Mine seemed to take forever from Manafont. I don't remember the date, but it was listed as shipped before the Chinese new year set in, and I just got it a few days ago. I'm thinking about 5 weeks, not sure. I've learned to develop the patience of a saint waiting for shipments from Asia. But this was my hardest one ever, and I think the longest one (which still arrived). Bummer to check your mailbox tens of times straight, and not have it be there. 4 weeks is standard from DX. Stuff from Singapore sometimes gets here sooner. Considering mine was shipped pre Chinese new year, I don't know what the hold-up is. Do the Chinese shipping companies even go on holiday??
XM-L's are fantastic and I am an evangelist prognosticator, and in a relative sense, they are really bright, but on an objective level, well, I think there's room to grow... lots. I hear people using the term "blinded" and "don't look straight at it". In broad daylight, I can look at my XM-L on high. Sure I get spots for a bit, and my pupils are already constricted, but then again the reflector is focusing all those lumens at me too. I admit I haven't done that with the smooth Manafont one, just the KD one which is OP and wider hotspot... and draws almost an amp less on high! That super-bright mode doesn't last long at all... and my charger only goes to 4.11 volts anyway.
Anyone complaining about high mode could simply run XM-L at medium which is still 300+ lumens, like an XP-G on high but like half the draw. XP-G has a wider beam pattern though--better for walks, definitely (from experience), but ONLY superior in that one area, IMO. That is the ONLY reason I'd consider holding onto my XP-G drop-in and not passing it to a friend. Great for walks. XM-L is neither wide nor narrow beam. Kind of awkward that way... (esp the KD one). Being picky, I think I'd rather have it go more in either direction: throwy or floody, I care not. OTOH you could come back and say the beam is 'balanced', but I'm starting to think that emitters should have kind of a defined purpose or goal. (Mainly: throw or flood.)
I stil... really want to see a nude XM-L operating indoors in "candle" or "full flood" mode, like on a headlamp or just an open, reflectorless flashlight with the head removed. If true at around 800L, that should look similar to a 50-60 W incan lamp. The head on my damned Spiderfire P7 is glued on so tight, that even after backing the f-er and ruining the finish, I still can't get the head off to get candle mode. If I could, I'd so be upgrading the star on that thing. (I can screw the bezel off and remove the reflector, but a significant amount of light is blocked by the sides.) Almost bought a nearly identical XM-L-equipped C8 just b/c the photos showed the pieces unglued and apart. But I can't find anything with a smooth reflector AND! 3 non-blinky modes. Okay.. the Yezl Y6 at CnQualityGoods.com does fit the bill, but the reports of the driver only drawing 2.0 to 2.5 amps on high (varied reports), killed the deal for me. The XM-L is very nice at 2 amps, but it's something new at 3. Any reports of these being driven over 10 watts? I still want one and what I've seen online looks nice. I also wonder if the tailcap can interchange with the C8 (which I assume is also interchangeable with WF-500 and many others).