MICROBEAM from Brookstone

I'm sure many of you have heard of this upscale chain of stores. I've bought a couple of items there over the years, and have been happy with each one..... until now.

The MICROBEAM can best be described as a slightly chubbier, clear plastic version of the Photon II. Both retail for the same amount of money. The MICROBEAM however uses the squeeze button itself for always-on mode. Just push it forward into the recess in front of the button..... and therein lies the problem. I dropped my light on the ground. I cleaned it off using a very miniscule amount of moisture. The light came on by itself, not at full capacity, and now it won't shut off!

Now that I take a much closer look at it, there's a tiny hole in the recess. Now I don't expect a keychain light to survive a dunking, even though my 1AAA Dorcy did just that. But I do expect it to survive if (for example) I'm running home in the rain, pull out my house-keys, and a drop of rain falls on my keychain light.

The LED has been glowing for over an hour now, in the off position. (I was hoping it would stop after a couple of minutes). This is one light I can no longer recommend.

I had one too. The switch would always come on somehow and everytime I needed it the battery would be dead. The last time I changed the battery it didn't even last a week. I bought a cheapie and so far so good.

I wouldn't call brookstone "upscale" more like overpriced. They tend to take gee whiz gadget stuff of low to moderate quality stick there name on it and double the price.

Anything you can find there you can find a better version for less money if you do some research.

If its the one I am thinking of countycomm.com sells one that looks like it-$20 for a bag of 20.

cave dave said:

I wouldn't call brookstone "upscale" more like overpriced. They tend to take gee whiz gadget stuff of low to moderate quality stick there name on it and double the price.

Anything you can find there you can find a better version for less money if you do some research.

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I agree on Brook$tone. Way overpriced yuppie gadget store. It's interesting to walk through once in awhile, looking for ideas for things to buy elsewhere at a better price.

I think you guys are right.

I just picked up a Garrity 1AAA keychain light with a Nichia LED, (NOT from Brookstone) for half of what I paid for the MICROBEAM; the Garrity is brighter too. It's also bigger, but it's still not like I'm carrying a 2-D cell on my keys.

I think I might put it on my car keys, and just buy another Dorcy 1AAA for my house keys. (Gave my old one to my elderly mom, she likes it).

cave dave said:

I wouldn't call brookstone "upscale" more like overpriced. They tend to take gee whiz gadget stuff of low to moderate quality stick there name on it and double the price.

Anything you can find there you can find a better version for less money if you do some research.

Click to expand...