At $26.99 this is another old stock bargain from Tmart. (Unfortunately, they are now sold out.):
★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆
Pros:
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Excellent build and finish.
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Fresnel type optics that focus the whole output of the LED.
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Good throw and large focused spot.
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Good flood.
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Very nice unusual user interface.
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No blinky modes, or pulse width modulation or ripple in any mode — pure DC.
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Two of the driver resistors are at the tail, reducing heat in the head.
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Good output without needing lithium cells.
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Smooth head slide and switch action.
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Nice simple shape with compound curves.
Cons:
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It has an old XR-E, so total light output is limited in stock form.
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The arrangement of the battery is not space efficient, so it is very bulky.
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It doesn’t take lithium ion cells.
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The reliability record of these lights reflects their innovativeness more than their build quality.
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This brand is usually over priced.
The battery holder is similar to that of the Lenser P7.2 tiny review: Led Lenser P7.2, except for the arrangement of the cells.
Only half of the volume of the battery tube is actually filled with battery.
Redundant battery holder contacts.
The pill and LED are similar to those of the POP lite T62, $30.41 from DX http://www.dx.com/p/pop-lite-t62-cree-xr-e-q5-180lm-4-mode-white-light-zooming-flashlight-black-1-x-18650-158619#.VaHtvPky1LE.
POP LITE T62 Upgrade Mod - Pics Added
The feature that marks it as old stock and takes off one star is the little old XR-E LED. But that can be fixed.
The optics is standard Lenser/Coast/POP lite/Fresnel:
As in the Lenser P7.2 and the POP lite T34, the three mode driver is a mechanical switch and resistors. Pressing the switch part way unconditionally engages an intermittent turbo mode. Pressing it all the way and releasing it cycles between high, low and off. No blinky modes or pulse width modulation, because there is no active electronics to make it blink. To change the modes one solders resistors, rather than re-writing firmware. This uses both the LED and the battery more efficiently than most electronic drivers do.
There is a notch under the sliding o-ring of the pill to break vacuum so it can slide.
Note the very nice threads on the pill. (The pill appears to be die cast.) The build and finish are excellent, though I prefer the more matte finish of the newer P5.2 and P7.2.
The serial number of my example is 223696.
The thing about these lights that sets them apart and ahead is the optics. Rather than some of the light going into spill, as with conventional or one zone TIR reflector, or some of it being lost in throw mode as with an aspheric lens, nearly all of it goes into the spot, whether zoomed in or out. Carclo optics has two zones, but the space behind the convex lens is smaller. This optics differs from Fresnel’s 19th Century lighthouse optics Fresnel lens - Wikipedia mainly in that there are only two zones, instead of dozens. Judging from the highly sloped transmitting surfaces, and from the limited zoom of the much older Coast/Lenser TT7438CC http://www.ebay.com/itm/231523982515, it appears to have taken some design effort to find a two zone configuration such that the zones don’t interfere with each other or with the LED and its cooling. However there is no obvious advantage in having the minimum number of zones, as shown by the effectiveness of flat Fresnel lenses when they have been used in flashlights, including zoomies.
Beam shots, fully charged batteries:
Lenser with Eneloops in high mode on left, TangsFire C8 with protected Panasonic on right, showing shadow setup at lower right
Lenser in turbo on left, TangsFire on right
Lenser in turbo on left, UltraOK SK-68 with IMR AW 14500 on right
Problem
In this century, one expects electronics to be more reliable and easier to fix than mechanics, and unfortunately this has been an example. The three way switch stopped going into turbo direct drive while pressed. For an ordinary user, that would not be much of a problem, because high is plenty bright and turbo was only intermittent anyway, but for a flashaholic it had to be fixed.
So I took it apart. The problem was probably no more than a spec of something non-conducting, so taking it apart and putting it back together should have fixed it, but it is a tricky and fragile piece and I am not a racing mechanic like my brother, so I bent the contacts putting it back together. I tried several times to straighten it but could not get it to work reliably, so I gutted the switch and stuck in a one way reverse clicky switch.
I connected it, trimmed things to fit and added a 1 mm. x 16 mm. star as a spacer. Now it works only on turbo and has no intermittent. There is room in the head for an FET driver, but that is another job.
I have had a lot of reliability problems with Lensers and POP lites, but like them anyway because I am an idealist. Maybe Lensers sold for full price with warranty have better quality control, but I doubt it.
★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆
Summary:
Overall, this is an very good, interesting and unusual flashlight. It isn’t a budget flashlight, but Tmart has had this old model at a more or less budget price. I take off one star, because, as is, the XR-E LED limits the output. It out throws a well regarded C8, but the spot size is not what one should expect from this optics. The combination of output in the central spot and run time is excellent, perhaps unique for a light that doesn’t require lithium cells. The unusual 4 x AA configuration, with nominal voltage of 4.8 or 6 volts, gets a lot out of the old XR-E and calls for bigger LEDs and less resistors. Reliability problems have been common with these POP lite and LED Lenser lights. (Switch problems were also reported with a full price warrantied Lenser.) I like them anyway, because I am idealistic and I have been able to fix them.
It is now listed as discontinued at Tmart. It can be found elsewhere, but at higher prices.