What would you Buy?

You can see the archived poll results on the Wayback Machine:

https://web.archive.org/web/20221220093741/https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/72484

I was tempted with the ITP and Olight that were half price. They are still making a profit. So the mark up on all lights must be high. Decided not to buy because of the shipping costs, Which is better Olight, ITP or Finex?

Fenix>Olight>ITP when it comes to build quality.... ITP is the "budget"-brand of Olight if I remember correctly. I like Olight because of their continuously-variable output (ramping).

Can I get to vote for "Both" :P

I only own one ITP, no Olights and three Fenices (Fenixes just feels wrong to me).

I do own quite a lot of lights (I think around 120 if I could find them all), quite a few of which the manufacturers didn't want you to know they made them.

I own more Ultrafires than any other brand.

I think it's entirely up to you and what do you want your light to do. If i find a cheap one that does what i want it's a no brainer to me. Otherwise i pay the price premium.

The only higher brand (still budget friendly) i have is an XTAR A01 and i like it very much. A generic p60 + 5 mode dropin R5 can't really compare but being half the price makes one wonder the drawbacks...

In my opinion, 3. kinds of flashlight in the world:
- 1. (not budget friendly), with some spare parts, nice packaging, real HA-III coating. better machining, better driver, Bin level. Sometimes, you must pay only the brand name...sometimes also need modification...
- 2., (still budget friendly), but it's worth, sometimes with spare parts, nice packaging, real HA-II-III coating, and sometimes need a little modification to work correctly, or not!
- 3., (Budget friendly), sometimes is a real good FL, often need modification to work correctly, realy good base for modding, experiment with new LED-s etc...
I don't want classified the brandnames.

So what means Premium?! For me: little better coating, nice packaging, for higher price, and not sure the overall performance is always better. Ok, ok better QC, warrantee.

I have now, 25 flashlights, from all kinds, but i like 1. and 2. class.
I'm not against "premium brands", but my experiences, they don't provide more than a little modded Ultrafire etc...And i like DIY things too.
For me the most important thing is that this is worth the price, or not. I already paid 120$ for one flashlight, and 10$ for another, and both worth the price. For me!
A good example: Tiablo A10 and Brinyte D8, (clone of the A10). Tiablo 100$ , Brinyte 40$ . I swap the driver on Brinyte and , they give exactly the same performance, except the Brinyte have a little lower quality coating.. Another example Surfire P60 host, Solarforce L2P.........

I always reading the reviews, modification posts, tests, etc, before i buy. Therefore will i buy XM-L lights on 2011 spring:o)

Budgeteer:
"I think it's entirely up to you and what do you want your light to do. If i find a cheap one that does what i want it's a no brainer to me. Otherwise i pay the price premium."

I agre with you!

P.S.: We have a proverb: "Those products that are not made in china, are fake"

I would buy another TrustFire TR-801 (thanx again for giving great info how2! ) or some similar budget light in 5-12$ teritory (but has to have at least 100 lumens) and that is on -~50% sale :) I think I am healed and my flashlight frenzy has ended! Or is that just my empty wallet talking again :) Well maybe I will buy some xm-l led when they are around 10$...

The TR-801 from that deal just needs a decent driver. The output is atleast 200lm with a decent 1A driver. Also the light does not overheat like an oven when properly regulated.

Try modding them with KD AK-47 driver (get them anywhere you like but at kd are cheaper per 5pcs). Also you can disable unwanted modes by bridging the stars. Its a efficient linear regualtor for a fair price.

The price ratio between a "good light" and a budget light is generally 3. But if you can get that ratio down to 1.5, I really would have no problem paying 50% extra for the better quality. The little iTP A3 is not even twice as expensive as a Trustfire XP-E F23, but you never hear about an A3 just dying or arriving DOA. My A3 spent a month in my front yard lost and was just fine when I found it again. It has been through the washing machine even. So when those things went on clearance, that was a phenomenal deal.

For $22.50 I'd buy the Nitecore D11 (available internationally for $55)...

But I don't think it's worth the price.

Borrowing on Don's rant, no Chinese light has messed up my life in any way. So far, every DOA has been replaced, so DOA = delivery delay + modding body...

**** My A3 spent a month in my front yard lost and was just fine when I found it again. ****

How the heck did you mange to lose it anyway?

Boaz,

I love programmable lights, and the nitecore's interface has always attracted me. But I have not found them at half price yet...

It's tiny! And it is natural color, so it was hard to spot. I carried it loose in my pocket and I guess when I was getting my keys out or something, it fell out. It was near my sidewalk. Now I've got it attached to the keys, which isn't that convenient for lighting up my front door to put the key in.