this response in solely based on my use first led saves hella on the batts ive found princeton brand while not the cheaper of the herd quality is my issue petzl is good of course surefire way off my price range but very good though /inova has pretty good stuff now and reasonable on price

I tend to agree, but there are some fairly inexpensive lights that I think are up to the task. But the price range probably starts around $20. Here are a few examples off the top of my head:

Princeton Tec Attitude - $18.50
Gerber Infinity Ultra - $17.50
Underwater Kinetics Mini Q40 - $16.95

Options open up considerably at about the $35 price point. For example:

Underwater Kinetics Mini Q40 eLED Plus - $28.25
Underwater Kinetics 2L - 26.95
Surefire G2 - $35

-john

I bought one of the $5 LED flashlights from CTD about a year ago for my wife. It was OK for use in the house when you needed a little light in a nook or cranny. She said it goes through batteries pretty quick and I just turned it on and noticed that only two out of the eight LEDs are working so............
gino

Yes, the Newbeam is a very nice retrofit. Bright for a 3x5mm LED light, and you get a rock solid, regulated, 10 hr runtime with two alkalines batteries and longer with lithiums. The regulation should make sure it will get the most out of junk batteries too.

However, I tend to shy away from the Mag products for super reliability (retrofitted or not). I feel like there are too many parts and have had to fiddle with them to keep them working.

-john

Gene, remember the song "Why is everybody always pickin' on me"?
I'm having a hard time promoting this little light. <img src="/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> Look on the backside of the LEDs. There are eight wires all terminating in the center with a glob of solder to connect them all. The battery holder spring presses against this solder. Check it and see that all eight wires are connected. You might have a cold solder joint. I would put a soldering gun to this center solder joint and resolder it. I can't imagine 6 of 8 LEDs going bad. As for the light output, with three alkalines, the light is literally blinding. Check it out and put in three fresh alkalines and let me know how it turned out. Sometimes one weak battery in the three will cause the output to dim. Check all this out and let me know how it turned out. <img src="/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

Boone