will run on a fully charged set of NIMHs in a few weeks.

mdocod said:

just wanted to update a little and give my review a bump for people to notice...I've been playing around with this ledbeam more and more. The more use I get out of it, the more I realize how much of a bargain this light is. I'm about 2 hours runtime into my first set of batteries in this thing, and it is still very bright....

Click to expand...

I got my 3 LEDBeams a couple of days ago, total cost was $68 and change. I intended to keep one and give two for gifts, but these are so amazing that I hate to give any of them away. Bargain is a real understatement. As for battery life, I didn't have any brand new C cells, so I collected used batteries from modded M*gs that have seen intermittent use for a year. The beams were the brightest and whitest I have seen from a flashlight, including a DB3W in a 3D M*g. Then, I tried another LEDBeam with some really, really used batteries that were stored in a junk drawer in a plastic bag - too dim to even light an incan. The LEDBeam was only just perceptably dimmer with these. I don't think direct drive will be as much of a problem as I feared. Still want to see how NiMHs work.

I'm curious. Does anyone out there have both a LEDBeam and a 3D Mag upgraded with a 3 W lux (like the DB-3W)? I'm curious how the throws compare. I already have a Mag upgraded in this manner and was curious how the LEDBeam might compare.

To quote Spectrum...

Spectrum said:

The beams were the brightest and whitest I have seen from a flashlight, including a DB3W in a 3D M*g.

Click to expand...