Was going to buy Magic Shine. Now what to buy?
 

I was going to buy a Magic Shine in the next week or so and now in lieu of the recent battery recall, I don't know what to do. What would be a reasonable substitute for around $100?

p7 flashlights with extra batteries.

I think at this point, I probably will do one of two things:

1) Get the light head and only from Geoman and then get an aftermarket battery pack and a charger.

2) Get a MG P Rocket XP G R5 from Shiningbeam. I just got one from them and I think it is as good as the P7 and more reliable. Using old 1 year old Trustfire 2500ma 18650, I was able to get 1 hour and 20 minutes of runtime. I have yet to test the runtime with 2900 mah AW 18650, but I am confident it will give me at least 1 1/2 hour. The brightness is slightly less than the P7 but has a better throw and less flood. Best thing is that the switch works flawlessly :)

I'm keeping my MS headlights. I'm just getting these batteries from BatterySpace. Coleen found them the other day :) Since I carry mine in a waterproof pannier, I don't care that these are "naked". They're still en route. BatterySpace was very slow with shipping, took them 5 days to ship them. Once I get them I'll post about them.

I saw that ADAM also , but I was not sure since they are sold as "Chinese Cells". There are others that do not indicate that label.
I know from my business that when we have the options of Chinese Batteries vs Japanese we choose the later.
The truth is the Japanese are usually panasonic or similar but I think it's a "quality label" from the manufacturer of our clocks.

That said, I may just call BatterySpace and see what they say.

They also have a model with brand name batteries that costs more. I would have ordered that one but I found it too late.

Can you link the more expensive battery pack. Also I'm anxious to see if the connector on the battery pack you ordered fits and if the MS charger charger works with it.

Simply buy the light head and spend $50 bucks on a better battery from anywhere else, oh and get a matching charger. You'd still be better off than most deals.

I think the P7 with extra batteries is a better deal. Building your own 14.4 volt MR16 setup is pretty easy and super bright. I've gone from 2 x P7 (more or less a magicshine), to a DIY over volted halogen, to a dynamo powered supernova. I think the DIY halogen gave out the most light, WAY better than the P7 setup, but I started to get sick of the battery pack and wires so I made the move to dynamo power. The supernova is bright and has lots of light, but since it's such a narrow blue beam (versus the warm yellow halogen light) it seems a little darker at first. I don't feel like i'll outrun the supernova, even though it seems a little darker than my old halogens.


Unless you're really opposed to doing a little soldering (or I guess you could crimp it) i'd go the DIY halogen method > P7 > MS with battery pack.

Any details on the DIY halogen setup you made?

Ftw

Here is the more expensive one. Mine should be delivered today. I'll let you know if the plug is the same.

BTW, not everything made in China is junk. My old MS battery that I bought last December still gives me over 2h of runtime on high.

I'm not so sure that pack will work with a MS light. It is a 6v Regulated pack and designed for Halogen lamps. At a output of 6v, the red indicator light of the MS may stay on constantly and the current consumption will be different than a regular pack at 7.4v.

Yes, not all stuff made in China are crap. I love my AW 18650 and they are made in China.

I'm leaning towards the P7 option. What is the best for the money at the present time? I have searched threads but most info seems to be a couple years old? Can someone recommend a good P7 light, charger and batteries?

Why in the world would anyone choose to invest in a halogen setup at this point? LED's are so much more efficient and they can be setup to have plenty of light output. Halogens waste so much energy in heat that you're carrying around at least 2-3x the battery weight to get 50% less life than an LED (P7 or similar) setup. Not to mention the light head can burn you if you accidentally touch it while riding.

This debacle is very similar to what happened with batteries for mainstream laptops about a year and a half ago (Sony, Apple, Toshiba, etc.). The problem was traced back to the battery manufacturer who had "upgraded" NiMH battery packs by simply swapping in LiON cells, but keeping the same PCB. Charging-rates, voltages and temp-increases are different between NiMH versus LiON and the protection PCB needs to be calibrated to the specific cells used.

Interesting. Thanks Colleen, I did read into the details. It's called a 7.4V battery, but its working voltage is 6V, o figure....

If you arent in a hurry, I would wait and see what comes out of Geoman's testing. After this is over, the Magicshine will have the most extensively tested battery pack on the market.

I have to send all my batteries back and I needed a replacement before I do that. But I agree if you don't need it now, wait until Geoman gets new batteries.

What is your price range? DX has P7 around the $35 range, but quality is not the best. I have three P7 and all three have switch problem. I did some DIY fixing and the problem always came back. On the other hand, I own 8 flashlight (yes, eight flaslight, no typo error) bought from Shiningbeam and so far they have no problems even after three months of usesage. Cost more? Yes but better quality.

Regardless of what your picking is, get some good battery and charger. After all these threads, this is almost a redundancy statement. Just to give you an idea, I charge a AW 2600 mah battery and a Trustfire 2500 mah battery off of a Pila charger which is the best 18650 charger in my opinion. I ran a time test on my P7 and noted a 2.4 amps draw. After 60 minutes of runtime, the 2500 mah Trustfire was down to 3.17 volts and the light was dim. The AW 2600 mah battery was at 3.81v after 60 minute and still bright. After 90 minute, the AW read 3.66v and the light brightness was still fairly bright. I was surprise since the rating on the AW was only 2600 mah which it should have been out of juice near the one hour mark.

You can buy a Fenix LD20 for about $60 and it puts out 180 lumens on high using AA rechargeable batteries. I used my Fenix for 2 years as my only headlight until I got a Magicshine last fall. I switched the Fenix to my helmet when I got the MS, and still use it as my sole light during the summer. I actually run my Fenix on the second highest setting most of the time, which is about 100 lumens.

OK, I got my batteries. They're actually waterproof: the whole pack is sealed in thick, hard rubber (as in the description) not some thin tape like the old MS batteries, they look very solid. And yes, the plug fits the MS light and chargers! Edit: There is some incompatibility though! I'll post about it soon. They're charging right now. I'll report more next week after I use them a few times.

I actually like the flat form factor better. They will fit in pannier pockets better or in a jersey back pocket, shorts pocket, etc.

The only thing I don't like is the long, coiled cable, I don't need that and it just creates unnecessary bulk, but it's a minor issue.

This is how it looks like, the rubber coating really feels heavy duty (there is no audio, just background noise):

I have a couple of P7 and while they work well, I think the MC-e lights put more usable light in front of you.. Most P7's throw a very wide beam.. I would seriously consider either the Romisen R5 - 300 lumens OTF - http://www.shiningbeam.com/servlet/t...4-II-R5/Detail

The new MG P-Rocket Cree XP-G R5 450+ Lumens - Cool White w/ OP Reflector - http://www.shiningbeam.com/servlet/t...-rocket/Detail

If price is not an option the best and brightest single cell light is the Elektrolumens EDC-MCE Light - http://elektrolumens.com/EDC-P7/EDC-MCE.html

Pictures posted below are of the MCE light.. Best source for 18650 cells overseas is HKequipment seller on ebay, he buys direct from Ultrafire, that is why his prices are a little higher.. I have yet to receive a bad cell from them.. Bought cheaper from other sellers and they were either factory 2nd or fakes..

Japanese UF2600's - http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...=STRK:MEWAX:IT
Chinese UF 3000's - This is what I use - http://cgi.ebay.com/Ultrafire-Rechar...item4cef162ffa

Will be interesting to see what performance is like.. These would fit nicely in the jandd small or regular sized stem bag.. I like the jandd bags becaue it has the plastic covered flap that keeps the rain out..

http://www.jandd.com/detail.asp?PRODUCT_ID=FSBR-S

:) :) :)