Re: What\'s so good about the Photon II?
I've had a few Photon I, in red and yellow which cost about $15 in 1994/95. I liked its size and brightness but the momentary switch made it hard to use for extended periods, so when the II came out, I got one. The constant-on is a neccessity for me. I paid about $20 for my first Photon II (blue) at REI. And when the White came out I got that too. Sure, $20 is ALOT for a few small pieces of plastic, an LED, and 2 batteries, but there was no competition then. They were the first. And I like innovative gadgets.
I think Photon is probably the best of the keychain lights. The Photon II plastic body is very tough and the LED, at least on mine, is brighter and smoother than any other LED I've come across. Mine has never failed to light. It's not waterproof though, and if water gets in, the light will stay ON and glow dimly until dead, or until you open it and dry it out. No harm done then. Also, mine got stuck ON once when a small piece of the clear plastic switch broke inside. Took it apart, removed the piece, fine after that. Broke the same piece on my other Photon IIs as a precaution. It's like an appendix, unneccessary and it might break and kill your light. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon15.gif
If the Photon and one of it's competitors, such as Innova or Princeton Tec, were close in price, I'd go for the Photon. If the Photon is significantly more, I might go for the cheaper competitor. They're pretty good too. You can get any of these keychain lights for less than $10 now.
The cheap knock-offs are OK, but the LED quality is hit-or-miss. Otherwise they're not bad. Good for a tight budget or as giveaways. I got a batch of $1 countycomm ones. Some were Photon-bright/smooth, a few were uselessly dim, the rest were OK. For the price, they're a good value.
Useful battery life is shorter than advertised, esp. for the 2 cell ones, but expected for small coin cells. I'd be changing mine after 1-2 hours use. I then switched to the yellow II, and though alot dimmer than white, the battery lasted almost two years of mild everyday use.
IMO, NO ONE should ever be without at least a Photon or other keychain light. No excuses for not having a light. So small and now affordably priced.
I don't use my Photons since I got an ARC-AAA. It's far superior. The only advantage the Photon has is size, best for keychain use. But that is easily outweighed (pun) by the AAAs construction, cheap refills, useful batt. life, part-reg., and extreme waterproofness. I'm never without mine.