Why does everyone hate mag lite?

Raven

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I'm not trying to stir anything up, but I keep seeing post like this, *** lite. I'm just curious why the company is so disliked. I'm no fan of the little aa mag lites, but I have a 2c, 3c, and 6c, and I think they're great. The light output is decent, although uneven, but you have to admit, mag lites are solid and well built. My fondest hope is that one day mag lite will create an LED version of the 2c and 6c.

Raven
 

logicnerd411

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There was a legal dispute (patent issues) about Mag and Arc a while back... about a certain AAA sized product.
 

snake

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Mag is great! , they set the standard for quality light..(more than 10yr ago) I guess everyone here have it! problem is they didn't have any new product/innovation for very very long time..
 

Albany Tom

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Well we'll see if this post gets edited or me thrown off the board...
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1. Some seem to feel the CEO of said company is a bit of a megalomaniac, and hasn't treated competitors, family members, etc, very well. There's been some TV stories to that effect.

2. Close to 1, but I get the feeling the company likes to sue other companies for what could be considered unfounded reasons. Like if you make a flashlight that's round and the light comes out one end they'll sue you.

3. They make flashlights which, by modern standards, have lousy beams. Really lousy beams that some people have attributed to causing harm to law enforcement officers.

4. Everybody (the general public) thinks they're great! So people that know better tend to over compensate? "They suck!" When actually, they make a decent hammer.

5. They haven't done anything to change #3, and instead promote #4. Marketing rather than product improvement.

6. People used to like them, then found out how much nicer other lights are. Kinda like if you always loved and ate SPAM, because that's all you knew, then had a nice prime rib, you'd probably hate SPAM.

Just my personal opinions and speculations. Take with a grain of salt.

They are solid and well built. There are smaller, brighter, equally well built lights out there though, like the Princeton Tech Surge, or the Underwater Kinetics SL6 for example. If you're open to lithium lights, or rechargeable, there are many more.
 

Nerd

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Eh, take it that m*g just like to sue their competitors out of business... They refuse to change their business ethnics... beam quality, brightness. Take it that the m*g you have now is essentially the same one 20 years ago. No improvments.
 

Marked

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Mag is a good cheap light, but I have seen the light since fineing this board and I have moved on to better lights.
 

NightStorm

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Between a rock & a hard place.
Overly aggressive business practices and beam quality aside, the 3D Mags are very durable lights. I've used the same 3D for over 15 years as an auto mechanic and it still has over 90% of its anodizing. I've only blown 3 or 4 bulbs during that period and have replaced the lens twice [carb cleaner eats the plastic]. It has been dropped multiple times [sometimes as high as ten feet on to concrete] and...yes, it has been run over by a car. For what I paid for it and the service I have received from it, I think I got a good deal.
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Besides, leaving a SureFire behind in a customer's car would reduce a grown man to tears.
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Dan
 

Raven

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Originally posted by Albany Tom:
Well we'll see if this post gets edited or me thrown off the board...
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<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Like I said. I'm not trying to troll, but you can't expect newcommers to not take notice of the fact, that mag lite seem to be poorly thought of around here.

Raven
 

SUREFARC

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what x'mas gift you guys expect? Mag or surefire or Arc or surefire & Arc?
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zyk

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Maglite is one of my favorite flashlight.
I have one using single AAA battery.(It is very small and easy for me to place it in my pocket or keychain.)
I have another one using 2 AA battery.(it is easy for me to carry and provide enough light when using outside.)
And I also have one using 4 C-size battery.(It give me bright lights and safety when using outside because I can use it as a weapon.)

The price of the flashlight mentioned above is cheap(reasonable).
So who said maglite is bad.
 

nihraguk

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i think maglite makes decent products that the general public finds useful, at a reasonable price.

they might have decided not to expand their product line in order to maintain the confidence dealers might have in them. introducing a new product is always a bit of a gamble...it might sell well and it might not. if the latter happens, then mag makes a loss.

to say they haven't made any improvements to their product line is not entirely accurate. they have recently introduced improved bulbs for the magcharger, the C and D cell maglites and the minimags as well if i'm not wrong. there are also several different engineering revisions of their flashlight bodies, though it might not be all that obvious. comparing my recently purchased 3D to a 4D i've had for about 5 years, there have been changes made to the threads and laser-etching on the faceplate. the latter isn't really a real improvement, but the former is.

i think what has bred resentment against mag instruments here is their litiguous approach to solving market competition "problems". basically, they sue the crap out of companies they see as threats. they even seem to take pride in it, from one of the write-ups they have on their website.

whilst some of the cases are legitimate, such as the brinkmann minimag clones which were identical, a recent case they have brought up against one of our favourite flashlight manufacturers is clearly unreasonable and uncalled for.
 

r2

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As far as their products are concerned, I think Mag is fine. The build is nice and they are fairly cheap. The bulbs and beam are pretty lousy, but that just means I'll never buy one to use. I'm perfectly happy to ignore them as obsolete technology.

The thing that bothers me about them is that they are using litigation to protect their market share instead of innovation. They sue companies like Arc that make better products instead of improving their own line to compete. Some of their patents are stupid, too. I think they should be allowed to protect against exact clones that are riding on Mag's advertising and reputation, but not against competitors who make completely different products.

I have no respect for companies that abuse the legal system to cover their technical deficiencies. That's why I don't like Mag.

- Russ
 

Anarchocap

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Mags are like a cross between a Chevy and Microsoft. They build a basic, solid tool at a reasonable price. Don't expect anything more than average features and performance. Their technology is behind the times, and they don't really innovate. But if you try and compete with them with anything that even moderately resembles a Mag model, they'll sue the crap out of ya to try and make you disappear.

From what I have heard, they have patented aluminum tubes with lights on the end. I haven't seen the details of the patent so I can't really add much more than that...
 

SurefireM6

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It's not that I don't like them. I think they make good flashlights. It's just HUGE for the light output. The light output just flat out stinks with no new products in years. They are a big bully, getting the BIG company ego where one consumer having some problems don't matter.

They do make good flashlight housings for Mods
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If their output was 10-20x brighter, with a smooth focused beam I would buy them.
 

Joe Talmadge

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r2 expressed my feelings perfectly. In summary, their lack of innovation, and their reprehensible use of the legal system, have both given rise to justifiably bad feelings against them. No one argues that the product isn't fundamentally sound in the sense of being robust and able to take a lot of abuse, but a flashlight is also about light, not just ability to take a beating.

Joe
 

PlayboyJoeShmoe

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I've said time after time that they make a solid and long lasting product. They just make lousy light.

I emailed them and they told me they chose reach over a pretty beam. They probably will now try and patent textured reflectors and sue people like Princeton Tec and Rayovac for using them!!!

I have several, and not one is exactly stock as it came. 'Nuff said???

M*9&!T&... is as close to their name as I will type!
 

McGizmo

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I too concur with r2's statements.

Mag has successfully capitalized on the general public's ignorance and apathy in terms of a general all around "quality" flashlight. With economies of scale, Mag has provided the public a well made and durable tool at incredibly low prices. It is one of the few domestically produced products that can compete price wise with inexpensive import.

As a tool, a flashlight produces light (Duh). Advances in technology have given us better sources of light as well as more efficient and more effective methods of delivering the light produced to the target. Mag has chosen not to embrace these technological improvements which is certainly their choice. From their actions as well as other indications, it would appear that Mag is doing what they can to keep others from bringing such improvements to market. This may be to Mag's financial benefit but not to the consumer's benefit, IMHO. I personally want a better tool and the option of selecting from a range of available product. I resent any company in the position and with the resources to hinder product improvement.

Whether Mag is working within the legal frame work to accomplish a control of the market and impeding the implementation of technological advances is not my concern. The mere fact that they do this is. A recent post brought to light that Mag paid $900,000 in fines for tax evasion as well as improper campaign contributions. I think of the tooling for a better reflector or R&D for an improved light source that this money could have gone to and I cringe!

If Mag's in house legal staff has nothing better to do then try to remove technically advanced competition by bleeding small and upcoming companies who are not capitalized to the point of doing legal battle with Mag then perhaps Mag should consider reducing their legal staff and diverting the saved resources to their R&D department.

Assume a hypothetical case of ACME Flashlight, a small company designing and bringing leading edge technology in flashlight products to market. If ACME is perceived as a threat to Mag's market, they can respond in any manner of fashions. In one case, they can bring ACME to court. Whether they actually have a case that could be won against ACME is not an issue as Mag can effectively force a cost of defense on ACME that can be lethal in itself. Mag can also chose to manufacture a similar product to ACME's but with an economy of scale that would likely put Mag's offering on the shelf at a fraction of the selling price of ACME's. In either case, Mag will effectively retain their market share. In my opinion, Mag has done a real disservice to the consumer by not following the latter example; oversimplified as it may be.

I don't hate Mag personally, I have no use for them. I also think they are a glowing example of what might be legal in our society but certainly isn't a sign of strength or character. Ethics aside, I think some of Mag's business practices are deplorable and I can only hope that their motivation and attitude can bring them ultimately what they deserve.

Does might make right? NO
Does Mag make light? YES (just mediocre at best
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)

As I stated once in a similar thread but then deleted:

Innovation, not Litigation.

- Don

PS. I deleted a few heart felt posts in the past regarding these issues as it was suggested that written comments could be used to Mag's benefit in legal proceedings. If Mag can take what I've written here and use it to their benefit, then F**K ME! Let the legal run amok take us down now and from the rubble perhaps we can start over with some basic fundamentals and ethics revisited.
 

WarrenI

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Should I dare say the following? What the heck, the Mags that I know and own are not anywhere great of any light!

The good:
1) great machine work
2) great as a club or hammer
3) most units make great battery holders
4) heavy (weight is useful as a club or hammer)

The bad:
1) many, many beam rings (many dark spots)
2) light flickers (esp. when focusing the beam)
3) almost useless wide zoom (just too many rings)
4) batteries bounces (adds to the flickering problem)
5) zero product improvement (with the exception of more body colors to choose from)
6) very heavy for the amount of light produced
7) light turns very yellow in color within a very short while of being turned on
8) no thought of producing a non metal version for people that work with electrical devices (like holding a lighting rod)

Come on now, I know there are many of you just waiting to voice this! I hope Mag hears this and does some sort of product improvement. Everyone deserves more than what they have been doing for over the past 5 plus years...
 

roguesw

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I noticed several people have said mag is a good cheap priced light, well, i think that only applies in the USA, cos here in New Zealand, a m*gl*t* is sometimes the same price as a underwater kinetics or princeton lights, i would go for the SF or UK or Princeton rather than spend all that money on a M*g. Now that i have found a dealer for SF here in NZ, i can order SF closer to its retail value in the US, and still the price of importation for the M*g makes it more economical to buy the SF or UK or princeton.
And this is purely on a price basis, if u compare quality of light then there is no real contest.
My 2 cents
Des
 
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