Comments on: Coast LED Lenser LED Lantern (TT7105CP)

By: Julie

Julie — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 18:36:35 +0000

I’m not sure how to interpret the battery like. I do know that this lantern has 3 LEDs and 4.63 watts / 70 lumens. That probably makes a difference when compared to your 2 LED light.

By: haivu

haivu — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 17:59:34 +0000

This lantern is not doing so well in the battery life department in my opinion. My 2-LED flashlight lasts about four days of continuous use (yes, I turned it on and never turned off to test). When we go on vacation, we use it as a night light so confort my two daughters since they are afraid of the dark.

As it is, 80 hours for full power on a set of 4 D-size batteries is not the performance I expect from LED bulbs. Correct me if I am wrong.

By: Julie

Julie — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 14:22:25 +0000

Very true… and I do agree that the switch is the weakest feature of this otherwise nice lantern.

By: One of One

One of One — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 10:36:03 +0000

Oh, I think the product is really nice overall. I just don’t like the switch.

But you might end up repeatedly turning it on and off quickly if you’re a total dork or if you’re sending out morse code and don’t want it on full power.

OK, that was a lame attempt at a joke, but in all seriousness, how often you’d turn it on and off isn’t the issue. For instance, if someone needs to get up in the middle of the night to run to the bathroom and doesn’t want to disturb their sleeping partner, not having it turn on to full brightness would not only be preferable, it would also be easier on the eyes (until they adjusted), hence my desire for a dimmer switch.

By: Julie

Julie — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 11:02:42 +0000

One of One:

You’ve made some excellent points and I agree with them But even as is, this is a nice product. Having to re-dim each time you turn it on isn’t overly annoying. I mean it’s not like you’re going to be turning it on and off every 5 minutes or something like that.

By: One of One

One of One — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 08:17:00 +0000

I like this lantern – really great idea. I like the handle and that it slides down to reveal a hook on top, I like that it uses LED’s and batteries instead of propane, I like that it has a battery life indicator (which is very smart – and necessary in a device like this), and I like the overall looks of it, too.

But as far as the power button is concerned, that was a design mistake. I don’t like that each time you turn it on, it automatically goes to full brightness without remembering the level of brightness you last had it at – that would get real annoying, real quick.

In fact, I don’t like the button concept at all, and certainly not a spongy type of button. Yuk, get that outta here!

What they should have done instead, is just put a rotary knob on the front, and have it operate like every other rotary knob in existence – you turn clockwise to “click” it on, in which the light would start out at the dimmest setting, and as you continued to turn the knob clockwise, the light would gradually increase in brightness until the knob came to a stop at which point the light would reach full power. Then you’d just reverse the process to dim it or turn it off. Basically, the same thing you’d find on a Torchiere lamp with a dimmer knob. Now THAT would’ve been simple and elegant. Not to mention, smarter and more intuitive, with the much needed and wanted tactile feedback.

If they change that, then they’ll have a winner. But until then… close, but no cigar.