+1
Way too much of a hassle with this whole shipping issue people have had, “back order” crap and now a second GB for a battery carrier? Especially when you can buy the exact light for $26-27 and change already in the USA.
If you do decide to do a battery carrier GB then count me in for 2+ but I dont feel like waiting for two shipments (flashlight and carrier, especially now with this back order thing). IMO this should have been thought about prior to going “live” but I know things come up. I guess its because I am very organized so when I do my GBs everything is 100% prior to the start but things do come up.
Its too bad since I love this light and highly recommend it but at some point its not worth saving a few bucks with the added drama and delays. Plus these are gifts for people so I kinda need them ASAP and finding them in the USA really helps me out. Best of luck to the rest of you, hope they are not delayed too much and the back order crap is just a mistake.
I think a GB for the battery carrier might go over better since a ton of people already have this light and not all of them have the IOS version so they would like a cheap but nice carrier. I’d buy 2 for the two lights I just bought, since Im assuming they’d be using AA cells and not 22650s like I mainly do
@OP, not bashing you or anything, its just becoming too much of a hassle or unknown for me. I was on the fence about this but since GB said they’d ship them quickly and the whole $5 coupon thing, I figured heck I’ll try it. Now with the back order and poor communication between GB and supplier, ehhh just doesnt seem like as good of a deal or risk anymore.
Whoa - where do you get it for $27 in the US? Only thing I found was on Amazon in Miami, only qty 1 left for $45 shipped, plus local sales tax I assume (http://www.amazon.com/5Modes-2Groups-1600lm-LED-Flashlight/dp/B00IUIAIN8/ref=aag_m_pw_dp?ie=UTF8&m=AE6EZ6RFO8XAN). Plastic carrier with Simon's pics...
Oh, here it is, but they are in China - didn't know it was available that cheap, specially from them... Shipping brings it up to $33.65 for me...
I've ordered a few times form GearBest and no probs so far, and I'll probably never use the carrier.
^^No that is not it. That is in China from what I can tell anyways. Also not telling where I found mine since I dont want to take away from this GB. If after this ends and people still want more then I may say where I got mine but not saying a word during this GB
Ordered. Still don’t see what all the fuss is about with regards to the AA carrier…
The GB is a done deal, doesn't matter now... GearBest apparently got their qty on orders since they appear to have run out of stock.
One is made of cheap plastic (similar to those found in dollar flashlights at registers of stores) while the other is made of aluminum, has nice springs and contact boards. If you drop the plastic one when changing batteries then there is a higher chance you can break it. Its a little harder to break something that is made from quality material. Also the “IOS” style carrier has less resistance or delivers the power from the batteries better than the cheap one (different tests show different results but the “IOS” style has always been better)
Long story short, you get what you pay for. If you have the opportunity to buy the better carrier for $4 more then do it. You wont break it, ever and it will deliver slightly better performance. IMO its stupid for flashlight companies to make a decent quality light and throw in a cheap plastic carrier that breaks easy. Some people have broke the carrier just popping the AA cells out of it. If they just make them in bulk to begin with then it wont be that much of an added cost to the flashlight.
Its not like its a spacer for 18650 cells, which doesn’t matter if its cheap tubing. This is what holds the batteries, delivers the power to the driver, thus is the “heart” of the flashlight. If it breaks then you are forced to use Li-Ion cells (to some people that doesn’t matter but others want to use AA cells).
Long story short, if you dont care that it has a cheap carrier then fine. You are taking the risk it will break on you; it may or it may not. It comes down to value added. You personally need to figure out if there is added value in the better carrier. Is that value worth $4 or is it not? To me its worth the $4 for a better carrier, to you it might not be. Everyone has different values and desires in what they purchase. Some people value quick shipping and customer service that is helpful. Those people would rather pay a few $$$ more to have assurance that if something happens, it will be fixed. Other people only care about cost and wont spend a few $$$ for a guarantee, fast shipping, better quality, etc.
No one can tell you what you believe but to most of us, the fuss is because its something we want and believe is worth the extra cash. Fuss is added because this is something thought of AFTER the majority of people purchased. That means those people who want the better carrier have to have TWO shipments AND wait an extra 1-2 months for them to be produced and shipped. Im pretty sure people would have rather had the option to get the better carrier up front and that way everything could have been shipped as one package.
Its not something against Mad Max or GB, its mostly the postal system. HKPost and foreign shipping companies suck. Heck USPS sucks at times. It can be a great deal but if packages get lost, its no longer a good deal. If you’ve never had a lost package or damaged package then you wouldn’t know what we are talking about. Dealing with the shipper, company you bought it from and USPS to figure out who is at fault and how you get a replacement/refund is a PITA!
I’d rather pay a few bucks more and not have to worry about that hassle. It could be for nothing but that’s what I believe in
How can you tell they are out of stock?
Ah, I guess I ordered after they sold out even though I put my name on the original list. Maybe I’ll get it in 2014.
So is it sold out>?
Did you say long story short ? What's the story here ?? :P
+1
I want a better carrier too ... and i'll wait .
Please realize that GearBest just sold over 500 OPUS chargers on very much the same type of group buy. There's no way they could have expected that many orders. Not sure why there's such a doubtful sentiment when they just proved themselves recently, and it's still going on - amazing actually. I've never seen a dealer stretch a group buy deal like this. The time they quoted was like a week at most for the delay -- that's better than a straight DX order on their typical stock item.
Also, the F13 clone group buy deal with GearBest went pretty well too. so, two pretty good group buys, again, both very recent.
I really don't get it why there is so much negative concerns - sure, nothing goes smoothly but I'm thinking this went pretty well compared to other recent BLF group buys. Am I right, or what? I'm confused here...
Again in both those GB's, basically these were very good value deals and I don't see this GB any different or going any worse. I really thought the AA carrier was shown in their product pics from day one -- this should never have been confused, it was right there all along. I knew from all the cheaper offerings of this light the higher quality carrier would not be included - no one but IOS sells this light with the better carrier and an AR lens, but you pay for it of course. I was more concerned about possible cloning or inferior manufacturing, like cutting costs on the bezel, metal or finish, but I think that was disproved by BLFers getting them from other dealers already.
I'm posting these concerns with some selfishness - I don't want the carrier issue to delay my order because I'm 100% fine with the carrier as pictured, because chances are I'll never use it (I got the IOS carrier laying around). But again, it's exactly what I expected, as advertised.
Again, Max - nice job on putting this together and please don't be put off...
@Gearbest: PLEASE let them make 100s of them, because you would be the only seller to sell them, and many many people want some. Think about all those Maglite fans!!!!!!!
Crappy ones are still being sold everywhere.
And if you let them make 100s you could reduce the price as well, and therefore sell even more ;)
Side note: the X3 has poor anodizing, it's very weak.
I'm confused... You mean the IOS X3 has poor anodizing as well? I thought everyone liked the X3 and it didn't matter from where?? I'm totally confused and surprised, and seriously... Where's this coming from? Sarcasm aside...
This is the thread about X3's from WallBuys and BangGood: https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/23062. Impressions seem pretty positive to me, but it seems almost utterly useless on AA's??
Quote from the thread by a well respected BLF'er (
):
"Just got mine from Banggood, and I'm surely impressed!!!! Especially for $35...
I mean build quality wise.. No sharp edges, and couldn't see any flaws in its anodization. Nice color as well."
The ano on my IOS version is awesome! Not a scratch or chip in it and it was in my center console for months!
Looks like a nice light. I’d go for it if it weren’t for all the pages of controversy … 
Not sarcasm, honest observation.
I did some beam shots some weeks ago, and put the xintd together with my HD2010 in a bag (I know, stupid) but it was only a few meters to my balcony, and when I finished with the beam shots it had quite a bit of damage. And I couldn't find anything on the HD2010.
You want some pictures? I'm not making this up.
So far I have not heard of a XinTd branded light that is not well-made…regardless of model
Didn't say they are not well made, just saying anodizing is weak. Weaker than other lights.