Originally Posted by agranger

A package arrived yesterday...

Originally Posted by agranger

A package arrived yesterday evening and I ripped it open like a little kid on Christmas! My 2 new Spotlights were inside and were safe and sound!
My first thought was that they are smaller than I had expected. For some reason I figured that they would be larger...

They are fairly well built. They don't feel as dense as a MagLight, but the cases are solid metal and have a nice powdercoated finish to 'em.
I was surprised at how much light the 1 LED put out, but it's fairly bright. Plenty for searching around the interior or reading a map at night. My only slightly negative comment is that the light is fairly well focused into one smallish spot. I would have liked the reflector to be shaped to distribute the light in a broader arc, but I'm sure that someone else would like them just the way that they are... focusing more light (brighter) into a smaller area.

The literature in the box says that it takes 7 hours to completely charge 'em and that they should stay lit for 60-90 minutes if you leave 'em turned on. They might have been fully charged when I got 'em... They had enough charge for me to play with 'em for 5 minutes or so without draining completely. I didn't notice a drop in light intensity over the time I had 'em on.

They fit nicely into the MINI power sockets (I've got one in the boot and one under the center stack) and have a slight red glow through the lens when charging. On my drive home (dusk) the red light didn't bother me, but I haven't driven the car when it was pitch black out... the red light might be a bit bright, but I'll have to wait and see.

You can turn 'em on while they are installed in the socket and turning on the boot light gives you a bit more general illumination when digging around back there.



Here they are, next to my key for a good size comparison.

Here one is installed in the front socket. The ignition is on and it's charging, hence the red light.

I've got one installed in the boot outlet (on the left - not every MINI has one) and I turned it on while it was in the outlet so you could see the shape of the cone of light and how much it illuminates the boot without pulling it out and aiming it where you want it.

Here is a shot of me aiming the light at Jango so you can see the focus of the beam of light. The flashlight was in the same hand as the camera... about 3 feet away from the car, I'd guess.