XinTD, no hesitation.
I have three different ones. Ultrafire, Citipower and Romisen T601. Mine is the older Romisen from Shiningbeam. It only has two modes and I hear the new ones are better with a lower low mode and a brighter high mode. The Romisen is my favorite of the three I have. It's brighter and throws better than the other two. It's also the most expensive by about $10.
I still like my KDC8 for the money.
The XinTD sounds good, but you can driver swap a KDC8 for less.
XinTD, Ultrafire, KD, Romisen & Citipower. Any others worth mentioning?
Has anyone done a Poll on the C8's with the XM-L ? Would it be worth doing ?
I've had the KD and use the Ultrafire. The XinTD is nice but to do it over I'd get one with a stainless bezel and put the latest AMC 3A driver in it.
If you can afford it, the XIN TD C8 is a much better light in terms of overall quality of driver, host, fit and finish, and the Neutral beam (which is important to me). Of my other C8 lights, the KD is probably the brightest, and I think the PrairieFire fits well into that group (if you can still get it).
BTW, once you learn to hate having to cycle through blinky modes, you will gladly pay the $10 not to have to do it.
I keep seeing people remark about modding the driver on the KD-C8. Is there a three mode (non blinky) driver that is suitable for this torch ?
Kdc8: best value light I ever bought
I'm leaning towards a KD-C8 and then updating the driver. I don't care about the 5 buck saving over the XinTD, I just think something is personally worth more if you put a little effort in to it.
Ok here's the Noob question: I'm sure there's a link on this. Need advise on building a dropin, heatsink-thermal epoxy-soldering-jumping and customizing the driver.
I'm happy with the $12 "C8" I purchased from eBay, but only because it has the tighter hotspot/deeper reflector design. https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/7421
After replacing the driver, it has been an excellent light. I still don't know what this unusual light is, as I haven't been able to find it listed specifically on any site...
This, if you want good and relatively cheap
I don't have a C8 but if I were to buy one I would go Romisen 601, KD C8 or most likely XinTD C8.
#1) XinTD, best all-round, would be a good buy at $50.
#2) Ultrafire C8 upgraded with Intl-Outdoors module. See it here:
https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/5507
#3) Keygos KE-5, mine is driven at at 3.6A, it's a thrower. Ebay dealer Go-Market has them on sale for $19.79 right now. Mine is well made and very bright.
#4) KD C8, it's brighter than most C8's because it is driven at over 3.0A. Mine draws 3.3A with an Xtar2600. Otherwise it's just average.
+1
What gives the XinTD (I don't own one) the edge over the Keygos? Just curious.
I'm guessing that you know what you're going to receive (ie. which driver, which tint) and the fact that it's customizable for tint and modes. The Keygos seems to be a lottery of which driver will be in it (many reports of under-driven ones).
-Garry
The fit, finish and quality of parts make the XinTD seem more like a Fenix or other upscale flashlight than a budget light.
The finish and machining on mine are perfect. The Nanjg 105C driver is reliable and even after you buy it the mode pattern can be changed. That is because the stars you solder on are on the battery side of the circuit board.
Some features that the KE-5 has better are that it is somewhat brighter and a little lighter weight. My KE-5 is driven at 3.6A, Direct Drive while the XinTD is 2.8A regulated.
The Keygos is nice, but overall the XinTD is a big step up, considering that the difference is only $10.
I believe the XinTD C8 is considered the better here, because of the excellent driver Nanjg105 which you can choose if you want 3 or 5 modes, blinky or not, and also CW o NW emitter.
See here:
http://www.intl-outdoor.com/xintd-c8-xml-u2-910lumens-multi-modes-flashlight-p-308.html
It's slightly longer than the Ultrafire C8 and clones, but look at the pics down in the page, the massive bronze screw-in pill for the emitter, which is also screwed to the SMO reflector.
