Current Photon 3 Prices

What's the lowest price for a Photon 3 going for currently? I dont exactly know if the third site is legit, but I found these 3 sites offering these prices...do these sites look any good or believable?

$21.99 here
$18.99 here
$14.00 here

I know that this is for real:
$16.49 at TTS

Can't recommend William enough...

I'll back up Darell in recomending William @ TTS. TX

Thanks guys...im probably gonna get one and would from that trusted source. Do you think a next generation of the photon is coming out soon...any word on that?

No clue on the Photon 4???, but if you go to order from TTS, ask if he has the ARC LE. If so, get it too / instead of. If not, go for the ARC AAA. If all else fails, get the Photon 3. TX
(not intended to be a put-down for Photon...just a plug for ARC)

I'm gonna go ahead and back up Tex on this one!

- Darell

I basically wanted the Photon 3 upgrade from my Photon 2 because the batteries are easier to change and the strobe modes look cool. Not really looking for a flashlight to carry around...just a little keychain light to impress people and please myself I already have a custom Luxeon flashlight I made, not pocket-size though like the Arcs.

I might actually see if the place up by me has the Photon 3's cuz thats where I discovered and purchased my first Photon 2.

Thanks for the info.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR> Txwest said
No clue on the Photon 4???, but if you go to order from TTS, ask if he has the ARC LE. If so, get it too / instead of. If not, go for the ARC AAA. If all else fails, get the Photon 3. TX
(not intended to be a put-down for Photon...just a plug for ARC)<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

The Photon III is due an upgrade "soon". The major part of this upgrade will be the use of the logic in the Photon Fusion headlamp. This reduces the delay between the various modes and also eliminates the ridiculous flashing at the start and end of the auto off mode to something more appropriate.

In the past, I would always have rated the LE above the P3. This was especially true when my P3 was acting up. However, like ARC LRI do offer excellent customer service and unquestionably replaced my faulty P3 with the newer unit - the one with microswitches - when I had problems.

As I see it, the main benefits of the P3 over the LE are as follows:
o It is truly TINY
o Is is a fun light. Lots of modes to play with
o It is very bright. I couldn't believe just how bright until I did a recent side by side comparison with my LE!
o Despite what you may hear elsewhere, batteries are cheap and easily available! I recently purchased 50 Sony-branded batteries (good for 25 changes) on EBAY for 20 US Cents each!

Like the LE, the P3 is fully waterproof. It is now also reliable. Early P3s were bad in this regard, but newer ones are fine. P3s are also always available with the brighter LEDs, whereas the LEs are no longer in production.

Please don't take this to be critisism for ARC, I'm just begining to realise what a wonderful light the P3 is!!!

I carry both on the keychain. The P3 is so small that it disappears. I feel much more secure with the Arc but sometimes the P3 is more handier for giving a quick burst of light by just giving it a squeeze rather then turning the head of the arc. A case where I might use the P3 over the arc is for a few seconds of light to find a keyhole.

To me the biggest improvement on a P3 would be to regulate the output. If you've seen runtimes graphs, the discharge curve is almost exponential.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR> Darrell said
Can't recommend William enough... <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Here Here! His price may not be the lowest, but if you consider that TTS only charge for the actual delivery costs and do not - unlike most others - try to make the real money on the shipping, then you may find that they are actually the cheapest. Even if they are not, they are a great company to do busines with. Honest and efficient.

How rare in today's world!

Ditto what was said about William at TTS.And ditto all the good things said about the Photon 3.In its current form it is a really great light.I have an ARC LE also,and I believe both are at the top of the microlight food chain when you look at the warranty and service from both companies.Both lights have alot to offer for different reasons,but I havent found a better light for 24/7 neckchain carry than the P3.I would hate to have to choose between the arc LE and the Photon 3- both are that good.
troy

I just found the photon 3 at Hosfelt.com for $17.95, no tax or shipping charges...how does that sound

Hosfelt DOES charge shipping. I just ordered--or was going to order--some more Photon III's, but when I called to check on my order, the customer service lady was totally grumpy! Maybe she had a bad day or something, but she was kind of rude...plus she told me,"Well, if you scroll down on the order page, you'll see that it says that actual shipping charges are calculated..." blah blah...
She told me that on average it's $6 to $9.

NO THANKS!
I canceled my order.

It appears from that TTS link that turquoise is the only available P3. Is this what everyone else is finding? Also, I see the price is $15.99 - even cheaper. BTW, anyone know somewhere besides Brightguy that stocks the covert P3?

Bucky

A regular Photon 3 can be easily converted into a covert-alike simply by slipping a ~3/16" long piece of 1/4" black poly tubing over the exposed end of the LED. 1/4" black poly tubing is available at home stores and hardware stores for use with drip irrigation systems. (Raindrip is one brand)

If you don't want to cut off the side glow but want to protect the LED, aquarium air tubing works nicely. I used the fancy blue silicon variety but the plain clear cheap stuff works fine.

It's bad when you find out you don't even have white photon 3's listed on your website when you read it on the forum. I was wondering why they were moving so slow.

I guess you could also create a "covert" photon by putting some shrink wrap and carefully "shrinking" it with a soldering iron...

I've purchased from Vicomptel INC and they were FABULOUS! Excellent packaging job, speed shipping time, USPS Priority Mail got here fast. They're great because not only is it half the price as the local R.E.I. store is selling them for, but also because of all the varieties they offer! I got a Turq Crystal Photon-3 that has the clear cover around the LED, and also got the rav'n crystals for fun. I LOVE it! I got a white P-2 as well, and it was a little more blue/purple than any of my other Photons, but that's probably luck of the draw. I give Vicomptel a HUGE thumbs up! Check 'em out. Vicomptel's Webpage

Cheers!

Only problem with Vicomptel is they base their shipping charge on how much you're spending, not the cost of shipping. TX

Just received photon 3 turquoise crystal and rav'n ribbon from vicomptel.

Latest version of photon 3 with the micro switches. Now I know what you guys mean by the *long* cycling time... Even with the new switches, my thumb gets tired.

Rav'n is AWESOME!!!!!!!!!! Lovin' it!!!

Anyway, took about 2 weeks to get to me, but that's because I'm in Australia. Thanks Vicomptel!!

YC