Electronics, Lighting, & Gadgets - Cheapo blinkies drom Dealextreme any good?

Anyone used these? Are they at all worth buying?

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.2975

I tried one cheap-o blinkie from DX and it was terrible. Spend the $$ on a good one: Planet Bike SuperFlash. You'll be glad you did.

Can't comment on this particular blinkie. I do however have the 9 LED with built in reflector from DE. It IS cheaply built. I had a section of the thin battery contact break off (used a spring from a pen to fill the gap and that has worked well for months). Have also had problems with it falling off the mount (so I use a small bungee to keep it secure).

On the flip side it's very bright (brighter than most blinkies though far from a Superflash) and is still functioning after over a year of 4 hour a week usage. It's good on batteries, and so far foul weather has not affected its performance. The other nice thing about it is the reflector. You can replace your existing reflector (saving space) and still be legal (where that may be an issue at least).

The great thing about deal extreme is the free, though typically quite slow, shipping to go with the very cheap prices. You can buy just one blinkie for a few dollars and it's still free to ship. Worth the gamble if you want to take a flyer because you're not out anything if it fails.

ccd rider is referring to this light: http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.3639

I actually have a pair for mounting on my kid's tricycles so they can have bike lights like daddy. The light is very directional but is quite bright. Not Super Flash bright though. I'd suggest using it as a non-blinking light as a reflector replacement. Don't forget to tape over the inexplicable hole in the back of the case. A few other companies sell lights with this same reflector/lens assembly in the $20+ range.

Thanks guys. I ordered a couple along with a Aurora P7, cells and charger. I also have on order the Cateye LD270. Guess I'll see what is better and use that. The Planet Superflash will have to wait till I make a US trip [shipping charges to my address is double the cost of the light :cry:]

I have a lot of bikes, so I've gotten in the habit of keeping 5-10 of the dealextreme lights lying around. They're not the best thing in the world, but they work, and they last a long time on a pair of AAs, and they're cheap and ugly so I don't have to worry about theft. On older road bikes, I use clear packing tape to mount them right above the rear brake bridge. They fit perfectly, and go about a year on a set of batteries.

Always a good, cheap backup.

No, they are total rubbish. They are made out of cheap plastic which breaks very easily and the mounts are next to worthless as the lights always fall off. I bought some to give to friends with no lights who stop by and stay late. All of them have either broken or been lost while in use.

Mine have been fine, including lasting thru at least 1 cyclocross race using the included seatpost mount.

I got a bunch of these and put one on the back my my helmet, the other on the seatpost:
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.8278

You're better off with these

http://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?category=&subcategory=&brand=60000307&sku=24053&storetype=&estoreid=&pagename=Shop%20by%20Brand%3A%20Cateye

Anyone used these? Are they at all worth buying?

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.2975



I bought a couple of these. They seemed better than another cheap blinky I bought from them that fell apart instantly. I bought these as they had ok reviews on the DX site.

The cheap planet bike blinky from nashbar is much better and doesn't cost that much more. I bought the DX lights for side marker lights, still need to install them. I wouldn't rely on this light as your main rear light. I've got a PB super flash for that.

I'd say there's some variation in how hard these things get treated too. I have some DX lights to keep around and spares and to put on my more rarely ridden bikes....jury's still out on how they'll hold up over a long period of time, but for the difference in price and relative little difference in apparent quality, it's hard to justify name brands...that is, compared to the lower end bike store/mail order blinkies.

Them on my bike are good stuff,cheap but good.it works so good i have two on my seatpost

Follow up:

Just got a few of these and they are actually brighter and more reflective than my Cateye TL-LD270. Poorly made and cheapo finish but does the job and not at all badly. Like some posters have said - yet to be seen how long they will last.

Way brighter and larger than the cateyes - am going to try the 9 LED ones next.

The 3 LED ones seem OK [although 1 had one LED not working]. Got the 9 LED ones and they are MUCH brighter. Have been using mine for a week and alls fine but my wife's fell off on first ride [broke at a point] and got crushed under a truck.

Well - at that price I guess you need to consider them as spares/disposables.

Am getting my Planetbike blinkies today.