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this_is_nascar said:
- It's smaller.
- It looks more eye appealing.
- It's brigher.
- It doesn't suffer from battery rattle.
- It comes in HA-III natural coating.
- It's warranty is unmatched.
- It has better LED centering.
- It has better LED tint.
- It stands on its end (you did mention that).
- It's produced by a company that has a presence in this user community.
- It has a higher-percentage on resale value.
I'm sure I'm missing a couple more reasons.
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Smaller: true, a significant advantage
Eye appeal: subjective, but I guess I agree
Brighter: not necessarily an advantage (shorter runtime,
premature dimming of LED, more light than you need)
Battery rattle: eh, not a real prob with CMG, I just wrap
the cell in a post-it.
HA3 coating: available in Ultra-G if you don't mind the
goofy US govt stencilling
Warranty: both are excellent, I have no complaints about CMG
LED Centering: are you sure? I heard of probs with AAA centering.
LED tint: hmm, maybe. Better to use an underdriven Luxeon if you care about this. I wish someone would.
Stand on end: very big advantage for me, all lights should do that.
Produced by CPF community regular: this is also a plus
Percentage on resale: I think really not much difference. Batterystation sells Ultras for $15 and you can probably get that much minus shipping on resale.
All in all I think of the Arc AA is a smaller, nicer version of the Ultra and made by a CPF'er, but not a radical leap. I'll probably get one sometime because of the tail stand. It looks like my next LED light will be a UKE 2aaa eLED though. Size and weight should be comparable to an Ultra or Arc AA, it has very long runtime and looks from the pic like it should stand on end, costs just $10 new (Countycomm) and it's totally waterproof. Its beam is narrower than I'd like (focusing optic molded into the bezel) but maybe I can fix that with sandpaper /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif.