I am a new LED addict and bought my 1st several flashlights from Goldengadgets.com and have mixed feelings about this place. I like their products and I have bought from them - two S1801's, ALX-053L (5watt) and S1705 (3watt). All are nice lights. Their return policy of defective lights and procedures is not very good.
I just bought my 2 newest flashlights from brightguy.com. I bought the UK 4AAe and a Streamlight Jr Luxeon both 1-watt LEDs. The Streamlight Jr Luxeon has a nicer beam than the S1801. The S1801 is more compact. Shipping for both items from brightguy.com was under $6, which is very reasonable. If I were choosing between the S1801 and the Streamlight Jr. I would go with the Streamlight Jr. I plan on buying several lights for Christmas gifts this year and so far it looks like it will be the Streamlight Jr.
My biggest disappointment with Goldengadgets.com was when I received a defective flashlight and had to pay return shipping. They did replace it and paid for shipping the replacement, but they should have paid my return shipping cost since it was their product that was defective. I also had to email them 3 times to get direction on how to return the defective light.
Goldengadgets shipping is also high – $8.00 per piece even when ordering several items unless you email them and request reduced shipping on multiple items. They offered me a shipping rate of $8 for the 1st item and $4 for additional items, which still seems high to me. Their prices are higher on their website than on their ebay store. I bought my 1st light from them off ebay. When I wanted to order more I emailed them and asked if they would honor their ebay prices, which they did. Their ebay prices are hard to beat anywhere else.
I love my 3 and 5-watt lights from Goldengadgets when the batteries are at 100%, but after about an hour they go to 50% power, then the lights are not much brighter than my Streamlight Jr Luxeon. It looks like the Streamlight Jr Luxeon will now be my everyday flashlight for walking the dog each evening since I can use my rechargeable NiMH batteries. I hate throwing out the 123 batteries when they still work, but I miss having a full power 5-watt light. I guess I need to find a 3 or 5 watt regulated light, but I don't want to spend over $50 on one, or I need to look into rechargeable 123 batteries. I still have a lot to learn about all these different lights.
Before finding this website I rarely used flashlights to walk the dog each night and now I always use one. I have these lights everywhere – house, cars, etc. I cannot believe how addicting this is. My wife just rolls her eyes every time a new one comes in, but she sure likes using them and keeps a S1801 in her purse.
