You certainly can't beat the price. And the spec is more honest than most where it only claims 1 watt. I'd be interested to hear how you get on with one of these. The one that only takes AA batteries will likely be the more efficient of the two and therefore should run longer.
I'd like to know whether the first one is the No.5 or Sipik version, I couldn't find any clear evidence.
The second one is interesting, though I'm pretty sure it doesn't have a Cree, but rather an Osram or a generic chine se led. Plus the bezel is round but the head (where both join) isn't which might look awful.
Aloha and welcome to BLF JAS! Not too bad a light for the price but I have too many 1*AA lights already but......maybe just 1 more........noooooo.........got......to.......prevent.......
The later looks good on spec and looks like it may well take AA li-Ion and who knows if we throw up one more of the middle bezel, we can feed two AAs :bigsmile: . I have taken few questions to the seller and let see how it goes.
From the picture, the first one looks similar to the OP ebay light so may well have an OSRAM.
@fishinfool : Comeon, You can do it...Just one more time....
Just bought this for $5.49 on Meritline: http://www.meritline.com/focus-zoom-lens-flashlight-light---p-44807.aspx Seems to have the yellow warning triangle of the Sipik, but is not marked as such. They all seem so similar anyway, it's hard for me to tell which is which. Guess I'll see when it arrives.
Understood - I’m fully expecting Osram and 1 mode. I guess the led type is the main difference between the Meritline/ebay and others? Their appearances are all very similar to me.
midieval10 - you're quite welcome. I figured, for $5 and change for an Osram, how bad could it be? I have an RC-29, impressive light for $14, but following the hopeful "90/30" rule for budget lights (90% of the performance for 30% of the cost) I thought maybe (just maybe) I'll like this super-budget zoom.
sb - I saw that one too, very inexpensive. I just wish they would give more clues about the led type.
I strongly suspect it is an OSRAM like these other ones. Notice that they claim output of 100 lumens for 1 hour, which is exactly what these OSRAM zoomers are giving.
They really did some nice photography of this one, especially for a cheapie. Frankly, the design is hideous, but it looks rather high quality for the price. Disassembles on both ends.