Originally Posted by
sknhgy
Inner tubes, rubber bands, etc, etc. There are just too many operations to charging a Dinotte battery pack for my lazy a$$ to do.
P7's use one 18650 battery. The P7 is held to the handlebar in an easy-to-use clip. Snaps right in and out. It's just so much simpler to use. When it's time to ride I want to ride, not fiddle with batteries and rubber bands. I have 4 of the 18650 batteries, so that gives me a good 4-8 hours of riding time (depending on the mode) between charges.
I do use my Dinotte, just not near as often, and knowing what I do now I would probably buy something different if I was a first-time buyer. Something like my Shiningbeam MC-E flashlight. You could get the light, charger, and batteries for the same or less than the Dinotte 200.
AND the Shiningbeam works well as a regular flashlight.
As I was saying, I definitely agree with you - it's waaaaaaaaay to much hassle with the Dinotte.
However, I do feel obligated to point out (if I have this right) that the P7 has around a 1 hour runtime, right? The Dinotte is 2 hours. If your ride length happens to be between 1 and 2 hours (which it may not, just saying "if it is"), you may be trading the hassle of rubber bands and such vs changing the battery mid-ride. This may change dramatically based on your ride (raining? riding in a group? snowing? -20 degrees?).
As I said though, I do certainly agree that the Dinotte AA version is a ton of hassle. How much did your P7 battery and charger cost extra? The Dinotte has the same thing - having to buy AA batteries, and often a charger as well - just asking. The lith-ion version of the light (probably intendtionally) is much, much easier to charge, as I mentioned you often don't even have to take it off the bike - but it also costs like twice as much.
I still think a decent AA battery case for the Dinotte AA version would make it much less hassle. :-)