LED Shoppe is another HK-based retailer with world-wide free shipping. I actually found about these guys when I bought another MXDL AAA pen light off of a drop shipper and the light arrived in a clearly marked, regular (ie. not padded) paper envelope with no customs declaration. The light itself was wrapped in two layers of bubble wrap and I can't really tell any difference between this one and my other MXDLs in terms of tint or brightness (same batch, perhaps?).
They use HKP so if you've ever ordered from any of the usual suspects, you pretty much know what to expect. Shipping took almost exactly four weeks, door-to-door from HK to the continental United States. The eBay listing stated that orders that take longer than 31 days to deliver are free. I paid $2.37, including shipping. Interestingly, the same light is listed on their website for $2.99 (again including shipping; free tracking number with orders of $25 or more). Selection is somewhat limited and they seem to be focusing on lights that use primaries, as well as selling laser pointers and LEDs.
There are a few coupons which I, naturally, did not take advantage of since I placed my order with a dropshipper. "YABEPG" was actually printed on the envelope (10% off, no minimum purchase required) and "5lsr" supposedly gets you a "free laser" (I'm guessing some cheapo red keychain laser pointer; mimum purchase $5). Unless I'm missing something, there's no way to actually search on the site itself - clicking the search box just takes you to Facebook. I have no idea what's up with that. I had no reason to contact their customer service.
I've ordered a couple times with success. Communication by email was good (within 1-2 days response) and shipping time to US about 2 weeks. Willing to negotiate price with higher quantity orders. Had one DOA MXDL clicky (out of 20 pieces) and was willing to replace, no problem.
By the way, I just spent half an hour over at the other place (I call it "research", my wife calls it "online windowshopping" and as usual, she's right - don't tell her I said that :D) and now it's even more obvious that this is a much nicer and much, much saner place. Sort of reminds me of what CPF used to be like back in the day.
Budgeteer, good find. Thanks. I suspect at that price point ($13), it's going to be the Q3 version, even if it says Q5. And it looks like they don't even mention the manufacturer anywhere which, considering that Romisen generally enjoys a good reputation, is a bit strange.
Maybe I should rephrase - make that 'wild guess'. ;)
I own several Romisen lights and those are all fine lights. I have no personal experience with the rc-29. Having said that, there are several retail sites that list it as Q3 and I seem to recall a review (it might have been an email conversation but I really do think it was review) that put two rc-29s side-by-side and I'm pretty sure there was a C78 involved (because at this point, I guess, I own enough to give one to every single resident of Rhode Island ;)). But, it's really just a guess.
OK, because have bought roughly 5 RC-29 for friends and family, because here in Germany everybody seems so Maglite oriented that they need something to "head-twist". I also do own 2 C78 lights. One is defective because it flickers and the other I got from DX as replacement. Romisen was always my favourite brand when it came to build quality and reliability. (until Hugsby came along) If you remember the link or someone else... please post it here... it will be Christmas soon and I will have to buy some more RC-29s.
They also have the N3 2xAA/16340 for 15, which is decent.
How does the rc-29 compare to the g2? I have an older one of those and I like it quite a bit, but the emitter is a p2 or something and I've been thinking of getting an updated one.
The build quality on the RC-29 is on the same level as the G2. It's the best 1*AA flood to throw, that I know of - build quality and output. What I totally dislike, is the tailcap with relatively sharp edges, but with that it can tailstand and is easy to operate. It's a tactical tailcap .
Another thing which might be a turn-off is that it takes 3 full turns from flood to throw - resulting in about 5-6 actions to switch from full flood to throw. But the people I gave them to absolutely love them... maybe I'm too picky. With the discount of 10% (YABEPG) it's a steal for 11.69 $ that is 4 $ cheaper than KD. Jayki made a short review HERE.
On the bin issue, basically these manufactures can put any emitter they like into the light. You simply can't trust the specs on the site. KD is ok on bin for some lights and generally doesn't ship fakes like DX sometimes does (I actually found Lightake to be good in that regard, too), but also known to copy/paste random crap on their pages.
In other words, unless you know through external channels what gets put into a light, just assume it's the cheapest they could find at the time; so I wouldn't assume >Q2 for anything unless it's a emitter/star/module sold specifically as that. Romisen is a decent company, though, in that they don't ship crap. In any case, emitter bin only only tells small part of the story. That G2 I like is a p2, and I use it all the time because it has great tint and well controlled beam.
The difference with the RC-29 is that it has a label "Q5" printed on the flashlight by Romisen. That is why I am surprised to read about Q3... Romisen was the last trustworthy budget light brand. On the G2 there is no such label on the flashlight, so Romisen doesn't promise you anything.
That's just silkscreen on the barrel. They make a batch of those and use them for everything. You won't find a q3 labeled tube. :)
Romisen is good build quality, but don't read too much into it. Really it doesn't matter. I'd take proper memory or warm tint over a few bins difference any day.
I don't own any 123's, I find this form factor somewhat limiting. I bought the RC29s to give them away to non-flashaholics, therefore they needed to be on standard batteries. I personally would rather buy the C8 (18650 or 3xAAA). The silkscreening is done by Romisen and I do believe the Q5 bin on the 5x RC29 (all from KD) that went through my hands, light output was much better than for example the C78 (claimed Q3). So far Romisen always lived up to my expections... unlike so many other budget light brands ... especially all *****fire brands. I do like the form factor on the c78 better, even if it is the inferior flashlight compared to the RC-29 and I only need 1 flood-to-throw flashlight, so my needs are already fulfilled, but thanks for the suggestions.
I have two Romisen RC-C6. One is a Q3 and the other is the Q5 version. The Q3 version has 3 modes, reverse clicky, and the quality is poor (short grindy tailcap threads, the zoom rotation is very loose). The Q5 has 1 mode, forward clicky, and the quality is very nice (longer, smoother tailcap threads, zooming rotation feels more solid, better quality). The Q5 version is only slighty brighter than the Q3 version.
Got the couple romisen's from them. rc-29 and n3. Good build as expect. Pretty good emitters, too. Nicer but still cool tint on the N3, and kinda blue on the rc-29.
RC-29 draws a monsterous 2.5A. Quite bright, similar to the LT c78, both similar to lithium lights. The zoom lens design is not as good as the c78; there are artifacts through most the of zoom range, but it does go wider (~75deg) and the beam is smooth at the wide end. So if you want a zebralight wannabe for cheap, this is it. I'd expect all the romisen zooms to have a similar if not the same lens design. The perfect zoom would be the c78 with the slightly better romisen finish/build, and the c78 lens that zooms slightly further out.
The N3 is just an awesome light. But first the bad: the modes are absolutely worthless. The draw is 0.9 on 2AA's on High, and 0.7 on Med, and then you have strobe. With a fwd clicky, you operate modes the opposite of a reverse click. Select the mode you want before committing to turning it on. Except it's impossible to tell if you're in Med or Hi, so unless you''re willing to cycle through everything, you just get one or the other at random (not that it matter too much), unless you just happen to catch strobe because there's that 1min or so mode wait to reset back to high.
Enough with the bad. The good is everything else. This thing is bright on AA's, lithium birght. Brighter than the DX 504b "R2" which runs 0.6A @ 4V, and a tighter hotspot than all my p60's despite a smaller reflector. Works perfectly with a 16340 at 0.8A, slightly brighter than AA's. If I can get rid of modes altogether on this light, it would be the perfect general purpose flashlight.
I just received a order from them. 4 MXDL hAAA 2 clicky, 2 twisties, 4 2xaa d batt adaptors, 2 high speed 6 ft. usb cables for $19. Except for over 30 days deliv i was verypleased. Thumbs up!
I have no idea what's up with that. I had no reason to contact their customer service.
:D) and now it's even more obvious that this is a much nicer and much, much saner place. Sort of reminds me of what CPF used to be like back in the day.
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