new and improved sam's club Element

saw a newer version or revision of the element today at sam's. its says on the package 1.25 watt....advanced digital circuitry provides more consistent output...etc. the body looks the same. looks like element/dorcy? made it better by putting some circuitry stuff in it. i bought it and its nice. almost as bright as streamlight propoly 4AA.

Hrmm... They are all actually about 1.2 watts... Haven't checked to see if they are different than the several that I've had but in terms of total output, they are consistantly brighter than the Streamlight but with less throw.

Doug/Quickbeam at flashlightreviews.com found that the Element only gave about a half hour runtime to 50% brightness.

Do they come in two packs? How much are they?

they come in a package of two and they were 2 dolla cheaper than the older kind/pair of elements. $24 and some change.

i was gonna post a pic but i don't know how. it also says on the package "2-3 Times longer battery life up to 8 hours".

i originally wanted to hold of on buying the element because it didn't have adavance digital circuitry. but when i saw this i said to myself its got advanced digital circuitry so i had to buy it. plus its so darn cheap.

Cool. I'm going to have to pick some of those up to give as gifts.

I love Yoshinoya Beef Bowls, by the way!

beefbowl,

Done any runtime tests on 'em?

brad cook

Well it will be interesting to see how the "new and improved" version do as far as runtime. I was very pleased with the Element when I got it, then I read about the 30 min nosedive of a runtime. If the new version is actually bettter, then I will have to get some. Just what I needed, more flashlights. Man is the wife gonna flip her lid!

Hmm...going toSam's today anyways....will check it out.

I really like my old style Elements, but the battery life was never much of a concern since I keep several sets of charged NiMh AAA's in reserve.

Now, it the battery life was improved along with higher light output, I might consider picking up another pair.

Yeah, there will always be a tradeoff between brightness and runtime and while direct drive is fun for brightness, it is SO inefficient. Witness the simple 1 ohm resistor... Seems to give about 5 to 8 times the runtime (depending on actual cells used and Vf of the emitters used) and only a slight difference in perceived brightness.

Hopefully these new Elements keep the goodness of the originals while offering extended runtime.

cratz2, is that all that the new Elements have in them is a resistor? Have you taken them apart to compare components of new vs old? Are they noticeable brighter than the old version?

edit: did you say that they are brighter than your SL 4AA Lux?

No no no... I don't have any of the new Elements, just the old ones. The old Elements were direct drive. The switch is on a circuit board but from the great brightness and the low runtime, there can't be any regulation going on and there is no resistor at all. I just meant that other than looks, the Dorcy Metal Gear is very similar to the Element but provides over 4 hours of runtime to 50% brightness vs the 30 minutes of runtime to 50% brightness of the Element and the only difference is a simple resistor.

Another slightly misleading thing about comparing the Metal Gear to the Element is the Element that Doug tested started off almost twice as bright as the Metal Gear he tested.

An Element with an R-binned star is definately brighter than the Streamlight ProPoly and give a lot larger hotspot though the Streamlight will out throw the Element. I no longer have the ProPoly so I can't provide beamshots... just imagine the ProPoly with about a 4 times larger hotspot and half the throw. That's what the Element provides.

Hmmmm....I've been holding off on the Sam's Elements as well...same reason...no regulation..but now.........I'm really looking forward to an analysis of the "new and improved" Element....please post a review and confirm the regulation...

cratz, sorry for all the confusion. I thought that you had the new ones, my mistake. I do have two of the old Elements and love the output. I really thought that they would have done better on Doug's reveiw. 30 mins is a real bummer. I also have the SL 4AA Lux that has a smaller but brighter hotspot than the Element. The Element has brighter spill though to my eyes. I just called a Sam's near me an was told that they will be getting 180 of them in next week, but none it stock as of now. Hopefully someone can give a quick review of the new ones sometime before then. Regulation would be nice, but I won't count on it since they are selling them for $2 cheaper, but who knows.

Wow.. this is what I've been dreaming of for quite some time! Too bad I don't have Sam's Club Mebership .

I was pretty happy with the element the first time around and ended up giving them away as gifts this christmas. I eagerly await an answer as to the regulation of the newest Elements. If I get to Sams I'll grab some and post my thoughts that night.

I, too, think the Element is the greatest. Amazingly bright and white for its cost. Never noticed a nosedive in usage time in my intermittent use. A great around the house, in the car, light. Wondering how this new version will compare to the original. A must have light, IMO. Cheers.

i haven't done any runtime tests yet.

i don't know what kind of regulation it has. i don't even know the different kinds of regulation to tell you the truth. it could be under led near the switch or on the top of the battery holder or in the tail cap. i'm scared to mess with it too much since i'm an amateur.

i'm sure some of you pros have bought this and could answer cause i'd like to know too.

yoshinoya is the bomb and so darn cheap.

I saw some of these at my local Sams for $26 and change. I think they were the "new" ones. But I didn't pick any up. I like the longer run-time of the Dorcy Metal Gear better.

But if these new ones have longer run-time, more in line with the Dorcy Metal Gear they might be worth it.

I have been a big fan of these lights and I was the one (one of the ones perhaps) that requested they be reviewed by Doug over at FR. I was very surprised at the review, especially the runtime graph. I own many a LED light and the output of these were one of the best I've seen. I don't neccesarily agree with the throw numbers reviewed as mine unmodded are like a mini spotlight. Anyway I plan on stopping at my local Sam's this weekend to see if they are carrying the new and improved version. I will compare the two versions and post my unprofessional findings here.