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Unread 01/21/2008, 12:14 PM   #113
hahnmeister
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Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Brew City, WI
Posts: 10,156
Well, you might be interested to know that the mfg's agree as well. For the T5 reflector comparison, just about every high end company has agreed to participate... Sfiligoi, Fauna Marin, ATI, etc. Getting participation from some of the lesser known companies has been like pulling teeth. Why do you think that is? Do you think it might have to do with them knowing there is potential to do more harm than good? As it stands for some companies, they can still make claims like 'as good as' or 'parabolic reflectors for superior light output', without any real data. The truth is that depending on the focal point of a 'parabolic' reflector, you can mount the reflector on a bulb so its output is WORSE than a flat reflector in the first place (think of a semi-circle with a bulb in the middle... the reflection from every point on that reflector points right back at the bulb). IF this were to be revealed in testing, then there would be more harm than good.

Dont get me wrong, its nice to know where you might stand with your lighting, but Sanjay has tested plenty of similar bulbs from those types of makers... and the results dont vary much from bulb to bulb. You can simply look up 'Hello Lights: Vion' to get an idea. I think that when you actually look at the numbers, you might agree with me more... you may find yourself wishing you didnt look in the first place...lol. Knowing if your bulb makes '50' vs '40' isnt as all that significant when the quality bulbs on the market are in the '85' to '125' range. You know? Sure, when you have a Dodge Viper or even S2000, you are more than likely to know what the 0-60 time is, or the top speed. But if you own a Dodge Caravan or Toyota Camry, chances are you dont even care, let alone know, get what I mean? For practical application, its 'something between 8 and 12 seconds' for most of these cars to go from 0-60, and top speeds tend to be in the 110-140 mph range. Having an exact number isnt so important, now is it?

Im sorry it upsets dave2184 to hear it, because among some groups, whooping up a 1.8L Civic to race people at the stoplights seems like a worth while thing to do and they want to do everything they can to get 15 more hp... but in the end, its just another grocery getter. Am I coming across better now?

The thing is, all things considered in this hobby, trying to justify saving money by buying the $40 bulbs because you are 'cost concious' doesnt really fly with me at least. Being 'cost concious' and this hobby just dont mix to well. These are just bulbs after all, not cars (and some people's reefs cost more than many cars), and the difference between buying something cheap vs. decent is often no more than $20. And if you dont have $20 extra to spare per bulb, you are in the wrong hobby. More and more people in this hobby are realizing that trying to save money like this ends up costing them alot more in the long run. I know, I know, that 'you are in the wrong hobby' bit seems like such an offensive statement when you first read it... but its true, and these are living creatures we are providing life support to, not just racing RC cars around a track. This isnt a $20-100 per year hobby, more like a $500 per year hobby at a minimum it seems. And come on... $20 is a drop in the bucket. Heck, do you realize that for most of the US, just running one of those cheap bulbs wastes more than $20 in electricity per year in lost output? Seriously, did you consider that? Trying to justify wasting your money on cheap bulbs doesnt really work in the end unless you get free electricity. If you were in the EU, running one of those cheap bulbs would waste more electricity than the bulb is worth in a few months.



Last edited by hahnmeister; 01/21/2008 at 12:21 PM.
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