I suspect part of the problem in reaching a consensus is that different people want different things. Some people want lightweight. Others want high visibility. Others want good illumination. Others want long battery life. Still others want something cheap. Of course, we all want all of these but in reality you have to choose.

I've got a Cateye EL-530 (not to be confused with the EL-510, which is quite different). It's very bright for a AA powered light. I like this because it helps me see in those areas between streetlights. I sometimes use it as a flashlight in my garage. It's got pretty decent battery life (I can usually go about 6 hours before swapping out the rechargeable batteries [not included]). However, it's fairly bulky and takes 4 AA's so it's relatively heavy. My biggest complaint is that it doesn't have a flash mode. I've thought about pairing it with a PB Superflash Stealth to fix that problem.