got some Sylvania Dot-Its really impressed

there were some previous threads about the new LED module from Sylvania, the Dot-It.
http://www.sylvania.com/ConsumerProducts/AutomotiveLighting/Products/Dotitlights/
I received a couple dozen yesterday (donation for Cityteam, the group working in Mississippi THANK YOU SYLVANIA); I was expecting plastic cases and shoddy workmanship, what I got was a solid machined aluminum case and really great workmanship: THESE THINGS ARE BEAUTIFULLY BUILT.
The clickie switch is good quality: has a very positive feel. They use 3 AAA cells and advertise about 100 hours of runtime- that's probably using the same "usable light" standard that some of the LED flashlight makers use. I'd give it more like 25 hours of "good " light. The LEDS are all of unoiforn brightness and pure white: I'd estimate that they are the 8000-10000 mcd 5mm that most flashlight makers use.
The only concern I have is that the battery compartment (accessed thru the back) must be unscrewed to access the batteries. That could be a pain: they are literally VERY TINY Phillips screws and cpould be lost easily. And if you stick it onto a surface, using the supplied sticky backing, you might have trouble changing the batteries. As someone else suggested in a previous post, may be better to attach velcro.
All in all, though, I'm impressed with the quality, fit, finish and performance of this unit. They did a good job with this one. IMO it's a product design that will be suitable for a number of uses: closet light, camping, tent light, dome light for car or truck, IMO it would be a great item to put in a household disaster kit (it's shaped like a hockey puck- 2.625" diameter X .625" thick-- so the user could put it on a table and face it at the ceiling. The 3 LEDs would be bright enough to light a whole room)
BRIGHT, TOO!!!
They'll be sold at Walmart for about ten bucks each, but not every Walmart will have them. There's a list on the Sylvania website.

Hi Steve,

I just learned about these a few days ago, looking in a magaize, waiting to get a haircut. Glad to hear thay are well-made.

I looked for them at my Walmart, but couldn't find them yet.

Can you post any pictures? Maybe take one apart and snap a few shots?

Thanks,
Dan

I have one from Wal-Mart, but it has a plastic body cool little light.

They just started an add campain on tv recently.I used a piece of flat rubber magnet on the back and hung on back of front door(insert metal surface here).

at 100 hours run time intermitant use you may never change the batteries.It should have been turn and pull bayonet type cover they could have saved three screws and the time it took to install them.

I saw these in the local WalMart this week, hanging on one of those impulse buy strips they seem to randomly locate.

I secretly suspect I am getting some dot-it's for Christmas in my stocking...!
I did email Sylvania in a pointless attempt to learn what bin led's they use. No joy--they won't say other than it's 'proprietary' info.

Cheap Indium-Puck knock-offs, IMO.

greenLED said:

Cheap Indium-Puck knock-offs, IMO.

Click to expand...

Nah, don't think so. I got a couple myself. No one has made led lights that are for under cabinets, etc before. These lights are simple, durable and of good quality. I have on inside a closet and another inside a tall floor cabinet. As I will only use them for a minute or so at most at a time, the batteries will last many years.

greenLED said:

Cheap Indium-Puck knock-offs, IMO.

Click to expand...

no offense, Greenled, but if you had one in your hand you wouldn't say that

I own bazillions of super-high-quality LED lights and I stand by my remarks. Have a great holiday!

I've seen the commercial on television at least two times; I did not find them at Wallgreens or Safeway - there's no Wall*Mart I can get to, so I cannot check them.

Amazon.com sells them - $10 each.

I bought a couple - decent output, seem well made - it's basically a small tap-light w/ LEDs installed.

DaveG said:

I have one from Wal-Mart, but it has a plastic body cool little light.

Click to expand...

are there two versions floating around -
plastic body vs aluminum body? :shrug:

lebox97 said:

are there two versions floating around -
plastic body vs aluminum body? :shrug:

Click to expand...

After reading this I gave mine the scratch test with a screwdriver, its looks like it is aluminum! The paint job is so glossy it had me fooled. Steve was right on about this one. Iam more impressed with mine now, not bad for under $10.

I'm looking at one right now, it has a plastic body, with a thin aluminum over-shell, which comes in different colors.

These don't even come close to the indium, in almost all aspects.

Thats like comparing a Surefire to a flashlight you buy at the dollar store.

Unfortunately, they make crappy tap-it lights that you see on TV. Tap-It lights light up an area, these shoot a narrow beam. In several places where I tried the Dot-It, the narrow beam was shot onto something dark, which for the most part absorbed the light. If you mount it sideways, such that it projects onto another white wall, it helps alot.

Though fixing these, like you do with the RiverRock lantern, adding various diffusion films, or scratch finishes, would help alot.

Is there anyreason to NOT use these inside a gunsafe?
Will alkaline batteries vent anything that will cause corrosion?
Would Lithium batteries be a better ,or worse, choice?

I wasn't able to find the Dot-Its at Wal-Mart here earlier in the week.

db said:

Is there anyreason to NOT use these inside a gunsafe?
Will alkaline batteries vent anything that will cause corrosion?
Would Lithium batteries be a better ,or worse, choice?

Click to expand...

If you can find a good mounting place, these should be excellent in a gun safe. Neither battery chemistry should present any problems as long as you keep good fresh dated cells in it. I would go for the lithiums simply because of their longer shelf life and you really have a long term use situation in your safe.

Unknown yet whether these things are happy with the higher voltage of lithiums.

Mark

I had know idea they were made of aluminum. I'll grab one when I see them next.

DUQ,

To quote NewBie "I'm looking at one right now, it has a plastic body, with a thin aluminum over-shell, which comes in different colors".

Unfortunately, not all aluminum.

Dan

I saw them in the auto section of walmart not in the flashlight section.

Well, bad news.

The DOT-iT is cheap inside, just a resistor, and three LEDs in parallel. Putting LEDs directly in parallel is not a very good idea, as the current is not matched, since LEDs never have the same Vf.

Of course, what do you expect for 9.95? One resistor under a penny, three LEDs costing 0.25 ea, a 0.10 switch, and at the most, 0.10 in the circuit board. Electronics and LEDs look to cost them under 1 dollar, and at their volumes, it is probably less.

As such, the unit has basically an unregulated output.

The unit contains a low cost vacuum metalized piece of plastic that also functions as the reflector.

But, I measured the current draw, and it is 5.83mA. Since the LEDs are in parallel, this works out to 1.94mA per LED. In this condition, you don't have to worry too much about Vf matching.

Running the LEDs at 1.94mA means they are running in a very efficient portion of their range, and the runtime should be very nice, as well as give the LEDs a very long life.

FYI, measurements were made with fresh cells, reading 1.565V each, and the unit contains 3.

Pictures: