Focused Lens on the Dorcy AAA?

I noticed that all the new Dorcy AAA's in my local Wal-Mart now have focused lenses. Is this bad or good news for the classic little light, and does anybody care to do a comparison? Of course throw is increased and spill is decreased but this lens was frosted around the edge, perhaps to allow for more spill (though it may be outside the edge of the reflector, thus not receiving much light)

Definitely bad news.... the review on Flashlightreviews.com show the light puts out even less usable light with the new lens compared to the old model.

The Wal-Marts I've checked still have some of the old stock on the pegs... you might dig through them looking for a few remaining old ones.

Thanks for the pointer to the flashlightreviews.com, that's a great update. How can the output be reduced so significantly?

P.S. I already picked up the last two "old style" ones at Wal-Mart.

The side by side beamshots of the 2 Dorcys in unknownVT's review show the difference much better than raw nimbers at flashlight reviews. The hotspot is brighter in the lensed one but the lack of sidespill and the ugh blue ring.
http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=107794
I've moved on to the TM-310H and the Civictor. To me they are worth the extra money. The Civictor is shorter than the Dorcy 1AAA and the bezel is only about 1 mm wider.
http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=99836
http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=120525

I've got one of the focused Dorcy AAA's and found that some satin tape over the lense lessens the "spotlight" effect. Doesn't seem to appreciably diminish output.

I love the little Dorcy AAA's, but I despise the idea of a focusing lens, because it destroys the useability of the light.

If you take an old Dorcy and pop a Nichia CS in it...wow! It is really bright, with a huge flood beam.

Total cost is around $7-$8. Not bad at all.

I have a Nuwai 0.5w AAA. and it is merely ok. I dislike the very purple beam (prefer the Nichia blue-ish color), and find the threads on the twisty to be gritty. I placed a CS in it, and it is a bit better...but, not as bright as the Dorcy--I guess the Dorcy circuit drives the LED harder.

I believe I read the the newer Dorcy's circuit is not as good as the old.

What is the Civictor? Looks pretty nice.

I've been messing with a couple of these - here's a summary of older posts on the different versions.

Version 1 had longitudinal grooves in the rubber grip, a reflector and flat window. These are probably long gone by now, unless you find some very old stock.

Version 3 (bear with me) came out next. These have the diamond pattern grips and flat window. The driver board has "v.3" imprinted, hence the name.

Version 2 is the latest, with diamond grips and the lensed optic. The driver board is imprinted with "v.2", and is substantially different from the v.1 and v.3, and output is diminished.

Best,
Jon

pedalinbob said:

I have a Nuwai 0.5w AAA. and it is merely ok. I dislike the very purple beam (prefer the Nichia blue-ish color), and find the threads on the twisty to be gritty.

Click to expand...

Agreed on the ugly purplr tint. Carrying it instead of the Dorcy because the the lumpy head of the Dorcy digs into my thigh.

pedalinbob said:

What is the Civictor? Looks pretty nice.

Click to expand...

The Civictor is a non-premium light Fenix made to compete with the cheap AA clones coming out (Triton P1, Ultrafire 602, NuwaiX-1 etc.). Since it is non-premium, Fenix do not put their name on it. No AR lens, no HA III, no expensive milling of flat sided bodies, no clicky, no selected R- bin (Luxeon lottery-YMMV).
Lack of clicky makes it about 1/4 inch shorter than the L1P, shorter than the Dorcy AAA. Bezel is just slightly wider than the Dorcy's bezel. Weight not bad especially with an e2 L91 lithium battery. Beam pattern is same as the L1P and the Luxeon just blows the AAA lights away. Mine is dimmer than and a much warmer white than my L1P.