Who got the best deal on Arc AAA?

The search doesn't work with words less than 4 characters...

Anyway, who got the best deal on Arc AAA?

Arcflashlight.com

You can't get the Arc-AAA Premium anywhere else.

You can't get the Arc-AAA Premium anywhere else.

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I got my Arc-P from lighthound.


CFU

Casual Flashlight User said:

I got my Arc-P from lighthound.


CFU

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But not for less money than Arcflashlight.com...

It probably works out cheaper for Americans to buy direct from Arc. Not the same for us non-American folks though.


CFU

Arc AAA Premium Version

Your Price $47.99



Holy $#!%! It's $40 at the main site, but you have got to be kidding, that many tokens for that little thing?! It's nice, but not that nice. I think I will stick to the Fifth Element keychain lights I have been using. Or else look for a used one on Ebay. Or consider a Fenix AAA.

What has ARC done lately?

I've had three ARC AAA's; the ARC AAA Nichea LED used is dim and badly mottled in color compared to other available LEDs, and the (good-quality) machining could easily be duplicated by Fenix or other Chinese firms at a much lower price than ARC is asking.

At this point, the ARC AAA-P is a barely OK light that is wildly overpriced, and ought to sell for around $20, based on available competition.

The one thing that ARC has that is still attractive to me is their design for a minimum-size AAA body. However, I see no reason to buy any ARC light until they update their lights and become competitive price-performers again, if they ever do - ARC is presently years behind the competitors that their lights spawned a scant few years ago.

The Fenix E0 is a valid competitor to the Arc-AAA P in my book. It's just a little bit dimmer and slightly less white but has a much longer runtime (double) to 50%. Also, it's less than half the price of the Arc-AAA P to get to your door.

An ARC AAA is on every keychain in my household. I believe they are worth the money. Made in the US and reliable...I like that.

straightblast said:

An ARC AAA is on every keychain in my household. I believe they are worth the money. Made in the US and reliable...I like that.

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Yup, my Arcs have never let me down, worth every penny I paid for them - Best AAA light there is (IMO).


CFU

carrot said:

The Fenix E0 is a valid competitor to the Arc-AAA P in my book. It's just a little bit dimmer and slightly less white but has a much longer runtime (double) to 50%. Also, it's less than half the price of the Arc-AAA P to get to your door.

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A Fenix EO with the new Cree XR-E would be a dream come true!

although I now carry a FENIX L0P SE, my ARC-AAA P is like no other light I own. the machining and feel is indicative of high quality. the size is smaller than the L0P. I also was lucky enough to pick up a GREEN and a BLUE ARC from a very cool fellow CPFer!:rock: I can't wait for that new hot MILLER MOD ARC AAA to arrive!!

Not to sound hostile, but while it's definitely an improvement over an Maglight AAA, but that's the best thing I can say about it. There are much better keychain lights available for just over half the price.

FsTop said:

Not to sound hostile, but while it's definitely an improvement over an Maglight AAA, but that's the best thing I can say about it. There are much better keychain lights available for just over half the price.

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I totally agree with this guy. It's not the best light out there. But I've bought 2 of them. There's just something about the light I like. It puts out really nice "useable" light (not to be confused with a nice "bright" light) and it just feels really good/looks good. You can easily get a brighter light for half the cost though.

I got one of my used and in excellent condition for only 28 dollars in the bst forums here....

I have an E0 and Arc PPP Premium. The Arc is indeed better quality and therefore more expensive. However, it will be scratched all over once you carried in your pocket. I end up selling my Arc and kept the E0.

LA OZ said:

I have an E0 and Arc PPP Premium. The Arc is indeed better quality and therefore more expensive. However, it will be scratched all over once you carried in your pocket. I end up selling my Arc and kept the E0.

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Do you guys load your pockets up with stones or something?

I carried an Arc-LE on my keychain for years...it still looks like new...no dings, scratches or any other marks.


CFU

straightblast said:

An ARC AAA is on every keychain in my household. I believe they are worth the money. Made in the US and reliable...I like that.

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Ditto! :thumbsup:

I got over 50 pcs of arc AAA from Peter at Arcflashlight.com so far. Their service is excellent.

The Arc-AAA was incredibly innovative back in, IIRC, 2001, when it was introduced. (I believe that's the date I read somewhere....)

Now, it's rather outdated, and even worse, badly overpriced.

Manufacturing quality is extremely high. But today's market for LED lights is global (read: China) and few people other than CPF members are going to pay close to $50 for a 1 5mm LED keychain light. (That's the 'Premium' model. The 'Standard' model is somewhat less costly, of course.)

They have priced themselves out of the market, selling basically the same product as it was introduced. Yes, it's a little brighter, and it has really, really good Type III HA finish. The workmanship is outstanding.

Competitors are producing very, very serviceable lights at half the cost (or less).

Half.

If the Arc-AAA had been improved over the years, it would be a whole different story. But it hasn't. This isn't meant to bash ARC in any way; these are just the sad facts...

By now, I expected to see Arc AAA's (and ARC-AA's) with Luxeon emitters, with multilevel output. Actually, I expected to see this quite a long time ago.

There is an old saying 'Publish or perish' which applies to many careers.

In the LED world, I believe it's 'Innovate, or perish'.

Arc, which produced SO MANY innovations in it's early years, has produced nothing new, or improved. The list of 'firsts' produced by Arc I read once was truly astonishing. Since the collapse of the original Arc company, there has been no innovation at all. (Or I'm unaware of it.)

And, unfortunately, unless it does, I think it's going to perish.

I will keep my small collection of Arc lights (unless the wolves get too close to the door...): My much cherished Arc LSHP, with the correct diameter twisty on it. My Arc-AA, which has never been used. The jewels of my collection: a red body 2003 CPF edition Arc-AAA. And the vastly more rare navy blue body 2002 CPF edition. (I believe only 110 of these were ever sold. And a few other Arc-AAA's of no particular distinction, including one from the early production, before they had HA finish on them. It flickers.

I would like to see Arc back in it's glory days, producing lights that are eagerly anticipated by CPF members, but that seems very unlikely to happen.

I think Fenix, and before them, Peak have seen to that, sadly enough.

I loved my arc from the moment I got it. Then for about the same price I ordered the fenix p1 which is way brighter! But the p1's threads are no where near as smooth as that on the arc and it also had problems turning on so i modded the spongy part inside the light which helped solve the problem for a while. But just recently the p1 has started acting up again and all along the arc has never given me even the slightest of problems. For me i feel the a higher price is justified for the arc's much higher quality. They could definetely bring down the price but i wouldn't trade in my arc for a fenix. To me even though i can get a much more powerful light at the same price as the arc , there is definetely a trade off in terms of quality. I also haven't had problems in terms of wearing out the arc while being used on my keychain and I foresee it lasting me a very long time.