I was just going through all the reviews and am confused as to which thrower to get for myself
A laser?
does not matter what batteries it uses as long as it throws the best
Define "throws the best." Many lights have (relatively) lots of throw, but very little flood or spill, making them great for "spotting bears in trees at 200 meters" (as another CPF'er put it), but relatively useful for little other than the "wow factor."
For example: My two latest purchases were an OLight T20 and a LumaPower LM31. Neither one of these are flame-throwers, and one's a 2xCR123 while the other's a 1xAA, but still I think the comparison illuminating: The T20 hits the beginning of our backyard treeline, about 250 feet, nicely. The LM31 is about useless that far out. But they both do about equally well at 50 feet or so, and the LM31 is
much handier indoors.
I believe some of LumaPower's lights are upgradeable. You might want to look at the M1 series. (I just noticed that BatteryJunction has the M1-T Tactical on sale for 40% off. Good thing for my wallet that wasn't the case when I placed my order last seek
.)
I was also thinking whether I should wait to see if anything new arrives next year
.
Something new will always be coming out. If you wait for the next new thing, you'll never buy anything.
I tend to wait and see what our fellow CPF'ers widely acclaim and go with that. I also tend to go with state-side distributors.
You might mention your price range.
What kind of form-factor are you interested in? If I was looking for "throw," I'd go with a 3D Mag host and either Malkoff's or Elektrolumens' (single emitter) drop-ins. For a more useful (IMO) beam, albeit at the sacrifice of some throw, I'd either add the stippled reflector to the Malkoff or go with Elektrolumens' three-emitter drop-in. There's also the new TerraLux three-emitter Mag drop-in, which uses focusing optics, instead of reflectors.
Jim