Why "almost"? On the one hand the price is still a little high, but if its life is actually even just a few thousand hours then it is cheap compared to some tens of hours of real life of xenon or krypton bulb of origin, 6 or 7 and loose in a somewhat violent shock, so to see the use ... On the other hand even if the focus is always kept turning his head, the resulting beam is slightly wider than that obtained with a traditional bulb whose filament is really positioned at the focus of the parabola. Once this is said, the light output of the LED (the light W announced on the blister is given for 220 lumens! So than the value on the site), is such that dark night my Maglite 3 elements, aged 23 years is clearly capable of illuminating an area of 20 m in diameter at about 250 to 300 m away, inconceivable before! While she is scheduled for 4-6 batteries so for a much higher voltage, what more? I did a test with 3 flat batteries (1.27 Volts per cell), and here are of major interest, it still shines with a white light almost as a standard bulb Halogen and alkaline batteries. The advantage of LED is to not know the sudden drop in brightness of the incandescent bulb when the voltage falls about 15% below the nominal voltage (1.3 volts per cell instead of 1.55 volts) . The brightness down gradually and even provide for several tens of minutes a usable illumination over a few meters, whereas a conventional bulb will no longer give a yellow filament. Question autonomy 3 alkaline batteries of 8000 mAh, the measured current is 0.7 A, which is consistent with 3 watts announced, we can expect a battery life of 8 hours with a maximum discharge rate of 70%.
Another note: It is unfortunate that the diameter are base (11.4 mm) perfectly suited for use in a Maglite, well above that of conventional bulbs smooth base (diameter 9.5 mm) of which lempêche enter the housing of most conventional torches other brands. I could see myself buying a projector for other 2 4 batteries and a small classic torch. Conclusion to buy without hesitation for a Maglite even at 3 R20!
