aceo07
Enlightened
I got my U60 from batterystation and have been playing around with it. As everybody's comments and posts have been very helpful and informative, I thought I'd also contribute.. and possibly give someone that extra push to buy another flashlight.. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
Batterystation has good price (w/ 10 free batteries) and great shipping speed.
Initial impression of the U60 was that it looked solid and smooth. I wish the grip was a bit rougher. It's not as rough looking as my lost green Q3. I wish the bezel went out a little farther, like the Q3 and have ridges so that light could leak through (in case I accidentally leave it on).
The button is easy to click/push with my thumb. Like a mouse button, but a little bit firmer. I wish the clip was the other way, like the U2, so that I could have the reflector/glass faced downward when clipped on something.
The brightness settings are easy to switch between. The menu options are easy to get to. Just remember to let it exit the options before using the flashlight normally. I accidentally set momentary mode when I playing around with it the first time. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif
Primary brightness (10L) is bright enough for night time. 60L is obviously very bright. Unfortunately mine has a purple tint at 60L. Prior to receiving the flashlight I had wanted to change primary brightness to 30L but 10L might stay for a while longer. It's a good brightness level for walking around.
I've noticed that on the standard low brightness level it does flicker every few seconds. There is also a tiny buzzing sound if you hold it near your ear.
The beam seems similar to the Q3 (from what I can remember). A little bit more focused on the center. The throw isn't as good as the SL Propoly 3C but that is expected.
The runtime for max 60L was average 30-32minutes for my 2 test runs using generic R123 600mah batteries. This was while cooled in front of my air conditioner. I haven't tried in a cup of water.
The options are cool. As I mentioned earlier, I played with momentary mode for a while. I also have locator flash mode on. The emergency flash and SOS might be useful as I do hiking and camping. Though I'm curious to see how long those modes last for.
As was mention in another thread I've read, the button does come out a little bit more after using it. It does not stand flat on it's button end. It doees still stand, but not straight.
The clip does hinder the process of screwing the tail back on. It pushes the tail down a little and you need to realign the threads before it will screw in properly. Just something to get used it. Not a big issue.
In some quirky instances when I turn on the flashlight with a single click and then press(greater than 0.5 sec) the button the light would turn off instead of going to MAX. This was not while in menu options as I waited a few minutes before trying to reproduce this quirk. I've also did soft reset and hard reset and this still occurs. I'm not sure why this happens, but after a couple of tries of click(on) press (off) click(on) press(off) it would finally work the right way, click(on) press(max). I'll probably have to contact HDS support if I can't figure it out in a day or 2.
I was disappointed that the flashlight did not arrived with silicon grease (or anything) applied on it. When I tried to change batteries it was squeaky and loud! I had to go to Radio Shack and get some Lube Gel to fix that. After that it was smooth.
Overall I'm very impressed. Very nice and bright light. I'll be making a lot of use of it. It's really cool when you turn it on with a low battery, it'll try to reach the primary bright step by step and then step down to the brightness that it can actually handle. The ability to use rechargeables is really nice. The new clip is nice, though I've never seen the old clip. The menu options are nice but not necessary if you can't spare $30 or don't need the extras. 60L, 10L, 2.5L 0.3L settings are actually well picked as standards.
Was it worth it? YES! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
Batterystation has good price (w/ 10 free batteries) and great shipping speed.
Initial impression of the U60 was that it looked solid and smooth. I wish the grip was a bit rougher. It's not as rough looking as my lost green Q3. I wish the bezel went out a little farther, like the Q3 and have ridges so that light could leak through (in case I accidentally leave it on).
The button is easy to click/push with my thumb. Like a mouse button, but a little bit firmer. I wish the clip was the other way, like the U2, so that I could have the reflector/glass faced downward when clipped on something.
The brightness settings are easy to switch between. The menu options are easy to get to. Just remember to let it exit the options before using the flashlight normally. I accidentally set momentary mode when I playing around with it the first time. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif
Primary brightness (10L) is bright enough for night time. 60L is obviously very bright. Unfortunately mine has a purple tint at 60L. Prior to receiving the flashlight I had wanted to change primary brightness to 30L but 10L might stay for a while longer. It's a good brightness level for walking around.
I've noticed that on the standard low brightness level it does flicker every few seconds. There is also a tiny buzzing sound if you hold it near your ear.
The beam seems similar to the Q3 (from what I can remember). A little bit more focused on the center. The throw isn't as good as the SL Propoly 3C but that is expected.
The runtime for max 60L was average 30-32minutes for my 2 test runs using generic R123 600mah batteries. This was while cooled in front of my air conditioner. I haven't tried in a cup of water.
The options are cool. As I mentioned earlier, I played with momentary mode for a while. I also have locator flash mode on. The emergency flash and SOS might be useful as I do hiking and camping. Though I'm curious to see how long those modes last for.
As was mention in another thread I've read, the button does come out a little bit more after using it. It does not stand flat on it's button end. It doees still stand, but not straight.
The clip does hinder the process of screwing the tail back on. It pushes the tail down a little and you need to realign the threads before it will screw in properly. Just something to get used it. Not a big issue.
In some quirky instances when I turn on the flashlight with a single click and then press(greater than 0.5 sec) the button the light would turn off instead of going to MAX. This was not while in menu options as I waited a few minutes before trying to reproduce this quirk. I've also did soft reset and hard reset and this still occurs. I'm not sure why this happens, but after a couple of tries of click(on) press (off) click(on) press(off) it would finally work the right way, click(on) press(max). I'll probably have to contact HDS support if I can't figure it out in a day or 2.
I was disappointed that the flashlight did not arrived with silicon grease (or anything) applied on it. When I tried to change batteries it was squeaky and loud! I had to go to Radio Shack and get some Lube Gel to fix that. After that it was smooth.
Overall I'm very impressed. Very nice and bright light. I'll be making a lot of use of it. It's really cool when you turn it on with a low battery, it'll try to reach the primary bright step by step and then step down to the brightness that it can actually handle. The ability to use rechargeables is really nice. The new clip is nice, though I've never seen the old clip. The menu options are nice but not necessary if you can't spare $30 or don't need the extras. 60L, 10L, 2.5L 0.3L settings are actually well picked as standards.
Was it worth it? YES! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
