Q-III vs Micra vs Glacier Bay???

Just fully completed my review of the Peak LED Solutions Glacier Bay Luxeon (NOTE IT WAS NOT A GLACIER BAY - IT WAS A CARIBBEAN, INCORRECTLY IDENTIFIED BY THE SENDER - SEE THE REVIEW ON MY SITE FOR FURTHER INFORMATION) and I received some very surprising results - it blows away both the Micra and the Q-III in terms of overall output, throw and runtime. I'm stunned! Over 30% more light than the brighter Q-III, and significantly longer runtime (almost 40 minutes) to 50% as compared to the Micra.

I think we have a serious new contender on the block!

It looks like a great EDC but at more than twice the cost of a Q-III one should demand more performance then that which a Q-III delivers. Factor in the additional cost of producing a type III finish and superb regulation and it becomes a clear winner.

hi Quickbeam

and what about the new Mediterranean http://www.peakledsolutions.com/CR123HA15W.html
Runtime plot could be found on the peak Homepage.

http://www.peakledsolutions.com/CR123HA1Ws.html

[image]http://www.peakledsolutions.com/images/GlacierbayBT.bmp[/image]

Why did Peak speak about hours???? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon23.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon23.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon23.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon23.gif

I wonder if they will offer a 2AA battery pack option? That would make a good home for my NiMH AA batteries I have laying around.

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lamperich said:
and what about the new Mediterranean


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Of course, once you're up in the $90-110 range, the $120 that the EDC B42 goes for at various CPF supporting retailers becomes a trivial step up. Nice to have choices... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

iam really looking forward to Quickbeam´s Mediterranean Review.
i will never spend such a lot money on a toy :-D
But there are guys out there who will and can do that.

the Glacier Bay cost 90 Dollar
the Medi cost 110 bucks


by the way: great link hds seems to be a serious manufactor.

[ QUOTE ]
BentHeadTX said:
I wonder if they will offer a 2AA battery pack option? That would make a good home for my NiMH AA batteries I have laying around.

[/ QUOTE ]

Ditto, would be like the Micra, except better runtime, luxeon, and perhaps, quality. I would definitely get it then. But I doubt peak would make that kind of accessory since they usually aim for small size.

OK, you sold me -- hope mine stacks up to your review.

Peak specializes in 1-cell lights. I doubt they'd offer a 2AA adapter. But someone else might.

Peak's custom center can make a 2xAA body for the CR123 heads.

Doing some quick-n-dirty math, i'd say it's putting out about twice the light (amount x time) as the Micra and going on four times the Q-III. That goes a long way towards justifying the cost. I'm hoping it stacks up well against its larger brother, because i really like the form factor. I'd really like to get one without the Caution-Hot!, though.

If cost was my prime consideration and I wanted a small EDC with output similar to a Glacier Bay then a Q3 with Emilion's $8.00 Nano charger with generic 750mah RCR123 deal would be attractive if I didn't need more than 30 minutes of run time in one go.

lamperich: I think on the Peak graph they meant to say "Minutes" on the bottom axis...

Sorry, don't have a Mediterranean to review just yet...

WHOOPS - THIS LIGHT WAS NOT A GLACIER BAY - PEAK SENT THE WRONG LIGHT IN AN APPARANT SHIPPING MIXUP - IT IS A CARIBBEAN.

SEE THE REVIEW FOR MORE INFORMATION!!!

http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews/peakled_caribbean.htm

Thought so! Just received my Caribbean yesterday and couldn't figure how it differed from the Glacier in the test. Awesome, awesome awesome light. Should the review now be amended to state that it's a Luxeon III?

Sorry for double post

The Caribbean has 1.5 watts, not 1W. The incredible output now makes more sense.

According to Peak, the 1.5W Mediterranean is still brighter (1250 vs 1050 cp).

I've read Quickbeams reviews and found them informative and I've actually made purchase decissions based on them. However I'm somewhat concerned that when a company sends a light to a reviewer and says "please review this" the company would be shooting itself in the foot if it didn't stack the deck with a better than average LED. The company at a very minimum must make sure they aren't sending an inferior sample by comparing the sample against others. This being said published runtimes and brightness shouldn't be taken too seriously as they are likely higher than the typical unit. In fact, if peak didn't ship a unit with a hand picked premium LED when they know that sales of the unit will be directly influenced by review results, that could even be interpreted as callously disreguarding the interests of their employees .

Of course , this could be checked if 5 or so CPF members wanted to send in their samples for comparison.

I am very impressed with Peak offering to make things right for anybody who purchased a light based on that review. That is stand up customer service. I am very glad I just purchased a Matterhorn from them if for no other reason then to reward them for doing the right thing.

On the flip side, xochi, if a manufacturer sends an obviously superior model, everyone who purchases based on that review will wonder why theirs sucks so much, and grumbling travels further and faster than praise.