SMJLED vs. Nichia CS?

I'm looking to make my SL KeyMate brighter by changing the LED. I've seen Lambda's site with the SMJLED, but I also know of people changing to Nichia CS LEDs in their KeyMates. I know the SMJLED is brighter, but I'm wondering how much brighter?
Is it 2-3x brighter than a Nichia CS in a KeyMate?
How much brighter is a Nichia CS vs. the stock 5mm LED in a KeyMate?

The cost of the SMJLED is $7.50, and I got my KeyMate for $8.38 shipped...the price ratio makes it harder to justify, especially if the Nichia CS is quite bright. If the Nichia CS is 2x brighter than the stock LED and the SMJLED is 3x brighter, I'd be fine with the Nichia CS. But if the SMJLED is 4-5x brighter, I'd have to think some more. I know the SMJLED is advertised as producing 15lumens @ 100mA, but is that what the LED produces or what comes out of the light? And I believe that rating is with the Minimag 2AA, so it's probably not the same when inside a KeyMate.
Thanks.
J.

Well, I've put Nichia CS and Snow29 LEDs in most lights that use single 5mm LEDs though I've never used either in a Keymate.

I can say that generally speaking, the MJLEDs and SMJLEDs are quite a bit brighter and have more throw (obviously depending on reflector focus) than the CS or Snow LEDs but are going to have substantially less runtime than the CSs or Snows.

super mj led's are not available uncut

so they can not compare to snow or nichia cs led's

You can get uncut MJLED at The Shoppe for $3.25
http://theledguy.chainreactionweb.com/product_info.php?products_id=578

The thing I'm not sure about is the max V in the MJLED or SMJLED can take with lower currents. I'd like to try putting one in an Inova X1, but the board puts out 3.7 or 3.8V and the MJLED thrives on only the 3.4V from 2 fresh primary Lithiums that aren't super 'brand new' fresh. Thing is, the Inova only sends about 20ma to the LED while the MJLED can use upwards of 100ma.

This would generally apply to any 1 or 2 cell alkaline light with a voltage boost.

What does "cut"ting of the LED mean? What benefit does that offer?

Cratz: Lambda sells KeyMates with the SMJLED installed. The KeyMate is fairly low current also (don't know exact number, but I'd guesstimate 30mA or less) and the KeyMate runs off 6V (tho 4.5V seems to work also).
From your experience with CS vs. S/MJLED, how much brighter is the SMJLED over a CS in the lights you've dealt with?

a super mj led is a 5mm led

but you can only buy them cut so that they work better with reflectors.

cut means the dome is sanded down flat and pollsiehd so it works like a luxeon, and is not focused, so you use a reflector to re-focus it tight. Normal 5mm leds use their domed tip to focus the light.. But the MJLED was moddified to be a flood and then you can use a large reflector to end up with a tighter beam than un-modded.

In my experience, using either the Nichia CS on 2 fresh lithium primary (non-rechargeable) cells vs the SMJLED on the same 2 lithium cells, the SMJLED is probably 50% to 100% brighter but he Nicha can take some serious abuse. While the SMJLEDs and MJLEDs can flicker when used with 2 brand new out of the pack fresh lithiums, the Nichia CS can take the full 4.2 170ma output from a freshly charged LiON cell.

I'd imagine that in the Keymake, the SMJLED is quite a bit brighter than the CS... not sure if it is enough 'brighter' to justify the 7 times the cost of the Nichia though.

Thanks cratz2! At the current level of the KeyMate, I doubt the SMJLED will be anywhere near 100% brighter than a CS. I'll likely go for the CS as the cost difference it too hard to justify.

so does anyone know where a un cut smjled can be orderd ?

I must be an outcast around here or maybe I have Hansen's Disease and I do not know it yet.

I think I should spend more time at a different website.

like audiokarma.

I don't know where Lambda gets his LEDs, but the SMJLEDs are so new that I don't think any of use know where to get an uncut/unmodified SMJLED type LED. The uncut MJLEDs are available, but as YOU said a few posts up, we don't know of a source for the new SMJLEDs, but uncut.

Try here http://theledguy.chainreactionweb.com/index.php?cPath=48_52_24 , not sure if they are mjled or smjled.