The fools can't even spell light! (Maglite mini torch)

Member Name: Virtuoso

Product:	Maglite mini torch
Date:	03/03/09 (184 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Well built, long-lasting, nice to look at

Disadvantages: Ancient technology, can buy better torches for less money

My Maglite 'mini' was purchased for me by my parents when I moved into my own house, you should be able to get one for around a tenner from Amazon but expect to pay nigh on double that in an outdoors shop. Every house needs a torch, there are always those little nooks and crannies that are impossible to see into such as under the stairs, in the cupboards, under the sink, and when you are searching for pennies under the sofa so that you can go and get a 10p mix. There are also those times when a drink driver crashes into an electricity sub-station and plunges the neighbourhood into darkness whilst you're constructing a scale replica of the titanic using matchsticks. At this point a torch can be an absolute Godsend.

Advantages of the Maglite:

It looks sexy. A lot of people find it difficult to get excited about torches, but not me, the fools that think a Maglite is not sexy just don't understand good design. Look at the sleek simple design, functional and yet beautiful. The Maglite was designed in 1979 when bells, whistles, intricacies and complications were the marks of good design. The mighty Maglite broke that mould to champion the idea that simple is better. Apple were probably inspired by the Maglite in designing that icon of simplicity, the Ipod.

It will outlive you:

That's right. It will. As Ozymandias found out (obscure poetry reference) nothing lasts forever. Oh except Maglite's. Millions of years in the future after the human race is extinct a race of super-advanced space faring aliens will descend upon earth to find a barren hellish landscape. They will excavate deep beneath the surface to find clues of Earth's history. The only clue they will find that will have resisted the savages of time will be millions of Maglites. They will then know that Earth was a wise and civilised planet, and they go on their way without destroying the planet as they had planned.
I have dropped mine several times, got it wet, left it lying around for our fierce and crazy cat to play with, and it has not so much as a scratch on it.

The battery life:

This torch uses almost no battery. It's the closest thing we have to a perpetual motion machine, it uses no energy and just keeps on going. You can leave a pair of worn out old batteries in these things and leave them in their for years and you will still get light. The LED used in these lights draws very little energy from the 2xAA batteries.

Features:

Unlike most cheap plastic torches which use a 'clicky' button (technical term) this torch uses a 'twisty' head (technical term) to operate it. When the head is fully rotated clockwise the torch is off. You can then twist the head anti-clockwise to turn it on and keep twisting it to focus the beam. The ability to focus the beam is extremely useful as there are situations where a flood of beam is needed, and there are situations where a good throw of beam is needed. A situation where a flood might be needed would be where you want to light up a garden at night to find a gnome that has run away and is hiding in the bushes. A good tight spot of light might be needed when you have found your gnome and you want to shine it in his eyes to interrogate him.

The drawbacks:

The Luxeon LED used in Maglites (all maglites use this in variations, not just mini-mags) are ridiculously outdated. They are technology from a bygone era. In car terms it would be like going out now and buying a Ford Capri or a Austin Princess. There are LED's such as the Cree Q5 and even newer P7's that outperform the Maglite LED's by an order of magnitude. For example in terms of light output a standard Maglite 2xAA torch might give out in the region of 8 lumens. Whereas my Fenix LD20 which also runs on 2xAA batteries and cost me £40 will give out 180 lumens and is stunningly, overwhelmingly, brighter than the Maglite. This amount of light is not always needed but it has been essential when looking for the cat at night. For the same price, as the Maglite you can get torches that outperform it in brightness by 10x.

So you have to ask yourself, why are Maglite so lazy? Why not update and bring themselves up to scratch with their competitors? Fact of the matter is that they do not need to invest in any new technology. They have a brandname that to the general public is THE name in quality torches, and their presence in the market is enormous. The myriad of small competitors all produce much much much better torches in every way, but are unable to take a chink out of Maglite's armour and get that first step onto the ladder of mainstream acceptance.

Summary: They do the job, but just not well enough