Found Impact XL- Significant disappointment

Ran across a PT Impact XL at Ramsey Outdoor store- and with a bit of a financial faux-pas, I blew my budget and got one (flashaholic in action). Got it home, and in a dark room..... Not happy.

The 1W Luxeon LED is nowhere NEAR the brightness of the Brookstone 1W luxeon I had purchased last week.... it's brighter than my 2AA CMG reactor.... but with double the battery power I'd expect it to be. The beam is not smooth- a strange star pattern surrounds the central spot, and a strange dark ring is about 7/8 of the way to the edges of the aurora. The 1W led looks very much like an "Everled".
One thing in it's favor- the beam has a very true white color.

I'm pissed... thinking of bringing the darn thing back. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif

Wow, Brookstone beats a company known for making gear for climbers and divers...that IS disappointing. I was thinking of getting one, but if I do I'll get it at EMS or REI when they begin to stock them so I can return it if similarly disappointed. For me the advantage of PT products is that I use AA batteries because they supply them at work, and I also use re-chargables. The SF and other products that use 123's are not as viable because I use lights constantly for climbing and for SAR, so this is a let-down.

If the beam was smoother, it would make a WORLD of difference. Beam quality alone kills this light for me. I think I'm spoiled by the Streamlight and Surefire lights I own.

charliek,
Thanks Charlie!!! You just saved me $35 /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinser2.gif

I've not had the chance to check one out in a "special dark place" yet. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif This info is definitely appreciated and I'll agree with Jerimoth...REI will get my cash for it, so they can take it back if I'm also disappointed!

Does the packaging / instructions say anything about using lithium batteries?

Have you taken it apart yet?

You have any other 1W LS lights to compare to?

Product and beamshot pics?

Thanks,

-john

bummer.

i had hoped that it would have a nice bright beam, but i couldnt tell in the store. i really wanted it to have a beam similar to my tec-40's.

i was wondering if they shouldnt have gone with a low dome led like my streamlight TL2.

Bob

[ QUOTE ]
John N said:

Does the packaging / instructions say anything about using lithium batteries?

Have you taken it apart yet?

You have any other 1W LS lights to compare to?

Product and beamshot pics?

Thanks,

-john

[/ QUOTE ]

The product literature just says "do not mix battery types".
Adding Lithium AAs will probably make it a bit brighter- but it won't make the beam look any better. I tried swapping reflectors with my PT Tec 20 and it didn't make a difference- I tried taking the "Everled lookalike" bulb out and put it in another 4AA light, and it made as ugly a beam in that light.
I looked carefully over the PT literature and it said NOTHING about being a 1W Luxeon Star. It said a "1W LED", it also said it would be brighter than other 1W xenon or Halogen bulbs. (all the 1W flashlights I own are 2AA or 2AAA(PT Blast and Tec20). I'll see if I can post a beamshot in comparison to a REAL 1W Luxeon LED (My Brookstone Superflux).

[ QUOTE ]
pedalinbob said:
bummer.
i had hoped that it would have a nice bright beam, but i couldnt tell in the store. i really wanted it to have a beam similar to my tec-40's.
i was wondering if they shouldnt have gone with a low dome led like my streamlight TL2.
Bob

[/ QUOTE ]


The most definitely should have. I was expecting more from a flashlight that costs nearly $40.

Luxeon is the only 1W LED in production. The problem is with the reflector. Lights using the luxeon optics always have good beam quality. Not so with those using reflectors. From my experience PT's reflector are not very good. I played with a Yukon XL in a store which I think use similar reflector. I was not happy with the beam quality at all. I eventually got a BD zenix which have much better beam quality.

Beam power compare to a 1W Luxeon star - the PT is very white, that much I can say.



Here is the "Cabbage" looking beam center, surrounded by the strange rings at the edges. It looks uglier in person....

I just received a Matrix 2 for review. It also uses a side emitter luxeon in a PR base. This one is matched for running on 2 AA batteries. Output is very good for a 2AA direct driven LED and it also has the strange "star pattern" around the center. The same pattern is seen with the Tektite 3 cell side emitter luxeon PR bulb in many reflectors, and therefore I would expect the same pattern with any side emitter bulb.

I think we're all getting spoiled by our perfect beams found in our really high end lights. The XL didn't cost $140.00; it cost $40.00. I think the beam is pretty good, especially compared to most consumer lights out there. The ring is way out in the periphery. If you were trying to see something in the dark, you're not going to focus the periphery on the subject, you'll move the center spot to the area you are trying to see. The center appears to have a mostly smooth spot with a brighter center - no holes, just like the Martix 2.

Don't forget, too, that the LED in these lights can't be driven too hard since it is in a plastic bodied light - no thermal management. As a result it can't be as bright as aluminum bodied lights that have the LED heatsinked to the body (like the Brookstone light?).

If it was driven to the brightness levels we have become accustomed to in Surefires, BB400's, Arc's, Streamlight Tasklight, etc., everyone would complain that it melts the reflector and/or bulb holder, is poorly engineered, and would be demanding replacements for fear of LED failure due to overheating (e.g. Streamlight 4AA LED fiasco...)

I think expectations of this light may have been too high. Looks to me like it's performing exactly the way I would expect it to.

I was expecting the same performance of other "1W" LEDs... Although, I have never experienced a "side emitter" LED before. From the looks of it- this will be my last side emitter. Those rings may be out on the edges, but like very visible eyeglass frames- they drive me batty.
It feels like a tough made light- and it's very white. I guess I am spoiled. But- for 40 bucks, I expected more. This would be a "Good value" at 25 bucks.

Hello Charlie,

I picked up a Matrix 2 which is also a side emitter and noticed the beam is different. I was hoping it would be more like the Photon King 1, but it isn't...

In spite of the less than smooth beam, I am going to keep the Matrix 2. It works well for me.

I am assuming that the Yukon HL will have a similar beam.

Tom

[ QUOTE ]
SilverFox said:
I picked up a Matrix 2 which is also a side emitter and noticed the beam is different. I was hoping it would be more like the Photon King 1, but it isn't...
Tom

[/ QUOTE ]

Hey- I was comparing a $50 light to a $40 light

I wonder if anyone else has read the XL writeup from PT?
http://www.princetontec.com/whatsnew.html

I guess I got caught up in the advertisement.

Hi everybody. Thanks for the excellent information on the Impact XL. I spend a lot of the time in the dark, working in NH as a park ranger. I spend a lot of time on rescues, leading people out who were stranded, doing searches, etc. I recently purchased the Yukon HL and the Matrix 2. I am very satisfied with the Matrix 2 as an EDC. The Yukon HL is a bit much with the extra battery pack, but it's still pretty lightweight so it is replacing my Petzl Duo. I carry a very lightweight but supebright HID light- the Lupine Edison, when I really need lots of light, and it has both flood and throw in it's favor. But my range friends and I were really looking forward to the Impact XL as an EDC. I think my ranger friends will laugh at me if I ever get caught shopping in Brookstone, but maybe I'll have to overcome that and judging from the beampics of CharlieK I might do that. But does anybody know of another 1W or 5W Luxeon handheld, not too heavy, not too big, that is bright but uses AA or C batteries? The park service provides those to us for free- I'd have to buy my own 123s, but then again I'm willing to do that if SF is the only way to go. Right now I carry on patrol a PT Surge (any recommendations for an LED replacement on that?) and the Matrix 2, the Yukon HL, the Edison, and a backup Petzl Tikka Plus. Also a few Ions, attitudes, and aurorae to hand out to volunteers who help on a rescue. If I'm "off duty" and just going light and a quick run with almost no gear I carry a PT Impact II, and the Matrix 2. Any recommendations would be welcome.

I don't think there's a light on the market that can outthrow a Surge and still use AA's.

No plastic bodied lights can have a Luxeon driven at specs, due to the lack of thermal dissipation capability. So, I wouldn't have expected much more form the Impact XL. I do not have it yet, it is not being distributed in Europe so far.

In the 30 - 40 $ range, the Streamlight Luxeon 3AA Tasklight is a killer light. Almost perfectly round and bright beam, but at cost of a very deep reflector.

I'll wait to see the PT Impact XL. In the meantime, does anybody knows if the "Everled like" LED bulb is passive like the Epieon or active as the Everled itself?

Thanks

Anthony

The lamp that is in the XL is stamped with "4AA" so I doubt if it will work in a different battery configuration.

To test it- I put it in my Tec20- no light. So, it's not like the everled in any way other than looks.