i can't decide. what are the pros and cons other than cost? is the p7 reliable?

I cannot compare a P7 to a DiNotte, but I can say that it blows my 6V 15W halogen Marwi Nightpro Torch out of the water.

I paid over $100 for the Marwi system (light, mount, bottle cage battery, charger) from an online dealer.

I paid a BF member < $40 for an MTE SSC P7 2 mode light, (2) 18650 batteries and a charger. I already had some lock blocks, or I would have needed to buy a mount.

The P7 in a lock block takes up about the same amount of room on the bars, but is a bit harder to adjust up and down and cannot really be aimed side to side if bar mounted with a lock block.

I have not had a single problem with either light. Had over a hundred hours on the halogen. Have about 3 or 4 hours on the P7 so not apples to apples here either, but they are proven lights, so I do not expect problems.

The P7 can easily be used off the bike for camping trips, etc. The dedicated bike light, not so much.

Spare batteries are not expensive and you could easily carry three or four in a saddle bag or pocket if you were going for a long ride. The dedicated bike light has a bottle cage battery that is expensive to replace and hard to carry a spare on the bike and still have room for a bottle of water. With the P7, I can use both my bottle cages for water again.

The P7 puts out more, brighter, whiter light, has the same run time and costs 40% of what I paid for a real "bike light"

I would have no problem at all telling you to get a P7, some batteries, a charger and some lock blocks. I would even say get two p7s and mount one on your helmet to allow you to look into corners, shine at cars approaching from side streets, light up your computer, etc.

is the p7 US or china made?

The LED comes from taiwan, I believe. I don't know if the rest of the encasing is made in taiwan or china.

Why does it matter?

P7 every time.

Multiple P7's.

Dollar for dollar, the P7 wins.
Lumen for lumen, the Dinotte wins.

Of course if you compare 1 Dinotte to 2 or 3 P7s, the P7s will win the lumen contest and save you considerable $$$.

For some people a Ferrari is not a waste of money, even if you can modify a Honda Civic to go just as fast for much less cost. It's up to you. I'm a P7 kind of guy personally, but I respect what the Dinotte has to offer.

I can vouch for only 3 months and 30+ charges, and all of my P7s have worked perfectly during that time.

Are you mountain biking or road riding?

If you're riding on the road, I would say the 400L would be better suited for use than the 800L. If you really want a lot of light on the road, I would still say 2 400L's are better than one 800L because they let you change out lenses to get the light spread you prefer (I prefer narrow so it goes a long ways down the road). I would certainly recommend a 400L and a 400L on the helmet before recommending just an 800L.

On the other hand, just yesterday I wrote a big piece on how I thought the shaped beam of the Lumotec/Bush and Mueller lights was far superior to the light output of even 2 400L's, having now had experience with both...

+1

I have a P7 and will add another later on this year.

Having said that I might go for a high power thrower instead.

That isn't strictly true, not all dinotte lights have more lumens than the P7 torches.

A good P7 torch has more lumens than some of the AA powered dinotte lights.

from what i've seen and read on the boxes for Dinnotte is weight, they are heavy, and probably not as bright, however they last a little longer than the P7 on battery power.

But, the P7 is way more powerful.... only for the first 2 hours, then it drops to the lumen of the Dinnotte for the remaining hours, is very light, and is extremely affordable.

you can get 2 P7 for the price of 1 Dinnotte

We're talking about the Dinotte 800L correct? The $439 one?

That would be 10 P7s for the price of one Dinotte.

SSC = Seoul Semiconductor Inc.
most likely produced in south korea.

I'm not even going to start on the 'is it made in the USA?' part.
protectionism is really counterproductive

Are you including the cost of batteries, mounts, and charger? I don't own either one so that is why I am asking. I did just check the Dinotte site and they are selling the 800L/400L combo for for $449 so at this sale price it makes sense to get this combo over just one 800L. This combo is supposed to get you 2.5 hours of light at 1200 lumens. What would be the cost of P7's to get similar lumen output with ~2.5 hours runtime when you are including the cost of batteries, charger, mounts? I'm sure it will be still much much cheaper to go the P7 route, but not quite as bad as originally.

$50 for the light itself x2
$10 for pair of batteries. x2
$15~50 for charger
$5 for mounts

single 18650 battery will give about 1hr of run time. a 2x18650 flashlight will give a bit more than 2hrs of run time.

have you considered a light and motion seca 700 which has a better beam pattern than any of the above?

key point here is the shape of the beam pattern, flashlights are flashlights and dinottes aren't much better.

2 P7 @ $36 each = $72
18650 batteries 2 pack @$10 x 2 = $20
trustfire charger 1 @ $8.81 = $8.81
3 pack of lock blocks 1 @ $16.49 = $16.49

grand total under $120 and still have money for a couple of PB superflashes and shipping and still come in well under $200.

BTW, it was AEO who got me hooked on P7's!

this 2x18650 gives me more than 2hrs of run time.

Hard to argue with the low cost of a P7 setup.

I would also go with P7 flashlights.. I use 2 of them for my night rides.. Normally I just keep 1 on, but I have a few very dark spots and turn the 2nd one on, really lights up the road.

3000mah Ultrafires on ebay.. Just received this last week and they are solid batteries.. Ran a test and easily got 20 minutes more over 2400 mah 18650 batteries.. Seller was quick to ship and was here in 7 business days.. They also sell 4 packs with cases too..

https://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=220362820486

dinottes require the battery pack to run, correct?

then you have the clunky fredness of flashlights. the extra weight hassle in battery changing and who knows cheap quality batteries and flashight and electronics. sometimes you jsut want something a bit nicer.
look at the p7 above and the 600l and 200l side by side. what one do you think weigh's more? the batteries for the dinotte are light and easy to carry the extra.

Dinottes are really sleek, but I don't think they are worth the extra money, except the rear light.