Is it just me or is the Novatac's UI a step....

in the right direction?

I don't know about you but I have been playing and using flashlights for work and pleasure for quite a few years now.
I have been following the advancements of flashlight technology through it's up and down.
We have seen some major changes to how a flashlight works.
Heck the Novatak comes with a 15 page manual. Yes that's right a flashlight with a 15 page manual.
I really find that fact to be amusing.
Just a few years ago there was this little light called an ARC LS first run. It was basically the first flashlight to use a luxeon emitter. It was simple on and off. Sort of what you expect a flashlight to be.
Since then we have seen flashlights with various user interfaces which allow other functions..things like SOS and "disorientating strobe" multiple levels. and so on. we have seen the lion cub, the lion hart, chameleon,
all with some sort of user interface. We have also seen lights like the Fenix series that don't really have a UI but do have easily accessible features like strobe and SOS and hi and low.
We saw the HDS EDC series which was directly related to the ARC 4 which more or less caused the ARC empire to fall..for a while. Of the HDS lights lights I now have the first one i got was the HDS EDC ultimate 60 GT. I have to admit that while I liked the light I couldn't deal with the User interface. I couldn't get my head around it. So I bought a basic 60 and was very happy with it...Nice and simple. I also found myself in love with lights which Mcgizmo created the McLuxIII PD the T and 27LT and others. Those lights really represent another school of thought. The On and Off school of thought with a low level thrown in for good measure.
What i find interesting is how much improved the NovaTac's user interface has been improved over it's brother the HDS EDC Ultimate series. To me there is no doubt that the Novatac offering completely eclipse the HDS lights in just about every way possible.

Now that the Novatac light is winging it's way to end users in the four corners of the planet I suppose it is safe to say that it is a "hit".
For good reason. Unlike any of it's relatives it is a professionally packaged product with a real manual. Gone are the days of these lights being delivered in plastic Ziploc baggies with stickers that have the initials of the person who Cd the light in the baggie. Gone are the days of single page copied instructions. I say good riddance. One thing that is important to note is the fact that this community the CPF has had a hand in the development of the state of the art. That state of the art is ...at the moment... the Novatec.

The way I look at things is that I have now seen a great transformation in technology and in terms of what people expect from a flashlight.
I see several schools of thought. One where Titanium is king and the KISS concept rides at the peak of utilitarian performance. a School where run time is more important than output a place where the user is kind to the battery. This. is the world of the PD. and it's brothers. This school is also one where Luck plays as much a part as the financial aspect. There is almost never enough to go around. These users are also patient. some have waited only to miss the boat. This group awaits new and measured responses to the needs of the end user and use of new technology. Only after extensive R and D many prototypes . This is a place where the utilitarian object is beautiful regardless of finish or refinement. These are tools.

Another school where output is king where 20 minutes of blinding light emitted by an over driven LED brought to its knees along with the poor battery. A place where things are fixed the UI is still KISS simple but there are more places to go. hi low medium SOS strobe... Stuff like that. The fenix lives here...with it's cousins

And then there is a place where the end user and his needs are king that UI is also simple (finally) and gives the end user a choice of many many options all accessible with a couple of clicks of a tail switch. This place can also drive the emitter at it's maximum and more gently drains the battery. Maintaining light while not killing the battery. This is the home of the Novatac... and the piglet.


So where do we go from here? Into the world of brighter emitters more efficient drivers. More lumen's per watt. This is what all of these groups have in common, they diverge from there.

So where do the paths of these different schools lead to?
Well in the first school the PD school we have the ARC PD. This may end up being a hybrid design or maybe end up on a path of it's own. New designs with multiple types of emitters are used...Mixed media so to speak...

In the second school we see a long list of new and brighter emitters with the same basic user interface and features. Except they strive for maximum output... remember this is the school of more output is king. This seems to me to be the most responsive school to the winds of the end user and the makers of emitters. It is almost like they generate a new light for every new emitter they move very fast to adopt to the needs of those who will sacrifice quality and a flexible UI for brighter and more bleeding edge emitters. This is the most dynamic school.

Last but not least is the thinking mans school. You have to be able to read in order to be able to make the most of this group of lights.
Where where this school go? into the lofty heights of slowly adopting new technology in was that best suit the end user. This is an area of ordered and measured response to new technology. R and D is very important here. Remember these lights have real brains in them. Think about how long we end users of the Novatac waited for our 120P's again think about how long we waited for the HDS EDC's and once again how long did we wait for the ARC 4. In each case we waited patiently.
Some of continue to wait on more offerings which will come from this school. They will come ...to those who wait.
This group is by far the most patient. As it turns out there is plenty to go around.

I feel like we have only scratched the surface here. feel free to ignore this post or fill in the dark areas with the light of your own ideas of where we go or where we want to go from here.
IMHO the Novatac's UI is a great step in the right direction. I look forward to what ever comes next.
Yaesumofo

I am only disappointed that there isn't enough of an enlightened market for the lights we want to see developped so therefore progress is slow, our only choice is patience while the genius designers have to slowly recoup their investment before they move onto the next generation.

yaesumofo,

I repect your posts and views alot but I am also slow to the Arc/HDS/Novatac market and do not know as much about them as I should.

I have a Seoulmated HDS EDC Basic 60 GT on its way towards me in the post. I did a little research and this seemed like a wise purchase, in leu of forthcoming reviews of the new Novatac's.

Would there be anything you could say to sway me over to a Novatac from what I expect from the HDS, or correct me if my expectations of the P4 HDS are incorrect. My requirements are:

Simple (but not KISS) UI
Low mode similar to the PD
High mode - 40-60 lm - no biggy
Ultra High for momentary use - 100 lm (I'm guessing the P4/123 could do this ok with quite a reasonable runtime?)
No nonsense, super solid build quality and reliability

Thanks
Hodsta

I took mine to work today to learn about it. I told a friend I had a flashlight with a 15 page manual and he about lost it. I do really like this light. I almost need a second one!!!!

I also really like my Novatac 120P and only wish they had included a quick reference pocket guide card like the ones shipped with the HDS ECD lights.
It is a great quick reference for all of the different programmable options.

I'd like to see a continuously variable focus system without donut holes or other beam artifacts employed in a wider variety of flashlights in the future.

Small lights are easy to carry but difficult to keep in hand, especially when wearing gloves. I would like to see some type of telescoping body arrangement on small (single cell sized) flashlights which you could extend when carrying the flashlight to make it longer, hence easier to grasp.

parnass said:

I'd like to see a continuously variable focus system without donut holes or other beam artifacts employed in a wider variety of flashlights in the future.

Small lights are easy to carry but difficult to keep in hand, especially when wearing gloves. I would like to see some type of telescoping body arrangement on small (single cell sized) flashlights which you could extend when carrying the flashlight to make it longer, hence easier to grasp.

Click to expand...

Yeah there was a phase when battery extentions were becoming popular then they disappeared again.

A flexible light that could let me switch between battery tubes so I can EDC with 1 battery normally, or swap with a tube that could handle variations between 2-6 batteries for camping or extra light - either by default or by electronic settings accessed through the button.

MaxKnight said:

Yeah there was a phase when battery extentions were becoming popular then they disappeared again.
..

Click to expand...

To clarify, what I want a single cell flashlight which collapses to its smallest size when carrying it in a pocket or holster but can telescope to a longer length when actually using it in hand.

As I said I started my HDS collection with a ultimate 60 GT. I was never thrilled the UI. The Basic was far better suited toward my need for a simple U I than the ultimate. The beam and quality of the lights are the same between the basic and ultimate. In fact the basic can be converted to an ultimate because of an easter egg in the UI.
The challenge for you may be to extract good run times. I believe each HDS EDC was "tuned" to the emitter used in the light. When you change the emitter in the light the "tuning" may not suit the new emitter. I doubt this will be much of an issue but it is an issue none the less.
I suspect that the modification of a HDS from a LUX 3 to Seoul emitter will suit your requirements just fine.
One of the biggest differences between the HDS EDC and the NOVATAC is the quality and shape of the beam. IMHO the NovaTEC has a superior beam. The central hot area really is more of a hot area than a hot spot because there is NO sudden drop of light from hot spot to side spill. The Novatac's beam is very smooth as it transitions from the outside edge to the center. The transition from low on the edge to high in the center is logarithmic. Again there is no sharply defined hot spot so to speak on the novatac's beam. This, like so many other aspects of a flashlight can be either good or bad. It is a subjective choice the owner will make.
I like the novatac's beam very much. I have no idea what your modded light's beam will look like. Based on the quality of the basic components used it almost can't be bad.
I look forward to reading your impressions of your new light.
Yaesumofo

Hodsta said:

yaesumofo,

I respect your posts and views a lot but I am also slow to the Arc/HDS/Novatac market and do not know as much about them as I should.

I have a Soulmate HDS EDC Basic 60 GT on its way towards me in the post. I did a little research and this seemed like a wise purchase, in leu of forthcoming reviews of the new Novatac's.

Would there be anything you could say to sway me over to a Novatac from what I expect from the HDS, or correct me if my expectations of the P4 HDS are incorrect. My requirements are:

Simple (but not KISS) UI
Low mode similar to the PD
High mode - 40-60 lm - no biggie
Ultra High for momentary use - 100 lm (I'm guessing the P4/123 could do this ok with quite a reasonable runtime?)
No nonsense, super solid build quality and reliability

Thanks
Hodsta

Click to expand...

The idea of using optics in flashlights is not new. but the idea of using optics to adjust the focus of the light is interesting.
To be frank I am not up to a project of this nature at the moment. Maybe somebody out there is.
How small do you want it when collapsed and how large should it be when expanded?
I was looking at a HID light on line today with a an ability to focus.
Sounds like something that McGizmo would be into.
Yaesumofo

parnass said:

To clarify, what I want a single cell flashlight which collapses to its smallest size when carrying it in a pocket or holster but can telescope to a longer length when actually using it in hand.

Click to expand...

You've just convinced me to check out Novatac. I've got a ton of other things I need first, though.

yaesumofo said:

As I said I started my HDS collection with a ultimate 60 GT. I was never thrilled the UI. The Basic was far better suited toward my need for a simple U I than the ultimate. The beam and quality of the lights are the same between the basic and ultimate.

Click to expand...

I really like your analysis of the different categories of lights, but this is one point I don't quite agree with. After all, you don't have to use all the options of the Ultimate's UI. Just set it up the way you like - and forget about all the options, use it like you would use a Basic. That's essentially what I did with my Ultimate 42, and it works for me.

It's similar to computer software. With most packages you've got far more options than you'll ever need, so what you do is set up your software to suit your needs and that's it. But if you ever want to change something you can do it because all the options are there.

Hans

I agree and that is what I ended up doing as well. The point is no matter how much or how little you use it the bottom line is that in order to set it up the way you want (how are you supposed to know how you want to set it up without tring several or different setups?) You still have to learn it's cryptic button pressing scheme which is by no means intuitive..Right?
For me the NovaTac is extreemely simple to set up. a few clicks and you are anwhere you want to be either using it or setting the modes up.

That is one of the reasons I like the Novatac as much as I do especially when compared to the HDS edc ultimate light.
The real bottom line when it comes to flashlights is what comes out the front. IMHO it should be simple to set up and get going.

Remember the 200+ click easter egg? WTF was that all about? Which brings to mind the idea that there may be an easter egg in the Novatac lights too. hmmmm. I wonder.
I bet if it is there it is a lot simpler to get to than the Novatac.
Yaesumofo

Hans said:

I really like your analysis of the different categories of lights, but this is one point I don't quite agree with. After all, you don't have to use all the options of the Ultimate's UI. Just set it up the way you like - and forget about all the options, use it like you would use a Basic. That's essentially what I did with my Ultimate 42, and it works for me.

It's similar to computer software. With most packages you've got far more options than you'll ever need, so what you do is set up your software to suit your needs and that's it. But if you ever want to change something you can do it because all the options are there.

Hans

Click to expand...

yaesumofo said:

I look forward to reading your impressions of your new light.
Yaesumofo

Click to expand...

Yaesumofo,

Thanks for your thoughts. My first impressions, and they are first as the EDC has been in my hands for only about an hour, are;

1. Great build and ergonomics - It does not feel like a tube, more a solid cylindrical bilet and it sits in the hand very nicely. This compares favourably with my high end lights and was noticeable in the first instance.
2. Easy to operate switch, postive but still not requiring too much force.
3. The beamshape is very similar to that of my TiPD-S, which is a good thing as the PD has a great beam shape, but a bad thing for me as I already have a light with this beamshape. The HDS has some concentric rings in the beam and is not flawless like the McG, but this would not detract from it being eminently useable.
4. UI - like the added flexibility of two extreme settings above the 2 "do most things" settings and it seems fairly intuative, however as I have little to compare it to, other than Fenix and a Lupine bikelight, I have to remain mostly silent on this aspect.
5. Looks great, simple, clean design.

This would have replaced my E1L/L1 as an EDC if I had had known about it at the time. It is unlikley to replace my TiPD-S, but it will be used some as it is it feels great, is flexible and is hopefully reliable.

This leads me to a final question - before handing this back to the topic of the Novatac UI . How reliable have you found the HDSs, the switch is usually a weak point on lights of this type - how does the HDS fair over time?

Thanks and apologies for taking this a little OT.


EDIT: Do you have a link to that easter egg? hrmmmmm like easter eggs. (FOUND: Thanks Oddjob:thumbsup


Hodsta

Let's just say the Novatac 120P UI is a flasholic's wet dream come true :naughty:

I never seem to be able to keep my mouth shut on these threads....anyway. I have several HDSs, PDs, Arc 4+s--you get the picture. I like 'em all! Push the button, screw in the head, do a Vulcan Mind Meld and bingo, they all turn on and shine like champs! I really like the simplicity of the PDs, enjoyed the thrill of the Arc 4+ when they first came out--a new step forward. Loved my HDSs with the greater reliability of the tailswitch and the increased flexibility and now, enjoy the easier UI in this new light to boot. Interesting that despite having had the HDSs for some time I never did get good at "programming" them until recently. I do love 'em all and see the more simplistic UI of the NovaTac as a real advance. Hmmm, now what.....?




Karl

This is all possible thanks to

HDS Systems, Inc.

!!! THANK YOU !!! :kiss::kiss::kiss:

yaesumofo said:

Remember the 200+ click easter egg? WTF was that all about?

Click to expand...

Well, I went through the 250 click sequence with all three of my HDS Basics. Set up the light the way I like it, end of story. I have to admit though doing the 250 clicks was one of those things I won't do every week. Or every month.

Hans

Can someone explain exactly how the Novatac UI is an improvement over the HDS?

Fewer clicks, more options.


Karl