Originally Posted by genec
Yes and no... while the light and battery together seem to be a nice system, they are in fact propriatary, so that any replacements or repairs will also be as costly.
I have a NR digital pro-12 system and paid around $300 for it new, I am now faced with having to replace the $159 battery, when there are clearly power sources available for much much less, that deliver the same capacity. But because of the mount and connection, I am somewhat screwed. (although in reality I will probably forgo the cool "waterbottle" mount and just put a bunch of NiMH in a bag, at 1/4 the price).
So while really great lighting is a good thing, getting locked into a specific "limited release" system sucks.
You really need to get into an HID light to be able to go for four hours and have that much light. It's not just about power it's about run time. Some of us need four hour runtimes. No halogen off the shelf will do that and be as bright as a 10 watt HID. Unless you have a very big heavy battery. The repair for my Nightrider Blowtorch was free. Now it's three years old. It will still go four hours and 10 min. Unless I kill the battery or damage it myself it will still be free to repair it. Niterider even pays return shipping
Did you call nightrider and talk to them about it? They don't want emails. It may depend on if you maintained the battery properly. If you actually price out the exact replacement batteries (if you go Nimh or Nicad) you need and make a housing and then buy or build the new charger you need, because you now have different batteries it may not be cheaper. I priced it once, it was about the same. It may be more, they pay less for parts than you do.
If you go lead acid then yes, much cheaper, but heavier and bigger, but reliable.