20 for $20 LED Lights

UnknownVT

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Received my order for 20 LED lights for $20 from County Comm yesterday.

Perhaps they might not match either a Photon or Inova Microlight - but at $1 each - these have to be some kind of a bargain.......

These lights do not have a squeeze momentary on switch - instead they have a large slide on/off switch which is easy to operate - there might be a slight chance that these could accidentally switch on in the pocket and flatten the battery - the switch stiffness varies, I have one that's pretty stiff to switch on - others where it is pretty reasonably easy. Personally I prefer the easier (the majority of the ones I've tried) over the stiff - but I guess it depends on how paranoid one is to accidental switch ons.

OK a little unfair camparison follows - but that's life -

Sizes -
LED_Photon_Inova_S.jpg

l to r: Inova Microlight, County Comm 20 for $20, Photon 2 (all white LEDs)

Beam shots -

20 for $20 vs. Inova Microlight -
Beam_LED_Inova.jpg


20 for $20 vs. Photon 2 -
Beam_LED_Photon.jpg


Notes: digicam set to Daylight White Balance (+ mark for point of focus) auto exposure.

The 20 for $20 LED lights are very white in real life with almost no hint of blue (several samples) and that blue halo ring is not visible, if anything the darker outer ring looks kind of green/brown to me - so I can't explain why there is that blue ring in the photo.

Yes, the Photon is kind of greenish - but not quite the awful green in the photo.

The Inova is distinctly blue to my eyes again the beam shot is kinder.

Look more carefully on the beam shots at the light bodies (bottom corners) and even the image of the lights - notice the bright side-spill fanning out?

On all these pocket lights there is a secondary ring/circle of light - ringing a circle of darkness - but on the 20 for $20 light this secondary ring is quite a bit more prominent - personally I find it a bit annoying - but hey - it's only $1!!!!

peekinsidehalf.jpg

County Comm's photo of the light disassembled.

The holiday season approaches and these lights make great gifts/handouts - and their value to the receipient is likely to be far greater than the purchase price....
bargain indeed.

[edit Feb/29/2004 - changed photo hosting - as ImageStation no longer hotlinks reliably]
 

Phaserburn

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Agreed. I have mine ready to go as stocking stuffers.

Get a few Velco circles from Walmart. These lights are great for attaching to purses, bags, briefcases, etc. and in out of the way places (closets, cabinets, etc.). They are so lightweight they work great with the Velcro, and the circles are the perfect size for the circle impression on the back of the light.
 

RussH

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I also found the County Comm lights to be brighter than my photon II. It could be Vf or beam width but I believe it's a better (higher mcd) LED. I don't have a camera or a light meter to test these with. But the green tint isn't evident to my eye with the photon II, which is 5-6 years old in my case.

I've ordered the 20@ $20 twice, now, but I haven't taken one apart yet. Vincent, what size are those batteries? Are they 2016's like the photon II? I believe I replaced the 2016s in my Photon II with 2024s. Do you think 2020s or 2024s would fit the Co. Comm lights? -RussH
 

UnknownVT

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[ QUOTE ]
RussH said:
I've ordered the 20@ $20 twice, now, but I haven't taken one apart yet. Vincent, what size are those batteries? Are they 2016's like the photon II? I believe I replaced the 2016s in my Photon II with 2024s. Do you think 2020s or 2024s would fit the Co. Comm lights? -RussH

[/ QUOTE ]

Russ,

Sorry I don't know either - that inside view photo was hot-linked from County Comm.

If I take one apart, and IF there is a battery designation -I'll report back.

But probably it'd be much quicker to ask County Comm what the replacement batteries are.

However unless one buys in quality off the internet - the batteries from almost any high street store is likely to cost FAR more than the whole light - eg: 2016 and 2032 are $3.99 EACH from Radio Shack, and white LEDs normally require TWO 2016's - $8?.......
 

Hoghead

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There are two 2016s in there. I had three (out of 40) that had dead batteries when they arrived and I changed them out with spares that I had on hand. I had previously bought the 2016s from Texas Tactical for $0.75 each and I included them with another order so that shipping wouldn't be an issue. I never said anything to CountyComm because at this price who cares, but I have since read that CountyComm includes extra lights with each order to allow for this. I never bothered to count them.
 

RussH

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Thanks much, guys. I wanted to know what size they were so I could order some extra batteries in quantity. I would have taken one apart except I didn't have any 2025 batteries to try. My photon II has been thru 3 sets and ended up with 2016s. I'll order the largest size that fits since they are usually the same price. I'll probably pay the exorbitant price for a couple 2025s(I don't think 2032s or 2430s will fit) if I can find them locally. Hmmmmm, Mouser lists 2016s(80mah), 2025s(160mah), & 2032s(220mah) for $1.05 ea. I'll check the CPF ads, tho. How about this for a cheap mod to double your run time..........

I didn't count either order from County Comm - but I'm pretty sure there must have been at least one extra in my 2nd order. I gave most of the first order away & mixed the rest together. I thought I ended up with more than I should have, but I couldn't tell for sure. It's a pleasure doing business with them. Except that they are wrecking my budget. I had to quit smoking - I expected to have a little more spending money - but it just doesn't work out with the way all these advertisers on CPF keep tempting me. Is bologna cheaper than hamburger? -RussH
 

koala

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Hey I actually like the beam from the countrycomm rather than the others! I looks like it has a overall smooth beam with little rings.
 

Hoghead

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RussH,
You can get Ramen noodles for $0.10 a bag when you buy them by the case at Sams Club /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 

Doug S

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[ QUOTE ]
Hoghead said:
RussH,
You can get Ramen noodles for $0.10 a bag when you buy them by the case at Sams Club /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

Maybe so, but their light output and beam pattern Suck! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 

kitelights

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I haven't seen any coin celled lights that are designed for two 2016s that would take thicker cells. Believe me, I've tried. There was one somewhere that took two 2025s, but I dismissed it, because it was outrageously expensive and now I don't even remember what it was.
 

RussH

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$.10 for ramon noodles? Hey, that would let me cut up the bologna (maybe hamburger, sometimes) & stretch it further. But it sounds like it will take months to save up enough for another flashlight.........

Kitelights, that was probably a photon II (UnknownVT has a picture in his original post, above)- I got 2 2025s in mine, at least twice, anyway. I went back to 2016s because I had a couple the last time the batteries died. I also upgraded the LED to a brighter 5mm white LED (Nichia? probably not - it's one that was advertised as 7000mcd) sometime back. So I was plesantly surprised to find that the County Comm lights were brighter.

At the time I bought mine (not long after they came out) I bought a few on sale somewhere ($8 each, regular $12, IIRC) so I could use them for Christmas gifts. I needed a higher quality than the $3-4 ones. It also had the tiny on-off switch which is very hard to use. But they were better as gifts because one didn't have to take them apart & re-align the leads or reposition the battery (ies) periodically like the cheap ones.
 

SilverFox

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Hello Vincent,

I also got a bunch of these lights. I can confirm that all of them (red, white, and blue) come with more than 20 lights per package.

These are the Best Bang for the Buck lights as far as I am concerned.

Phaserburn,

Thanks for the velcro idea. I'll pass that on as I give these away.

Tom
 

Bill.H

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As was mentioned in another thread somewhere:

Don't even bother looking to replace the batteries - unless you can get them for .49 ea including tax and shipping! Just buy another bag from countycomm and toss (save the LED and split ring) the old ones.

I really can't see spending 1.50 or more for batteries when you can get a new light with fresh batteries for $1.00. The free shipping over $50 deal was still going on at countycomm a few weeks ago.

Good excuse to get an X1, Sonic G, and Ultra G!!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 

UnknownVT

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[ QUOTE ]
koala said:
Hey I actually like the beam from the countrycomm rather than the others! I looks like it has a overall smooth beam with little rings.

[/ QUOTE ]

I agree - I forgot to mention that - you can kind of see that in the beam shots - the Inova has a blue cross pattern in the middle (rendered white due to the exposure contrast range) - the Photon has a square in the center - whereas the beams from the County Comm 20 for $20 are just a smooth white circle with no patterns - very impressive.

The only annoyance is that very prominent secondary circle/halo - although present on the other two pocket LED lights - it's more noticable/distracting on the 20 for 20 - also the beam as on the other two is a bit narrow comapared to say the Ultra-G - so it is not as good at illuminating a normal room -
but at $1 - I am more than willing to accept and live with it.

Last night I gave one away much to the appreciation of the door person at a local music venue - she often has to work in the dark club entrance and view things like IDs - a real valid application.
 

chalo

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I have gotten $1/each keychain lights like the one you pictured, along with equally bright squeeze-only lights, from Black Feather Electronics at http://www.blkfeather.com . I have been very happy with the white ones, and I have colored ones on order.

Beware the squeeze + switch Photon clone offered at the same site, though; it is way dimmer than the squeeze-only or switch-only options, and it has a peculiar ringed beam. It's not worth a buck when compared to the other two kinds.

Black Feather Electronics also offer $10 4-led/3AA flashlights. These seem pretty nicely made and are as bright as my trusty Lightwave 2000, but at 400mA, they draw almost four times as much juice as the more expensive light. The power consumption is back to normal at NiMH voltages, but the brightness suffers.

Chalo Colina
 
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