THIS IS IT for most of us flashlight users. We all need several.
Written: Oct 14 '03 (Updated Apr 09 '04)
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Pros: Essential gear! Now unbreakable. 40 Hours per AA alkaline. Bulb life: 100,000 hours.
Cons: Slightly large. So get used to it. It is worth having around, you bet.
The Bottom Line: The final word in small one cell AA flashlights. Nothing beats it. Unbreakable. A power miser: use it continuously for long periods of time. No bulbs to burn out.
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| zlotmachinskyr's Full Review: CMG Infinity Ultra Task Flashlight |
New and improved second edition corrects all the original version weaknesses. Sports the same machined aluminum alloy body as the original but now it's 5/16 inch row of knurling is 7/16 inch from the top of this meal tube instead of the original 5/16 inch. The threaded LED capsule screws into the end of the flashlight body, is gasketed as before and lights up as you tighten the knurled LED capsule. It is easy to turn this lamp on with just a roll of the thumb and forefinger. This second edition flashlight comes with a black pocket spring clip which slips over the end of the flashlight body and rests comfortably positioned between knurling on the flashlight body and the LED capsule that contains the LED bulb and necessary circuitry to run that LED bulb.
On the original version of the CMG (course made good) infinity task light, the circuit board of the LED capsule had a coil of very fine wire inside that would snap off when dropped. Almost any drop on a hard surface quickly broke the original LED circuit board. Thus very prematurely ended the life of what should have been a very long lived product. I discovered what had happened to kill my original CMG infinity task light by carefully opening up the LED capsule and that coil of super fine wire fell out and rolled across my kitchen floor. I e-mailed my finding to CMG and suggested that they epoxy that coil of wire to the circuit board and then fill all future LED capsules with silicone rubber to prevent such damage by shock. I also suggested that they offer this product with anodized finish. They responded that my suggested improvements were to be implemented ASAP. It took about 4 months longer for them to come out with this second version of the CMG infinity task light.
The new Task light has a LED capsule filled with epoxy so is now very shock resistant and no longer breaks when dropped on a hard surface. The original paint, which flakes off, was replaced by the very sharp looking Black Anodized finish. And finally the Polarity of the flashlight was reversed from (-) up on the original to (+) up on the new flashlight. Both LED capsules clearly mark the polarity required be in contact with the LED End.
This flashlight comes with a woven nylon neck cord which is clipped together with a nice and tough plastic clip which not only grips the heat sealed ends of the neck cord but puts some small spikes into the cord ends to prevent them slipping out of that small but tough plastic clip. The tail end of this flash light is a thick metal taper with a sturdy 0.25 inch hole so this light can be worn around the neck with its long cord (down to about ones navel) or wrist if tightened up by tying an over hand knot once through or a figure eight knot for easier conversion back to a neck cord. If any criticism of this light could be made it would be that the tail end of this flashlight almost seems sharp but isn't. Still I would recommend that CMG apply a mild chamfer on the metal tail end edges to null this impression. I would also recommend that extreme users remove the plastic neck cord clip and replace it with either a barrel knot or an overhand knot two times through so as to avoid loss due to a plastic clip failure. Loss is just what you don't need in extreme environments. Only slightly larger than one AA battery at 3.25 inches long and 3/4 inch in diameter. Weighs just 2.0 ounces (55 grams) with it's single AA alkaline battery.
The mass decrease of a deceased AA alkaline battery is negligible, :), as photons do not weigh very much! So start out with a fresh new battery.
And now this flashlight has been perfected so go fourth and purchase a ton of these for all your loved ones and all of our beloved women, children ect.
Now this is the flashlight that everyone should have, including: serious photographers, military personnel, doctors, nurses, commercial pilots, EMT personnel, astronauts, US park rangers, campers, backpackers ect. This second version gets everything right. This flashlight is machined from a solid block of aluminum and is black anodized. This black anodized finish is very durable and extremely hard so it protects the aluminum body underneath that coating. The first version of this flashlight came in several LED colors including white, red and green to preserve night vision, and Amber. A large bright white single LED produces the light output and as such is polarized, meaning that if you ignore the (+) marker outside the LED capsule with its attending circuitry it will not light if you get it reversed. CMG states on its packaging that this flashlight will produce useable light for a minimum of 40 hours on one single AA alkaline cell. LED flashlights do start out very bright and then gradually dim down to very low output as the battery gets used up. But you get so much run time that the user of this fine lamp could install it in an AA maglight type elastic headband for hands free work or reading at sunset or indoors as well. Recommend that emergency versions of this flashlight be loaded with Eveready's L-91 lithium AA batteries so that it will never be damaged by a leaky battery and also have a 10 year shelf life, good cold weather performance, plus run 3 to 4 times as long as an alkaline AA cell.
I realized the potentially huge market for this unique product and I desperately wanted this flashlight perfected.
And since I had discovered how to perfect this product, it now could successfully penetrate the market in a big way and before becoming passe.
This is a must have flashlight because it so darn good. It really is. Now I don't show mine off anymore because I couldn't keep one for my own use it was so popular. Popular rightly so! I only use bright white LED models of the new CMG Infinity Task Light. Check for availability of red or green LEDs too if u need 'em.
Note: I didn't get anything for my suggestions on how to perfect this product. No big deal! Just wanted it fixed for its' permanent service potential.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
zlotmachinskyr
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Location: California
Reviews written: 23
Trusted by: 5 members
About Me:
People deserve good stuff. Read me, avoid unnecessary buyers remorse. So listen up, OK?
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