Over the past few months, I've been picking up the odd budget LED light bulbs via different sources.
From left-to-right: Standard 14W (60W equiv.)CFL bulb, eBay purchased 6W LED bulb, MF purchased 4W warm bulb in GU10 base and E27 bases, MF-purchased 3W warm bulb, DX purchased cool SMD bulb, and eBay purchased cool bulb.
A bit about each bulb:
eBay purchased 6W LED bulb: I purchased a pair of these bulbs. They are rated 6W. They each contain 22 warm white 5050 SMDs. They give a light that is slightly green, but not unpleasantly so. When looking at the emitters directly, you notice a bit of 60Hz flicker, but it's not normally noticed in the room. On one of the bulbs I purchased, half of the emitters cut out when the bulb gets warm. I disassembled the bulb, and found that there are two circuits of series-connected LEDs driven from the same output on the driver. Apparently, there is a bad component in one of these circuits. I haven't found any bad traces/solder joints. I am currently using these bulbs for porch lights, and they work well for that, with the exception of the defective bulb.
Manafont purchased 4W bulbs in GU10 and E27 base (http://www.manafont.com/product_info.php/gu10-41w-4w-360lumen-warm-white-led-light-bulb-85v265v-ac-p-6415 and http://www.manafont.com/product_info.php/e27-41w-4w-360lumen-warm-white-led-light-bulb-85v265v-ac-p-6416):
These are essentially the same bulbs, only with different bases. They are rated at 4W, and each has 4 warm-white emitters and a TIR optic designed for a five-emitter lamp. These seem to be rather well built, and the aluminum heat sinks do a very good job of transferring heat away from the emitters. These emit a very pleasing tint of light, focused in a beam too narrow for room illumination, but well suited for spot and accent lighting. Unfortunately, I dropped one of these bulbs on the floor, and it wouldn't light afterward. I disassembled the bulb and noted a single surface-mount capacitor missing. I felt it fall through my fingers, but was never able to find the component to repair this bulb. I am very happy with these lamps and would recommend them to anyone who needs a cool-running, high-efficiency spot/accent type lamp. I have had four of these bulbs in a kitchen light fixture where they have been used for two months now with no failures or issues. Here is one disassembled showing the construction:
Manafont-purchased 3W bulb (http://www.manafont.com/product_info.php/e27-31w-3w-270lumen-warm-white-light-bulb-lamp-silver-85v265v-ac-p-7145):
I purchased two of these bulbs from Manafont. They are labled as 'Uniquefire'. They emit a pleasant tint of light, but are only bright enough for a desk lamp for very basic illumination. If I were using it as a work lamp at a desk, it would not be enough light for detailed work. Of the two bulbs I received, one was well assembled, while the second did not have the LED assembly secured to the heat sink. It is supposed to be glued with a gray 'Fujik'-type of compound, but it was not attached. The diffuser results in a wider area of light, but it's still too directional to use in a tabletop lamp with a shade. I wouldn't recommend these lights unless it suited a particular application you have in mind and are willing to double-check your bulbs.
DX cool-white SMD bulb (http://www.dealextreme.com/p/e27-3w-18-smd-5050-led-white-light-bulb-110v-47795):
I purchased three of these cool-white bulbs from DX. They each have 18 5050 SMDs and are rated at three watts. These lights are very dim. They have a very cool tint with a wide area of illumination, but are too dim for general use. Even when used in a desk lamp, they do not have sufficient brightness to properly illuminate a work area. I am currently using them in a ceiling fan fixture in my computer room where they provide enough light to navigate within the room, but not enough to actually do any work. These would possibly be well suited for accent lighting in a home theater type of room as they emit such a soft and subdued light.
The eBay Special:
I purchased a pair of these lights from a HK dealer on eBay. They were listed for $1 each with ~$4 shipping. I accidentally purchased them in an E14 base, so I was then forced to purchase a pair of E14-to-E27 adaptors which was rather dissappointing. They each have 108 cool-white emitters. These lights are quite easily the worst of the lot. Even though I purchased the pair together, they were shipped separately, and each bulb was labled differently. One was labled as AC230V-50Hz @ 5W while the second is listed as AC110-240V 50-60Hz @ 3W, but both bulbs emit the same amount of light when used. These lights are EXTREMELY dim and are essentially worthless for any application I can think of.
