Electronics, Lighting, & Gadgets - Best place to buy 18650 batteries?

I need about 6-8 of them.

Is dx the cheapest even when the only come in 2 packs?

DX is cheapest, and despite some of the sites setbacks, the Trustfire cells they sell are possibly the best bargain in 18650s now. The Trustfire Black (with flame design) "True 2400" are probably the best performing 18650 cell right now except for maybe something from Samsung. AW cells are a bit more reliable but same or less capacity and alot more expensive. The Trustfire Blue 2500s are almost as good, just not quite as consistent at the high discharges. Ultrafire 3000s are another option but testing shows that at medium discharge rates they don't really perform better than TF, and at high discharge they don't perform well at all.

Check out the graph on page 2 http://www.dealextreme.com/forums/Forums.dx/Forum.21474~threadid.300098

Short answer: Since cost is important, get Trustfire 2400 Black.

Can someone tell me if the information above is still relatively accurate. Since it is over a year old, I was wondering if there are better 18650s out there. "Better", being a relative term, to me means reliable, safe, cost-effective.

All I have ever had is Trustfire Blues. They are only about 8 months old, I originally ordered two 2-packs from DX, one cell was DOA, they replaced it with 2 more so I now have 5. They all seem like they're lasting fine, I rotate them in a 1 cell flashlight. I have the Magicshine mounted now and the flashlight is just for backup, but when I forgot to charge the MS last week and it died on the road yesterday, the P7 with a Trustfire blue in it that was charged 6 weeks ago and has been just sitting there stepped up and ran the P7 for nearly an hour on high without trouble.

I have had good success with the UF 3000 cells, the AW cells are considered one of the best on the market, the AW come in 2200-2600 or 2900 models..

I have bought from lighthound with good success.. Just a note some of the UF 3000 cells on ebay are 2nds or fakes and they will give poor results..

http://www.lighthound.com/Li-Ion-Protected-Batteries_c_24.html

Battery junction also sells the 2600 mah UF cells: http://www.batteryjunction.com/ultrafire-xsl-2600-18650.html

My only experience is with the gray trustfire cells from DX. When I dug my lights out a couple of weeks ago, the cell that was in it the case was still charged up and gave me another two hours of blinding goodness. These cells are two years old, the last time I had charged it was in March. Pretty good performance for the price if you ask me.

I like the TF 2400 with the flame job. I use them in an Ultrafire xp-g light on flashing mode in the day time. I also have some of the TF 2500 and the 2400's seem to last a little longer.

Do you want the best or the cheapest?