Cree Technology and the Future

I guess we should be happy with the technological advances being made in the flashlight world; however, there's a problem. The Cree lights with their efficient, brilliant whilte lights and their multiple modes quickly render very good lights of the past almost obsolete.

My collection of wonderful Inova flashlights are now relics, and none of them have any wear on them. Some of my Inovas were for low light applications; others for outdoors. Now my Fenix P2D/P3D lights have made them about as useful as an 8-track player. As for my Surefire G2, thank goodness there's a Cree drop-in, or I would have had to take the batteries out and throw what was left for the dog to chew on.

Now that I have some of Fenix's new models, I know full well that a successor to Cree is not far off. Perhaps we'll have 130 lumens spilling out of a light for eight hours before falling off. Then it'll be 20 hours.

For the moment, people are still buying Inovas, though I suspect they're ignorant of the advantages of the Fenix and other more advanced lights. Inova's new T3 takes THREE 123A batteries to produce 100 lumens for about two and a half hours.

So what's next on the horizon, and when will it be here?

This topic comes up quite frequently, but I think you will always be told that your 'old' torches have not become obsolete, they have been surpassed in specifications by the newer models. All your old torches are as good as they used to be and can be used for the same purposes they worked for before the newer models came along.

Having said that, I love the latest technology, and I am incredibly impressed with the advancements. I don't have as many LED based torches as a lot of people here, but I have still reached the stage of putting the 'old' ones in places they might be needed one day (first aid kits, car boots, car glove compartments etc.) or giving them to family/friends to justify replacing them with newer models.

There is continuing development in the light emitting devices category for larger markets (domestic and automotive) and this is really bringing massive developments to anyone with an interest in more mobile products. There will be a point at which development will slow down again, and I think it will still be a little way off the maximum theoretical efficiency.

I just need to learn when I have enough torches to get by :candle: (the 'diet' starts tomorrow)

Andrew

I have many that are now outdated and will do the same... De-commision some... move to others (I.E. new kitchen drawer light) but will always keep my very best "old" technology torches.


Then again.. I've tried to sell some on B/S/T and alway have remorse and end the sale before it is sold. I start to feel bad LOL

it is a sickness!!!! To date.. I have only sold my NightCom's (red and green) and that was due to me being a chower head and buying WAY too manyof the same purpose torches. They got sold over the L4 etc....


I can't wait for the new technology!! hang on!! it's gonna be a wild ride!!

I think the solution is really simple: From now on, having learned an important lesson, you should buy only flashlights that you can upgrade the LED

I think the future lies in flashlights with... easy access to the LED and driver. All those SureFire's that have these amazing Cree drop in's now that replace the old incandescent lamp assemblies for instance. I don't own any Surefires, but if I did, I would buy the old Incandescent ones "cheap" from Buy/Sell forum. Then plug in one of these hot new Cree drop in's! The perfect host.
Then, later on down the road... next year maybe... new LED technology with more output gets put into a new module... I buy it and plug it in... and enjoy the extra photons. This process can then continue happily for years to come.

But those sealed up lights are doomed. No upgrade possible, can't open them up and pop in a new module :huh: That's a real shame. Such built in obsolescence is a step backwards for us, but just fine for the manufacturer. Keeps everyone buying a whole new light over and over.

i agree with cynodia,,,

That's what drop-ins, modules, and hot wires are for. No flashlight is obsolete for the modifier.

I have that "tool time" disease when I look at any gadget or even a Firefox theme. My mind automatically tries to think of ways to improve it or customize it in some way.

Many of my Lights are now outdated, I still use them as it brings back many
good memories of when they were first purchased

Luckily there are still people who are willing to pay near full retail prices for old lights. If you aren't happy with them anymore then sell them on here. That's pretty much what I did.

cdosrun said:

This topic comes up quite frequently, but I think you will always be told that your 'old' torches have not become obsolete, they have been surpassed in specifications by the newer models. All your old torches are as good as they used to be and can be used for the same purposes they worked for before the newer models came along.

Click to expand...

Yes, my old Zorba CP/M computer with its 9-inch amber screen has been surpassed in specifications by older models, but it can still be used for the same purposes such as word processing and...did I say word processing? Er, yes, but it still fires up as long as the boot disk is in drive A. (I bought it about the same time that Bill Gates said that no one should ever need more than a 20-megabyte hard drive.)

But I get what you're saying. What's interesting, though, is that many of the lights I'm talking about are STILL in production. Inova's cutting edge T3 now takes three 123A cells and produces a dazzling 100 lumens for 2.5 hours of runtime. So there is still a market, yes, even now. I shan't replace my older T3 (85 lumens w/two 123As), but the Fenix P2D and P3D lights I just bought, while darn impressive, just seem to lack the solid look and feel of the Inova line. What's particularly intriguing, though, is that not all changes in that line have been for the better. The changes to the T3 is one example. Other models sport slightly brighter lights now, but have seen giant drops in runtime. Brightness, after all, isn't everything. That's where multi-modes come in.

The Fenix lights are THE lights to have now, I think. But I still have my Surefire G2 in my nightstand next to my old 6-shot revolver.

Confederate said:

Yes, my old Zorba CP/M computer with its 9-inch amber screen has been surpassed in specifications by older models, but it can still be used for the same purposes such as word processing and...did I say word processing? Er, yes, but it still fires up as long as the boot disk is in drive A. (I bought it about the same time that Bill Gates said that no one should ever need more than a 20-megabyte hard drive.)

But I get what you're saying. What's interesting, though, is that many of the lights I'm talking about are STILL in production. Inova's cutting edge T3 now takes three 123A cells and produces a dazzling 100 lumens for 2.5 hours of runtime. So there is still a market, yes, even now. I shan't replace my older T3 (85 lumens w/two 123As), but the Fenix P2D and P3D lights I just bought, while darn impressive, just seem to lack the solid look and feel of the Inova line. What's particularly intriguing, though, is that not all changes in that line have been for the better. The changes to the T3 is one example. Other models sport slightly brighter lights now, but have seen giant drops in runtime. Brightness, after all, isn't everything. That's where multi-modes come in.

The Fenix lights are THE lights to have now, I think. But I still have my Surefire G2 in my nightstand next to my old 6-shot revolver.

Click to expand...

One key difference is that the general public doesn't really know about the Cree LEDs at all, and since there is no standardized lumen or runtime numbers posted in stores (similar to what we have for buying light bulbs in the store) there really is no way for most poeple to tell. If Inova, Maglite, and others can continue to sell out their old stock for the same old price, and customers don't know the difference, there's no reason for them to upgrade to a more efficient product, at least not until they've sold off all their old stock.

the lumens/Watt issue will become more important as the led technology (Cree as a frontrunner) has to compete against other forms of energy saving light sources. So they must and will become brighter and greener now the step has been made to use leds in more and more daily applications

TORCH_BOY said:

Many of my Lights are now outdated, I still use them as it brings back many
good memories of when they were first purchased

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Torch is correct in his statement..not all lights have to be the brightest or have the longest runtimes..many of these lights that are now outdated were our pride and joy only a few short months ago. Buy all the new Cree's and Seoul's you want, but keep a place for your favorite old friends that illuminated your path so many times..they deserve it!!

TORCH_BOY said:

Many of my Lights are now outdated, I still use them as it brings back many
good memories of when they were first purchased

Click to expand...

+1 for this. Found my old Maglight from highschool almost 8 years old now, i completely forgot about it.

One of the main advantages of modular flashlights like Lumapower is the ability to upgrade the electronics and relectors as technology changes.

Cydonia said:

I think the solution is really simple: From now on, having learned an important lesson, you should buy only flashlights that you can upgrade the LED

Click to expand...

Just my thought when I asked this earlier - https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/166689

Mr_Light said:

One of the main advantages of modular flashlights like Lumapower is the ability to upgrade the electronics and relectors as technology changes.

Click to expand...

Interesting. I must look into this further.

BSCOTT1504 said:

Torch is correct in his statement..not all lights have to be the brightest or have the longest runtimes..many of these lights that are now outdated were our pride and joy only a few short months ago. Buy all the new Cree's and Seoul's you want, but keep a place for your favorite old friends that illuminated your path so many times..they deserve it!!

Click to expand...

Generally I agree, but I see a difference between indoor lights and outdoor lights.

For indoor purposes, more lumens can be a problem. I have a 2nd gen. Inova X1 with a magnetic clip that holds it to the inside of a metal storage cabinet. It is just the right brightness with a nice beam to easily see the contents of the cabinet without producing "blowback" from excessive brightness or from too tight of a spot.

I also have 3 L2P heads on L1P bodies strategically placed around the house for use in examining things or looking for something without having to turn on a lamp. Each of these L2P heads has a bottlecap diffuser attached. They work well because I need only the one light level, widely diffused, for use indoors. Each has one Sanyo 2000mAh eneloop in it.

On the other hand, I bought a Fenix L2D-CE and a EastwardYJ 18650 Cree for use outdoors (walking in the park or running errands, etc). I can see myself continuing to upgrade to brighter lights for outdoor uses, but I see no reason to replace my trusty AA lights that I use indoors.

And my CR2-Ion is the perfect keychain light with the perfect flood beam and the perfect amount of light on low for use in the very dark to find a keyhole or to read something without hurting my dark-adapted eyes. So no need to replace / upgrade that either, even though it uses an older Cree LED (I did not buy the 2nd gen. CR2-Ion with the XR-E).

I do have some long-runtime lights for use indoors during power outages that use D-cells that I wouldn't mind replacing with small long-runtime lights that use AA cells, but I am in no hurry there.

Eu