Review: DGX 600 vs Xtar D26 vs $22 eBay light

[BRT]

Three times the lumens on the same spot will not be as much brighter as you think. Try pointing 2 of the same lights at the same spot and see how much difference you can see. The area of a circle gets large really fast when diameter increases so a bigger spot eats a lot of power. That and Chinese light manufacturers are liars about lumens.

 

[bergersau]

My apologies. I didn't intend it to sound hostile.

The cheBay light and the DGX (which comes from a U.S. company and includes a decent quality battery - according to my Opus tester - and a charger) seem to me to be in roughly the same price class, when you factor out the extras and the U.S. retailer overhead. Your post does not make it clear to me why it was wrong to expect the cheBay light to be brighter - even if only a smidge.

@stuartv - For what it's worth I love my DGX600 light. - Bright, good 'Hot Spot', twist on, 3 o-rings.
But -
The supplied charger went 'POP' first time I plugged it in - blew the circuit breaker for that wall socket too. I suspect a dead short to ground somewhere on the circuitboard was the cause.
Note that DGX did offer to send a replacement charger with my next order - I'm based in Australia so shipping is a consideration in situations like this.

The supplied battery also died very quickly - 3-4 charge cycles.
I now have a good quality 240V charger and have other 18650 batteries so neither is a big drama.

I am also aware that I'm reporting from from a 'sample size' of one and that my experience probably won't be the same as for everyone else.

 

[stuartv]

@stuartv - For what it's worth I love my DGX600 light. - Bright, good 'Hot Spot', twist on, 3 o-rings.
But -
The supplied charger went 'POP' first time I plugged it in - blew the circuit breaker for that wall socket too. I suspect a dead short to ground somewhere on the circuitboard was the cause.
Note that DGX did offer to send a replacement charger with my next order - I'm based in Australia so shipping is a consideration in situations like this.

The supplied battery also died very quickly - 3-4 charge cycles.
I now have a good quality 240V charger and have other 18650 batteries so neither is a big drama.

I am also aware that I'm reporting from from a 'sample size' of one and that my experience probably won't be the same as for everyone else.

My DGX600 lights have been great! But, they do have those things I wish were different, that I mentioned before.

When I got my first DGX600, I got the Tenergy batteries and charger that DGX offers as well. So, I never even used the single battery chargers that came with my DGX600s. But, I didn't take too long after getting mine to want a bigger, better charger. I got the Opus BT-C3400 and it is awesome. It charges 4 batteries at a time and it will do a test on them to tell you how much capacity they have. And all 4 channels are independent, so you can be charging one battery, doing a Quick Test on another, doing a Discharge Refresh on another, and doing a Discharge on another, all at the same time, if you wanted to.

The batteries that came with the DGX lights tested out to be right at the capacity they claim (2400? 2800? something like that). But, I also quickly got a pile of Sanyo 3400s, as I wanted the max run time I could get. So, I have barely used the stock batteries. I have just kept them as backups, in case I burn through all my beefier batteries and don't have time to charge them.

 

[bergersau]

It was really just a comment to help others making purchasing decisions Stuart.
As I said - I'm very happy with the light itself and the guys I've loaned my light to have commented how good it is underwater.
I might just have been unlucky with the batter and charger. The light itself is very good and with a decent charger and 3400mAh Panasonic cells the battery life easily sees me through a dive.

 

[rombre]

Stuart, have you switched from the DGX 600 to different lights since?

Am looking for lights for night dives and (small) caverns on day dives. For my purposes the DGX 600 look great, if there wasn't the battery life. If it was 90min, I'd buy them now but 60min is a bit on the short side. Different brightness levels would be a plus but can live without.
Alternatives seem to be the DGX 800 or the DRIS 1000 - both quite a bit bigger though.

edit: Just saw in another thread that you are now using the XTAR D26.

 

[stuartv]

@rombre, yes, I am now using the D26. I got 2 of them, so I have one as a backup.

I still have 2 x DGX 600. And I would say that if you buy good 18650 batteries, I think you can get 90 minutes or very close out of them. The 18650s I have were billed as 3400mAh, I think, and they test out at 3200 - 3300. If you're really worried, and you really want the smaller size, get 3 of them. If 1 dies before the end of the dive, switch to #2 and still have #3 as a backup.

Keep in mind, though, that different brightness levels means you can run it lower and make it last longer. For the price of 3 DGX 600, you could get 2 Xtar D26 and they would last your 90 minutes, running on high, no problem. And you could run them on Medium, which is still pretty bright, most of the time, to get them to last REALLY long.

Also, twist on/off was more annoying to me the longer I lived with it. Especially if I put the light in a soft handmount. The only way to twist it on or off meant taking the handmount off or taking the light out of the handmount. PITA.

 

[rombre]

Thanks Stuart, looks very interesting. The size looks still ok and not that much bigger than the DGX 600.

 

[RyanT]

The only way to twist it on or off meant taking the handmount off or taking the light out of the handmount. PITA.

At first, I found that rather frustrating with my DGX 600 as well. I found that if I jam the base under my chin, I can hold is firmly enough there to turn the head with my other hand. It's actually pretty easy.

 

[stuartv]

At first, I found that rather frustrating with my DGX 600 as well. I found that if I jam the base under my chin, I can hold is firmly enough there to turn the head with my other hand. It's actually pretty easy.

Ha ha! Sounds great! ;-) My issue has been that I want to have it in a soft handmount (e.g. the one from DGX). Can't jam it under my chin or even really use two hands then.

 

[fmerkel]

My buddy got the DGX. It spun in the soft hand mount. We just use a zip tie through the lanyard hole and security loop on the hand mount. Now it can only spin a bit before it's locked up, plus it's secured from loss should the mount come undone somehow.