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 On: 2007-09-03
Battery operated (4xAA), small (3 x 3.5 x 2.5 inches), LED, camping lantern. This little powerhouse puts out an amazing amount of light: it is good for power outages and also outdoors and camping. It has a couple of irritating problems, but I recommend it nevertheless.
NOTE: This item is in the process (August 2007) of being upgraded. Items being currently shipped by Coleman use the more powerful `Cree XR-E LED. There is still a lot of product in the retail pipeline using the original, less powerful Luxeon `K2. On the package, it will state which LED it is. Make sure you get `Cree.
This small package puts out a good amount of ambient light that will fill your room or campsite that you will be very happy with. I compared it to my standard, LED Mini Sylvania Lantern. The Coleman clearly gave more light. Peeking at the LED from Cree, it was surprising to see how bright it was.
On the other hand, there is much that is not good about this thing. The light it gives off is reticulated (think spots on a giraffe), and rather bothersome. This is bad, but not a deal breaker; however, the glare it gives is a bigger problem. If you put it on a table and sit in a chair, it does not glare. If the conical mirror is at your eye level as you sit in a real low chair, it will glare in your eyes. If the lamp is on a table and you stand up and look at it at 45 degree angle, the bottom reflector plate will glare even worse, rather painfully into your eyes.
On balance, I was quite impressed by this effort from a major manufacturer. You will like this thing, but it is not quite as good as the Sylvania. Next camping trip, I will take both along, but the Sylvania will be the primary.
The current generation of Coleman LED, battery camping lanterns is quite impressive and in the process of getting better. This lantern, flaws not withstanding, is a promising hint of the future for Coleman. I am not being paid under the table by Coleman, but I wish them good luck in their future efforts and hope that they kick retail rear-end up and down store aisles. A new generation of 500 lumen star LEDs are just becoming available. We can only hope that Coleman is planning a new generation of battery lanterns based on this new LED. They could be on the verge of making a lantern the size of a coffee mug that is as bright as a propane or fluorescent lantern; that would be something. Now, if only they could do something about the glare in my Packaway lantern.
 On: 2007-07-17
The build and engineering on this lantern is excellent. It is compact and easy to use, suitable for mounting in different ways.
Unfortunately the light distribution was very uneven. The design of the protective plastic shroud caused distortion and a series of light bands (dark and bright lines) from the sides of the unit. This was distracting and irritating to the point that I returned the unit.
Given that this is a battery powered LED unit, perhaps the product would be better without the shroud.
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