# Cateye HL-1500 Review



## IlluminatingBikr (May 26, 2003)

I got my HL-1500 yesterday. It is very, very bright to look at directly, and plenty bright to look at indirectly. There are two, small cut outs on the side, so people can see you a little bit from the side. Excellent visibility.

It has a lot of throw, but the beam is very interesting. When mounted properly, it has a wide, short beam. It does not cover a lot of area with it's hotspot. The side spill isn't fabulous. I'm not quite sure what they had in mind for it. Maybe high-speed night road biking. 

I like how it has two modes, a high and low. Easy to change between modes, as the switch is located at the back.

You need a screw to mount the mounting bracket, and to take it off. The light itself however does slide off with no tools. It clicks into place, and is securely mounted while riding. 

The run time for high mode is 3 hours, and 6 hours for low mode. It takes 4AA batteries. Needs a screwdriver to replace batteries. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsdown.gif

Overall, I think I like the light but am not sure why. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon3.gif


PROS:
<ul type="square"> [*]Very bright hot spot [*]Side cut outs for side visibility [*]Good runtime [*]Uses regular AA batteries [*]High and low modes [/list] 

CONS: <ul type="square"> [*]Small hotspot [*]Hard to change batteries [/list] 

Oh, by the way, it cost about $20.00, but I found one for $14.00 on ebay.


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## Velcro (May 29, 2003)

You might still want to consider the HL-500II. It has a bigger hotspot, changing batteries is easy (pressure + slide out) plus it has an optional high output lamp and some handy accessories available. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif


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## Flashlightboy (May 29, 2003)

Illuminatingbikr,

Great review!

I too have the same light. After having had it for more than a year, I agree with almost all of your observations. I like the high/low option because for biking around residential streets with their so-so street lighting, low is just fine. River trails with no light? Hi is perfect. 

I ride a Schwinn cruiser and because I'm not running at breakneck speeds, the short/wide beam is excellent.

A big negative - having to use a coin to change the batteries. It's not an ideal set up and it probably won't last very long. Velcro likes the HL-500II for this reason and I can see why.


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## Azreal911 (Jun 4, 2003)

i have that too, but i played around with a voltage meter and ended up frying the low output setting! arrrrgh! have any of you guys seen the cat eye stadium light in action before? i'm really curious about that one! we could use it for night hiking and strap the pack on your back! blinding HID in a bicycle is crazy.


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## Velcro (Jun 5, 2003)

[ QUOTE ]
*Azreal911 said:*blinding HID in a bicycle is crazy. 

[/ QUOTE ]

No it's not! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/bowdown.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif


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