MagLED news?

The old thread was getting pretty stale, so I just thought I'd ask again. Does anyone know when Mag plans to start selling their LED products? Announced time was "early 2006", but now it's mid 2006 and no news. This getting to be like waiting for Copeland (Mac guys will get that.)

I know a few guys here have secret squirrel spies at Mag, so someone's gotta know something...

The C and D's were supposed to be in stores in April and the Minimags were supposed to be in stores in June. Haven't heard a thing aside from that except for the gossip in the other thread.

InfidelCastro said:

The C and D's were supposed to be in stores in April and the Minimags were supposed to be in stores in June. Haven't heard a thing aside from that except for the gossip in the other thread.

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Someone over at Mag surely dropped the ball -- these things should have been out for four+ years already, in my view. Who wasn't watching where things were headed? (I think I remember seeing something on t.v. a long time ago about family matters in the Maglica family that cause a big problem within the company... any word on that?)

All I know is, I plan to throw my financial support behind them -- what a classic American family business success story, making quality, durable products that perform -- as long as the MAGLEDs are done right. I will give them a 150% chance/benefit-of-the-doubt. I hope hope hope hope hope I am rewarded for my patience by the release of super-good LED flash-- I mean torches.

-Jeffrey

I'm not too excited about the C and D Mags, though the dropins will certainly be nice, but I think I can speak for most of us when I say I'm eagerly anticipating the 2AA and 3AA Minimags.

Pre-order is start in action-light http://www.action-lights.com/flashlights/maglite/ for MagLED

Chao

Chao said:

Pre-order is start in action-light http://www.action-lights.com/flashlights/maglite/ for MagLED

Chao

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Pre-order has been available from vendors for a long time.

InfidelCastro said:

Pre-order has been available from vendors for a long time.

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I am too slow, and I just check Bright guy web site, it seems that the D series will be available at Jul 15, 2AA will be August 15.

Chao

What details are available regarding the guts of these flashlights?

What kind of LED are they going to have, the latest best Luxeon Star? (What is the latest best Luxeon Star called, anyway?)

What kind of switches are they going to have? Will they be barrel-mounted as usual, and will they be clicky or electronic? Will there be momentary-on capability? I sure hope so.

I assume they are going to have all the fancy-dancy electronic current regulation like all the recent LED lights have?


-Jeffrey

If they are U-binned LuxIII's, I will be impressed. I highly doubt that though.

Sometimes I feel guilty for taking part here, because I do not devote the time/energy to staying current on the latest terminology and nomenclature.

What is "u-binned"? Does that have to do with the quality/grading of the light tint of the LED?

-Jeffrey

I hate to say it fellas, but from a marketing stand point, They're to late! On the other hand, I'd like to see their take on the LED drive.

chiphead

peacefuljeffrey said:

What details are available regarding the guts of these flashlights?

What kind of LED are they going to have, the latest best Luxeon Star? (What is the latest best Luxeon Star called, anyway?)

What kind of switches are they going to have? Will they be barrel-mounted as usual, and will they be clicky or electronic? Will there be momentary-on capability? I sure hope so.

I assume they are going to have all the fancy-dancy electronic current regulation like all the recent LED lights have?


-Jeffrey

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We've been over this before, but just to recap: The C/D cell models are going to be nearly stock lights with drop-ins. The AA's are completely redesigned. Same switching method and look as before, but with a complicated sliding heatsink/focus setup. The LEDs used are likely very underdriven LuxIII's.

I have no interest in the bigger ones, but I'm at least hopeful the AA lights will be good. Probably will get a 3AA just for the novelty of it.

chiphead said:

I hate to say it fellas, but from a marketing stand point, They're to late! On the other hand, I'd like to see their take on the LED drive.

chiphead

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As a marketing guy, myself, I've got to disagree. Marketing is quite often not about who was the pioneer---remember Beta video? It's about who can get a product launched and mainstreamed. Maglite has certainly proved they can do so. LED lighting is still in it's infancy--especially in the general public's eye. I don't see anyone as having a big edge (or a long-term one) yet. The market is very fragmented, but I think the proverbial sleeping giant may have awakened.

I would agree. Not only are they not "to late" but they're probably more on the frontier of a new mainstream technology. There are enough LED products in the mainstream market place to capture some interest, and it would appear that Mag is just trying to get their tootsies wet in the consumer market with LEDs. As in many niche-market and hobbyists sites, I think some posters here tend to get a bit too focused and lose a realistic perspective of the mainstream marketplace.

Tesla said:

As a marketing guy, myself, I've got to disagree. Marketing is quite often not about who was the pioneer---remember Beta video? It's about who can get a product launched and mainstreamed. Maglite has certainly proved they can do so. LED lighting is still in it's infancy--especially in the general public's eye. I don't see anyone as having a big edge (or a long-term one) yet. The market is very fragmented, but I think the proverbial sleeping giant may have awakened.

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I'm sure, the wish of some of yours will not be going to reality, that Mag. uses U-bin LuxIII's in their lights.
If so, the Led is more expensive than the complete light.

Best regards

_____
Tom

chiphead said:

I hate to say it fellas, but from a marketing stand point, They're to late! On the other hand, I'd like to see their take on the LED drive.

chiphead

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Like others, I couldn't disagree more. Mag will sell millions of these due to market saturation alone. They have no serious competition! 9 out of 10 flashlight consumers probably don't know the difference between a 5mm led and a Luxeon. Incandescent lights have been the standard for decades, but few even know the difference between halogen, krypton, and xenon lamps. 99% of Mag consumers don't know anything about flashlights; they just rely on the Mag reputation. All people will see and hear is that the familiar MagLight is now using a very bright LED, and that they are more durable, and perform as good or better than the original. After a brief period of scepticism, Mag will sell more lights than ever before -all LEDs! I expect that Lumileds will (or has already) built or added considerably to its production capability just to meet Mag's purchase orders. That may even be the reason that they are so slow to release the K2.

I really wish that Mag was a publicly traded company. I would definitely buy their stock! I'm not so sure about Lumileds though. They have some pretty serious competition both domestic and abroad.

That said, I have no intention of buying one of these. I have been using a 3-D mag with a Diamond LuxIII drop-in for almost two years. I love it. When Diamond starts shipping thier K2 drop-in, there won't be any reason to buy a MagLED. The MagLED is a big yawn to me.

Bernie

Long John said:

I'm sure, the wish of some of yours will not be going to reality, that Mag. uses U-bin LuxIII's in their lights.
If so, the Led is more expensive than the complete light.

Best regards

_____
Tom

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Not in the quantities that Mag will buy! They're the Wal Mart of Luxeon customers.

One would hope the M@G-LED C/D drop in will at least outperform the Nite Ize drop in

Long John said:

I'm sure, the wish of some of yours will not be going to reality, that Mag. uses U-bin LuxIII's in their lights.
If so, the Led is more expensive than the complete light.

Best regards

_____
Tom

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The K2's are supposed to drop the price of U-binned LuxIII's to under $10.

FirstDsent said:

Not in the quantities that Mag will buy! They're the Wal Mart of Luxeon customers.

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That too. I still doubt they'll be anything other than underdriven R-binned LuxIII's though. At least at first.