Pete,<br><br>I was considering buying one of the Tektite LED flashlights, but the conversion of the Mini-Maglite seems like a great alternative. A couple of questions though. Does the light seem brighter since replacing the bulb with LEDs? Also, sometimes you need the correct circuitry for the flashlight to take advantage of LED's low battery consumption, is the battery life extended in your opinion? Thanks.<br><br>John McIntire

There is no need to change any of the circuitry, the drop in <br>"LED pill" is the remarkable easy to use. They give complete instructions, it took me about 5 min. to complete. In a nutshell, here are instructions from the CandlePowerForum:<br><br>1) Unscrew the head assembly, set flashlight aside.<br>2) Pick up head assembly, unscrew the bezel from the head assembly and remove the reflector.<br>3) Laying the bezel top face down with the bezel still inside, drop the o-ring in, then the optics. Screw the base to the bezel carefully keeping the optics centered in the o-ring as it is screwed back together. Set head assembly aside, this part is now done.<br>4) Remove the Lamp and set aside. Carefully pry off the plastic top cap that the lamp plugged into that sometimes says, "Do not remove".<br>5) Remove tail cap and drop out the batteries and plastic insert.<br>6) Drop in module LED first into the battery tube. Drop in the two batteries and screw in tail cap. The module should be blinding you now. This is candle mode.<br>7) Screw back on head all the way down to turn off the flashlight. Backing off the head will turn the flashlight back on. Always turn it at least another 1/4 turn to ensure the module is firmly pressed inside the battery tube.<br>8) Enjoy the light.<br><br>The module will make max. use of batteries and will go to a "moon" mode when the low. A small red LED on the module will come on when the batteries should be changed. This light is great to use those AA batteries that are too low for other lights. Pete

Pete,<br><br>I had a little trouble finding the darn thing. For others interested, here is the exact link I eventually found.<br><br>Tom

The Opalec New Beam looks like a good upgrade for MiniMags. Now if they could just put a tailcap switch on the thing.<br><br>Sorry... it's tough to NOT compare flashlights to SureFire standards. Now that I have an E2eHA, my Photons and soon an Inova X5T, there's no need to bother with the rest. A purchase of the NewBeam will be for friends with Mini's.

If I remember correctly, someone does make a tailcap for a min-mag that has a flashing LED. Pete

I too like the Inova X-5, but my favorite is an ARC LSs, many battery options and well made. Pete

nt

In general, LED lights have a couple of nice advantages. <br><br>- low power usage<br>- fairly white (not yellow) light<br>- even beam quality<br>- rugged! hard to damage by impact (no filiment to break)<br>- last more or less forever <br><br>Disadvanatges<br><br>- mostly a flood beam meaning they have no "throw"<br>- when you want BRIGHT, they can't compete with<br> incandecent or HID lights<br><br>If you are comparing the Solitare with LED lights, you want to look at the Arc AAA light:<br><br>http://store.yahoo.com/flashlight/arcaaa.html<br><br>This light is supior to the Solitare in all was, except price. Much sturdier, same size and operation, brighter, better beam, better waterproofness,. Best of all, it is a "regulated" light which means it keeps (about) the same brightness over time so as your battery runs down you still get good light.<br><br>As people have suggested, www.candlepowerforums.com is a great place for info on this kind of stuff.<br><br>Also as people have suggested, the CMG Ultra is also a great light, about the same brightness (design approach, etc) but running from a AA battery so much longer runtime. Since you can get lithium AA batteries which have a 10 yearlife it also can make a great emergency kit light.<br><br>Also as people have suggested, the Newbeam is a great upgrade for AA Minimags you might have lying around. It's main advantage is that it is also regulated, putting out a nice, white, even "flood" beam for about 10 hours. Due to it's design, it can get the most out of marginal batteries. <br><br>While you are upgrading your Minimag, you can add a tailcap switch for easier operation:<br><br>http://www.brightguy.com/detail.tpl?cart=1030259180161143&sku=KROAM2A666<br><br>In addition to Candle Power Forums, check out the ledmuseum.home.attt.net for great reviews.<br><br>Here are a couple:<br><br><br>Arc AAA:<br>http://ledmuseum.home.att.net/arclight.htm<br><br>CMG Infinity Ultra (still in progress):<br>http://ledmuseum.home.att.net/infultra.htm<br><br>Newbeam:<br>http://ledmuseum.home.att.net/newbeam.htm<br><br>Some cool stuff available these days.<br><br>-john

Thanks for the recommendations on the Newbeam. Just received one with a tailcap switch from Brightguy.com. I agree with Grim, it rules.

Could I ask for a clarification, here? We ARE talking about a<br>Maglite Solitaire? Not a Maglite Mini-Mag? I found many references <br>to modifying a Mini-Mag but none for modifying a<br>solitaire.