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260 of 262 found the following review helpful:
Compared to Planet Bike Beamer 3Sep 30, 2008
By Allen
First off, I'd like to say I own both Planet Bike Beamer 3 and 5. I bought them both from Amazon when they were both priced at about 16 bucks. I've taken both lights out to compare how they would perform. Both lights are very bright and will force cars, joggers, and anyone to notice you. I would say they are the perfect light for urban use and a minimum for suburban use. They light up the road relatively well from 10-20 feet away from you. They both have flashing and constant on modes. Flashing in both models seem to be brighter than constant on.
I do prefer the Planet Bike Beamer 3 over the 5 though. When comparing the two, the 5 seems to scatter the light a little bit. Let me try to explain; when using both lights shining against a wall, they both project a circle, same size and brightness. But with the 5, the outer edge looks fuzzy. With the 3, the circumference of the circle is very solid and sharp. Also the light color on the 3 is more white colored light, while the color on the 5 is slightly blue(er). This gives the 3 more usable light on the streets. From my own perspective, the 5 isn't necessarily brighter than the 3 either. Battery life, I have not tested. I do recommend the 3 over the 5, especially for people looking for a bike light under 20 bucks. Thanks for reading, I hope this helps.
I also wanted to note that both of the products were bought at the same time and the batteries were fresh (from factory).
Edit: After a few weeks of swapping between the 5 and 3, I have noticed the 5 to be slightly brighter than the 3. They both use the same type of mounts so you can swap back and forth like I did.
45 of 46 found the following review helpful:
 Urban rider reveiws the Beamer 5.Mar 24, 2007
By A. Sykora
This light takes two 'AA's so i can use rechargebles,not pricey watch batteries.The five LEDs have a good throw.When pointed a bit closer to the ground infront of the handle bars it gives off a star cluster rather than a single wash.This is a light not for seeing well but for being seen by others.The easy to install bracket does not seem to tighten enough.I wish designers would make strong metal(titanium?)brackets for lights for those of us who ride everyday,everywhere.Not the best,but better than most.
32 of 33 found the following review helpful:
Good for lighted areaDec 02, 2007
By T. Ko
"granny"
The instruction recommends rechargables, but I found that it is considerably dimmer than when using regular alkaline batteries, even when the nimh's were freshly charged. The safety margin is not worth the saving, so I use regular alkaline batteries.
The "flashing" mode bright flashes can be seen over a city block away, but the bright flashes are very disturbing when I am riding in dark areas. The continuous "on" mode does not gives sufficient light to ride safely when there is no other light source like street lights.
This light serves me well in getting drivers' attention from on coming traffic, and is worth the price; going to get additional head light for night riding.
34 of 36 found the following review helpful:
Good Urban Light, and Good Mount (ignore contrary reviews)Nov 06, 2008
By David C. Filmer
"David Filmer"
I have both the one-watt Blaze and the 5-LED Beamer lights on my bike (note that I am comparing the one-watt Blaze, not the half-watt Blaze). I use the Blaze for constant-on illumination (to see) and the Beamer as a blinker (to be seen).
First of all, there is NOTHING WRONG WITH THE MOUNT (which is the same for both lights). Please ignore other reviews to the contrary, which were posted by people who are apparently unable to read an instruction sheet.
The mounting strap is ADJUSTABLE. It will accommodate very small handlebars, as well as massively oversized handlebars. If you turn the mounting bracket over and examine the underside, you will see that the mounting strap has ratchet-teeth. There is a keep directly beneath the mount which holds the strap to the desired length. If the mount is too loose, push the strap towards the mount to ratchet it to a smaller size. If the mount is too tight, use a small screwdriver to hold the keep up as you let the strap out. The mount may be further adjusted by turning the set-screw (by turning the cam-lever). Don't make it too tight, or it will be hard to adjust vertically.
The mount is very secure, yet the lights are easily removed (and can easily double as a flashlight when needed - and you could easily hold it in your teeth for roadside repairs).
Photos of both the Blaze and the Beamer look rather similar - I wondered if they used the same plastic housing. But the Blaze is substantially larger than the Beamer (in both length and diameter, even thought they both use the same size (AA) batteries). As I said before, the mount is the same.
In blinking mode, the Beamer is actually brighter (overall) than the Blaze. This is because the Blaze (wisely) does not flash at full-intensity all of the time (otherwise you would absolutely blind passing motorists). The Blaze mostly flashes at low-intensity, but every sixth or seventh flash is at high-intensity. The Beamer flashes at maximum intensity with each flash, which is brighter than the Blaze for most flashes, but not as bright as the occasional max-flash of the Blaze. Overall, the Beamer is brighter in flash-mode, although I am not sure it is better. But it is sufficient for my needs.
Many bike lights are designed like flashlights, where the beam is really visible only from the front - someone viewing from the side would not see any light from the bulb itself (only the things that the bulb illuminated). Both the Blaze and the Beamer have lens bezels which fully expose the bulb to aspect view, giving these lights about 210-degrees of visibility.
In steady-on mode, there is really no comparison in lighting intensity. The Blaze has a high and low mode for steady-on, while the Beamer has only one steady-on mode. My comparison is only using the Blaze in high-mode. I give the Beamer four-stars because it does not compare to the Blaze in this regard.
The Beamer's steady-on mode is rather hazy and unfocused. The five-bulb light source can be seen in the uneven lighting it produces. The Blaze (which has a single bulb) produces a much whiter and brighter light which is highly uniform. I'm not sure I would recommend the Blaze for absolute pitch-dark riding over difficult surfaces (such as singletrack wilderness and mountain trails), but it is perfectly sufficient for fill-lighting in urban commutes, with occasional very-dark spots. The Beamer is sufficient only for urban fill-lighting - I would not want to use this light in very dark conditions.
If I found myself riding an extended bit of pitch-dark road, I would reconfigure my lights to use the Blaze as a distance light and the Beamer as a close-in light.
Some posters complain that NiMh rechargeable batteries are inferior to alkaline. I am not able to discern any difference in the Blaze. NiMh batteries are 1.2 volts, whereas ordinary batteries are 1.5 volts. However, it is not really voltage, but milliamp-hours (mAh) which determine a battery's power potential.
The Energizer e2 MiMh batteries can be charged to 2,450 mAh (milliamp-hours), while fresh Energizer Alkaline batteries are rated at 2,850 mAh.. So the difference in power is about 8.75%. I cannot perceive this difference. However, a freshly-charged MiMh battery will ALWAYS out-shine a somewhat-discharged (but still relatively new) alkaline battery. There is a temptation to use disposable alkaline batteries until they are absolutely worthless - thereby depriving ourselves of good lighting (few people toss out batteries because they are only at 91% power - the point at which fresh NiMh batteries exceed their 8.75% discharged alkaline counterparts). It is better, IMO, to have a slightly inferior battery that I can recharge each evening, so I always have an absolutely fresh battery, rather than a disposable battery that may be slightly brighter for the first hour or two, but soon looses ground to a freshly charged NiMh battery.
9 of 9 found the following review helpful:
..good, but some flawsSep 08, 2008
By B. Main
I agree about the lights not being very bright with rechargeable batteries, although I haven't tried alkalines. They are bright enough to be seen, and to ride in the city, but if one wanders away from city lights and there isn't any moonlight to be found, one must be very careful about not running off of a path or running over road debris.
Also, another comment noted that the bracket not being tight enough - I have also found this an issue. When I go over big bumps, the light falls forward.
Other Planet Bike stuff is excellent, but this leaves a bit to be desired.
Edit: Tried new alkalines versus charged ni-mh batteries. The alkalines were substantially brighter. I guess the .3 volts per battery makes a (big)difference.
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