Thanks for your detailed reply, Mr. Dead. Here's what I'm thinking.

The A2 is appealing to me bcause of its duality. As I mentioned before, I do not want to buy a light that I cannot readily use in the dark and not be blinded by its brilliance. When I climb into bed, the lights in the room are off. In order to set the alarm, however, I need some sort of light to see what I'm doing. Currently, a Mini-Mag AA is doing the job perfectly well. But as to whether it's bright enough to put light in some of the areas I need it to put light, whether on stage, on the campus, or in the woods, well, the short answer is no. The D-cell I have (at home) is quite bright and will do the job. Probelm is, it's about the least protable light you can buy. (Not quite, but you get the idea. Carrying around a 5 pound, 15" stick on the side of your hip is not pratical.) Hence, I'm looking for a light that is basically the size of a Mini-Mag AA but is brighter.

I stumbled across the L4. It's amazing. I like the fact that it's an LED light; the bulbs last longer, and, as you mentioned, they are less prone to impact damage. However, I'm apprehensive about buying it because it is a flood-type lamp -- which I learned from you -- and I'm not sure I always want a flood of light going on. Take Paul's original post: if I were in his spot but had an L4 instead of his A2, would the L4 be able to light the ceiling? Or would it merely cast a little bit of light up there? The second thing that bothers me about the L4 is that it's not dual-mode. I would like to have a light that is capable of both low- and high- beams. I'm not too keen on the idea of buying a $50 accessory to add to an $160 light; $210 for a flashlight is seriously pushing it.

So I looked (and am looking) at the L2 and A2. The A2 bothers me because it still retains the incandescant lamp. I would like to get away from those if possible. At the same time, it is smaller than the L2 and I think I like that. It appears to be the same size as my MiniMag, which is exactly the size I would prefer. However, its output doesn't seem to match that of the L4, and quite honestly, that's a pretty big turn-off. Will be it brighter than the MiniMag? I'm sure it is. But if there's a brighter light on the market, and there is, I'm sure I can do better. The $185 price tag on the A2 doesn't help, either.

So the only apparent light left is the L2. It has an LED, which I want; a two-stage switch, which is a great feature; and is about the same size as the MM. However, it is still new to the market and the price I would have to pay is $165 -- more than the $150 for the A2 (on the website you mentioned) and more than the $128 for the L4.

So that's what I'm thinking about the whole matter. What is most important to me is having a light that can illuminate a sport (like a MM can) at distances of less than, say, fifty feet. I think I exaggeraed the 200 feet. No need for a light (in a spot) that far away. (It's called a laser...) I tihnk the best example to use would be Pauls's. Again, if he had an L4, would it light up the ceiling clearly.

I'd really like to buy a L4, but I'm just worried that its lack of duality will one day blind me when I'm not expecting it. I could always keep the MM, but if I do that, then what's the point of buying a light in the first place? This one is supposed to replace -- not so much add -- to my MM.

Thanks again for listening.