Originally Posted by
ItsJustMe
Probably the Dinotte 400L at $229. It's almost exactly as bright as the MagicShine 900 at $85 (the MS may be a tiny bit brighter, I don't know), but if you insist on paying $200, it's a good choice.
The MagicShine reviews that say the battery isn't waterproof do not apply to the current generation (they made it much more waterproof in gen 2, totally waterproof(*) in gen 3). I have the original and the battery is CERTAINLY not waterproof.
The other complaint is that the wires are not durable. They've apparently done something about this as well but we won't know until people have it on the road for a few months. Also the very newest version has a hard plastic shell around the battery with a backlit battery gauge.
Here's the latest version:
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.44459
I really like using GeoManGear.com as a source for MS lights - you get it in 2 days instead of a month, and they carry Lupine as well.
FWIW, the MagicShine is a pretty close clone of the Lupine Tesla 4, which is a $370 light, if that makes you feel better about only paying $85.
I have the first generation MagicShine, and while I'd love to upgrade to the latest version, the problems with it are really only a minor annoyance and are easily dealt with (I keep the battery in a ziplock bag, and I ordered a couple of extension cords from DX and replaced the connectors that failed after about a year's use. This took about half an hour and the new connectors look more durable).
(*) OK, nothing's TOTALLY waterproof, not even submarines. But riding in torrential downpours with the battery strapped to the frame shouldn't be a problem anymore.
lol, based on your other posts I would also say the Dinotte has much better built quality. The wires have never frayed on mine, the light has always performed flawlessly in rain, Dinotte customer service has been like 9/10 (sometimes they're a little cranky, but on the other hand they let me exchange a light ordered 6 months later when they came out with a new one). I'd prefer to pay a little more in order to not have to track down, order, and replace frayed wires later...though I do have to admit that the 2 times as much cost does make it a tough decision vs the Magicshine. If it was $30 more it would be a no brainer for me, but obviously it's a "bit" more than that. :-)
One drawback of the Dinotte 400l is the mount - it's not easily removable, it's attached with screws, at the same time you can snap the mount off with your hand so it's not theft resistant either. (I see the new Dinotte tail light claims to have a quick release option...wonder if they make a new one for the 400l...)
One advantage of the 400l is that you can buy a lens kit with it for...$5? It's not going to give you a "cutoff", but it would let you change lenses to switch between a narrower and a wider beam. I personally like the beam pattern that was created with 2 400L's - the first 400l on high, the 2nd 400l on medium, one led on the stock narrow beam, the 2nd with the semi-flood lens. This was actually the first light / combination I owned that I felt was good enough for road riding on my road bike at night. (Not that that stopped me from always wanting more, lol...)