Ahhh - apples and figs, I guess. You should be able to dig up someone's pictures - I'll snoop around later and see if I can find some. First off, the camera does not do justice to ordinary incandescent vs white LED. The Mk I eyeball is a better tester. Anway, the total light with the MiniStar2 appears to be greater than the unmodified light. It certainly is more useful and the color rendition is far superior. Throw is a little less, but for a single 1w LED, it has good throw.

I did a simple test for myself with 3 minimags, all with fresh batteries from the same package. Where our Scout Troop meets, there is a long corridor between our meeting room in the basement and an identical meeting room on the other side of the building basement. 90 minute-rated doors at either end. It ACTUALLY is the equipment room for the HVAC, maintenance folks work area, etc. Chain link cage around the big machinery makes it like a long dark tunnel with spooky things off to the side.

I went in there, lights off, with three minimags - regular, Opalec NewBeam, and MiniStar2. Stygian darkness. Spooky enough for Hollywood. I did pair-wise comparisons for about 30 minutes, because that's the proper way to sort out 3 or more items. I would close my eyes, turn 2 on, cover both beams (one left hand, one right hand), and then with my eyes open, try first one, then the other. Walk around/through, "what's that stuff over there", etc. No brainer: MiniStar2 by a landslide. Opalec NewBeam very practical - I liked it a lot - but not as much useful reach to the dark recesses of the mechanicals from the caged walkway. Original? Useful for pinpointing the lightswitch from 30 feet away (the others lit it up fine, but not like a pointer). Major creepy with the original - like walking while looking thru a keyhole. Took another Scouter back there and had her try 'em out same way. She picked Opalec NewBeam very slightly over the MiniStar2 and hated the original. Thought her Photon II would be as bright, went and got it, and was flabbergasted at the huge increase in illumination the 2xAA conversions vs the Photon. See, our eyes adapt to available light... nothing wrong with the Photon.

Here's the way I call it: The Opalec NewBeam transforms the minimag into altogether another type of hand torch - hard to compare, but far more practical than original. The MiniStar2 is an evolution of the minimag - same sort of functions as the original, but better, plus huge increase in usefulness due to sidespill. Much better - there is quite a bit of side spill. You can use a significant amount of your field of vision with the MiniStar2 and about zero with the unmodified minmag - it's all in the center (flood focusing a minimag is almost a waste of time, IMO). For someone who already has a minimag and likes it, the MiniStar2 is the way to go, IMHO. Mind you, I like the Opalec as well, but it's really not as bright and throw is not more than one needs to safely walk at a brisk pace.

If you're expecting output like a D cell maglight, forget it - these are 2xAA lights. For all the sneering at them, D Mags still are in the upper echelon of hand torches for throw. As I wrote previously, I dropped an EverLED bulb in two of mine and absolutly love the conversion - they really reach out there, almost as far as a bulb (near as I can tell). Changing those back is as easy as changing a bulb (but why would I ever want to?)

If you want to really reach out there inexpensively in something about the size of a minimag, get a Pelican M6 or Surefire Nitrolon - side-by-side so far I kinda prefer the Pelican myself <horrified gasp - heresay!>. But an ordinary D cell maglight still beats them - honest. After the novelty of a hot-running mini flamethrower settles in a bit - those D cell mags are impossible to beat for the price. Heck, they're hard to beat even tossing in the cost of an EverLED conversion, and what better <bump> in the middle of the night torch than a big ol' maglight running a blistering LED bulb conversion? Something to whack the bumper with... but hardly a handy or discrete torch. And it sucks holding one that has cold-soaked to 0 def-F in your vehicle over the last week... (I know about insulating covers for them - I use them)

My EDC is an ARC AAA-P. My employer-supplied torches are a pair of mags - one mini and one 2xD. 90% of the time at work I use the ARC - it is *always* in my RH pants pocket. 8% of the time it's the minimag because it has more throw than my ARC. 2% of the time it's the D-mag, and I use it conspicuously those times when I *want* onlookers to see I have a club in my hand, not because I need that much light. Or because I suspect something/one is going to go <bump> when I enter an abandoned building...

Point is, if I convert the minimag at work to a MiniStar2, I would for sure use that one +90% of the time and save my ARC for true emergencies. For me, the MiniStar2 is just plain better than the bulb for the tasks that I use a minimag for.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it...

(You just gotta plunge in here somewhere, but I warn you, flashlight technology is addicting)

Tom (I'm literate and can spell, honest - I just can't type for beans!)