$1800 for an ARC mania multi-die light? That's almost as much as a Polarion. :shakehead Let's see
-multi-die LED:
-large emission surface, less surface brightness. Four large LED dice are not conducive for throw.
Polarion HID has..
-instant strike and hot restrike metal halide HID lamp, which means it does away with almost all disadvantages of HID (warmup time, waiting time between runs) and retains its advantages:
-An arc of light as opposed to four huge semiconductor dice has a very small emission surface and extremely high surface brightness, mated with the Polarion reflector it provides awesome throw.
-Color rendition, while not the same as an incandescent, is excellent with metal halide HID lamps and way better than ordinary LEDs.
-The wide spectrum emission of an HID lamp also lets you use color and IR filters unlike LEDs.
Of course it only has two levels, docile off and face-melting on, whereas apparently the ARC mania light will have 8 levels. That's plus one in the LED camp and minus one in the HID camp. Although, if you're looking to buy a large light with a handle on it for the 'map reader mode' I'm not sure what to tell you. :nana:
The Polarion PH-40 has been out for several years and has a proven track record in service with serious users all around the world. The 'Solid ARC 1' appears to be a CAD drawing on the internet as of Oct 2010.
Then there's the companies. Ken J. Good of Polarion USA is registered on these forums and provides Gene Malkoff-levels of personal customer service. Last time I saw ARC mania on these forums he was trying to scam users in the Customs & Mods sale section. :fail: