Website with dodgy English tried to sell £5 torches for £50

[Simon]

I happened across this website from a Facebook ad, okay so it has three lighting modes but it's 5 W not seven and is otherwise exactly like the torch I have in my pocket that cost me a fiver now and yes mine uses Li ion batteries. I like the way they have banner on top of the website claiming some people are trying to rip their products off I think they are rebranding somebody else's product.

http://www.supertorch.com/en/index.php

[8086]

Maybe the torch in your pocket is the rip off? 

[Simon]

The torch in my pocket was bought well over a year ago, somebody has taken an existing product added a couple of lighting modes chopped a charger and battery in with it and slapped a huge premium on the price. No wonder they are claiming other people are ripping their products off.

[Lurch]

What's a this your mind battery?

There's hundreds of these about, no idea where you'd even go fr a "genuine" one these days. I've got a few floating about, can't fault any of them tbh for the price, considering I have spent a small fortune on 6D Maglites in the past that don't perform anywhere near as well as these.

And it's $50 btw.

[Simon]

Okay so that's 30 quid that's still well over five, the one being advertised is also less powerful than mine 5 W rather than 7 W.

[dexters_lab]

lol, some of it is actually quite amusing!

"Regulative Microprocessor Controller Unit Linear regulator circuit for different outputs"

[Simon]

Yes isn't it, after all we are selling a torch that costs 5 pounds for £30 I suppose the battery is worth a couple of pounds a charger is worth a fiver so £10 set for £30 you need some fancy wording to justify that.

[Dave]

I knew I wasn't the only one who giggled while reading about that "linear" regulation.

[pickle9000]

Ultrafire is a brandname that comes to mind on ebay. I'm not sure if it's real or not but I have a few with that name, 18650 batts and I like them, they are good value for money.

[SeanB]

Ultrafire= cheap who knows what cell in a shrink, sold by anybody with some dodgy cells and a lighter to shrink the sleeves on.

I saw those on sale at the flea market, was not impressed with them. Bought a $2 torch on a whim at the furniture store that takes a single AA cell that probably will last longer. Still had to fix it, Mr OH Low had miswired it, pretty hard to do on a PCB with 4 components on it, but yes it was done.

[AReResearch]

I've two "ultrafire" branded Cree Q5 torches. I wanted them for night time running because of the tiny size. The first one I got was single-mode only. It draws over 1A from a freshly charged 14500 cell. Both current and brightness decrease rather quickly, giving useable light for 20 minutes max. That is why I got the 3-mode one which seems to have a much better driver circuit, taking 0.8A on high and 170mA on low settings.
The low setting is ok for running and lasts long enough for me. That light was just under 2 AU$. The single mode I bought earlier was 10€ with two 14500s and a dual charger.
The charger isn't really trustworthy, as are the cells. I only charge them in the garage on the concrete floor.
I also only charge one cell at a time: The two charging slots are wired in parallel, i.e. the two positive and both of the negative terminals of the slots are directly connected, so if the two cells in the charger are at different levels, a charging current will flow between the two cells - and I don't trust the "protected" label of the cells either.

All in all I totally like the little torches. They are really bright for their size and affordable but there are a few caveats if you buy cheap. Apart from that: spot the difference. (see pic)

EDIT: Typos

[Simon]

I don't know how long mine lasts as I've not run mine down yet, with standard rechargeable AA batteries it did not last long and I don't think the brightness was as good, I dropped my original on into the river while out boating so bought another 2 and also some Li Ion batteries that seem brighter. i used mine to pick out points on the river from the front of a canal boat so that the boat mater at the back (72 feet behind me) can see what he/she has to work around like bridge pillars so the zoom function is very useful.

[PlainName]

What's the problem with flogging a £5 torch for $30? If the chap just bought your torch from the same source he'd have to charge £8+ just to ship it straight out again since he has to add shipping to sell it anywhere. Add in his time, etc, and it's amazing how much 'profit' you need to add on to break even.

But, let's suppose you could sell them at £5 and this bloke is creaming it at $30. I still don't see the problem: is it illegal to make a profit now? Are people being forced at gunpoint to become his buyers? Seriously, why is it a problem?

[Simon]

I just find the warning at the top of the page in bad english about people ripping their products off and ruining their name hilarious, sure charge what you like (not quite my business model though) but at least look believable lest you look like an idiot scammer

[amyk]

According to their website they're Turkish: http://www.supertorch.com/en/index.php?sayfa=iletisim

Here's another one that looks just like it on DX... with a more interesting name:
http://dx.com/p/uranusfire-n10-cree-xm-l-u2-650lm-5-mode-white-zooming-flashlight-grey-1-x-18650-223926

[pickle9000]

Awesome name, two thumbs up on that one. Well maybe not two thumbs.

[Mike S]

The Nitecore Extreme was the original and it used a CR123 and reflector instead of a lens.

Here's a review of it from back in 2008.
http://www.cpfreviews.com/NiteCore-DI-Extreme.php

The "fins" actually served a purpose on the Nitecore version.

[Simon]

Here's another one that looks just like it on DX... with a more interesting name:
http://dx.com/p/uranusfire-n10-cree-xm-l-u2-650lm-5-mode-white-zooming-flashlight-grey-1-x-18650-223926

That's one is a little different the one I linked to is hugely popular and is sold in many countries under many names and is exactly the same looking product hence I find it so hilarious that the website I pointed out in my original post is trying to claim that people are ripping their products off.

[Lurch]

I find it so hilarious that the website I pointed out in my original post is trying to claim that people are ripping their products off.

It's called marketing.

[Jon86]

I've got nothing against people who sell cheap stuff for an extortionate price, if you can trick stupid people into buying it, they'll probably think it's worth the money anyway!