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Detailed
Information:
Dorcy was one of the more mainstream flashlight manufacturers
to invest early in the "new" technology of LED lights
for consumers and this little light is a natural extension
of that early exploration. Dorcy now has a line of LED
lights - some with voltage boost circuits, some without
- which include AAA, AA, and C cell powered 5mm LED
lights. All of them are of rather good quality and quite
affordable. They are now showing up in mainstream stores
such as Wal-Mart (where I got this light) and Target.
In fact I had recently (at the time of this writing)
seen the 1-AAA 1 LED; 1-AA 3-LED; 2-AA 4-LED; and 2-C
8-LED lights at Target. Considering the surprisingly
low price, and the fact that these little devices produce
a lot of light for their size and have pretty darn long
runtimes, they are a good deal across the board!
The body of the Dorcy AAA is made of aluminum with a colorful Type II anodize. I have seen these lights in gold, silver, red, and blue. This anodize is relatively durable but will mar fairly easily if kept in contact with hard objects like keys or pocket change. Around the center of the body is a ribbed rubber grip and a thin ring of the same material surrounds the head. The head is permanently attached and cannot be twisted or otherwise moved. The head is slightly larger in diameter than the rest of the body, making it a little awkward to keep in the pocket.
The bezel consists of a 5mm white LED and a silvered plastic reflector which
catches most of the sidespill light and projects it
forward. The head is sealed with a plastic lens to protect
the LED and reflector. Behind the LED is a tiny step-up
circuit that allows the LED to run on a AAA battery
which would otherwise not provide enough voltage to
drive the LED. I'm amazed that they can keep the price
so low and still include a voltage step-up circuit.
Not having inexpensive, small driver circuits was one
of the roadblocks to the use of LEDs in consumer flashlights.
Now it appears as though that barricade has been permanently
overcome by Dorcy.
The switch is built into the tailcap and you can either twist the tailcap for constant-on use or you can press the button on the end of the tailcap for momentary (blink on-off) use. A hang ring is attached to the momentary pushbutton and it helps prevent the switch from coming apart when you remove the tailcap for battery changes.
The light is sealed with O-ring to prevent the entry of water, but I don't
know how far I would push it. If you drop it in a puddle,
shake it off and keep going, but I would later open
it up just to be sure no water got in. If it is moist
inside, open it up and let it dry out before using further.
A single AAA battery drives the light. Runtimes are not given, but I would
expect around 5 hours of bright light, diminishing in
intensity throughout the effective life of the battery.
To change the battery simply remove the tailcap and
drop out the old battery. Drop in a new battery positive-first
and close it back up again. An important point to note
- the battery included in the package had a clear shrink-wrap
cover over the ends which is hard to see. If you don't
remove the cover before inserting the battery the light
won't work.
What I Liked: Water resistant, No bulb to blow, Step-up circuit and anticipated long battery life, Relatively Bright, Easy battery change, Lightweight
What I Didn't Like: Slightly cheesy construction, but not too bad overall.
Other Things I Noticed:
Conclusions: A fantastic little
pocket/keychain flashlight for the money. Great for
finding keyholes or serving as a backup pocket light.
Much better than those cheap "squeeze-type" incandescent
keychain lights. Hang one on your backpack, give them
to the kids (No bulbs to blow!), or use them camping
as an "around the campsite" light. If you (or the kids)
lose it you're only out about $7.00, so it's no big
deal!
UPDATE June 2006: Dorcy has "updated"
the little AAA. It now has a checkered grip (sporting
the word "Dorcy" molded in), a keychain split
ring in the package, and a new convex lens at the front.
The new lens results in a very spotlight-like round
beam with essentially no spillbeam which severely limits
its usefulness. Unfortunately, their "update"
also included cutting light output IN HALF! The older
style with the reflector and striped grips puts out
about 300 on my Lightbox reading. The newer puts out
only 143. That stinks!
 
New version, lens close-up
 
New version beam (Overall Output 143) vs. old version
beam (Overall Output 300)
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