The internal battery pack lasts for a few hours of sustained use. Festool claims "up to 4 hours" and i have no reason not to believe it based on my experience it's hard to verify as the battery is usually not in fully charged state when put into use. There is an optional Festool auxilliary battery pack that extends this I didn't get the aux battery as the built-in battery does well enough for what i do. The package comes with both a car charging adapter and an AC adapter as well and is neatly packaged in a well-made tough carrying case. It also has a hanging hook, and this was really clever in my view the plastic case has different angles on the bottom, left and right sides so that you have 3 choices when you set it down on the direction of light angle (swath is 170degrees accdg to owners manual). Typical of Festool, the SYSLITE package is a class act and the price reflects that.
I'm entirely satisfied. If you need a bright, portable light that will fit in the palm of your hand this is worth considering. Recommended
Click Here For Most Helpful Customer Reviews >>
These units may seem pricey until you look at the alternatives, which give up one or more of the following design goals:Excellent performance
Just the right size
18W of quality LED chips
Temperature/battery monitoring
Integral LiIon battery
Ability to accept standard Festool/Protool LiIon batteries
Ruggedized
3 year warranty, even for commercial use
Made in Germany by a company with a long history
120V and 12V charging adapters included
Nice zippered case
I bought two of these SysLites and find them incredibly handy very much "grab-n-go" with nothing to set up. I get the advertised 90 minutes on high and 4 hours on low. I tested with a 3Ah 14.5V LiIon pack from my Festool C15 drill and got over ten hours on low, in addition to the 4 more hours that could be then had on the internal battery. So, these will be useful for emergency preparedness as well as camping, where they could be recharged from the car. They will also run and charge simultaneously for unlimited runtime if a power source is nearby. On HIGH setting the top and bottom ends of the case (which seem to be metal) do get moderately warm, which is to be expected for a properly cooled LED lamp design the chips must not be allowed to overheat, or they won't last.
So far I've used these for running CAT-5 under the house. They have been indispensable in the crawl space and attic. They are also perfect when working inside the kitchen sink cabinet. It impressed me how good illumination makes work less stressful, and therefor you will find yourself more relaxed, less hurried, and making fewer mistakes. Not bad for the price of admission.
What else could you use that meets those design goals? There are some video/photography LED lights that come close, but they're about the same price, if not more. I've learned over the years to not waste time on cheap LEDs they are often overdriven for brightness while lacking appropriate heat-sinks, so they eventually burn out. I trust Festool to have sourced quality LED chips, drive them within spec, and keep them cool. What more could one ask for?
UPDATE 4/11/13
These lights (I have two) continue to impress. They been dropped, dragged through grit, and left on until they shut themselves off. They are no worse for the wear... very good rugged design on the part of Festool. I have recently had the opportunity to compare the Syslight to another non-portable LED light with adjustable color. After adjusting the other 600 lumen output unit to match the Syslight, I'd say the Syslight was a smidge brighter. This would put the Syslight somewhere more than 600 lumens, but probably less than 1200 (since it takes a doubling of lumens to have a significant perception of increased brightness lumens are not linear). Since the Syslight directs its output in a 180-degree hemisphere, rather than a 360-degree sphere as a lightbulb would, it makes excellent use of its output for task lighting. I'd say then it is similar to a BR30 wide flood 75W, daylight corrected incandescent, but in a compact, rugged, cordless package.
Mounted on a tripod and connected to its charger, one of these lights serves as a wall-wash/desk lamp in my office. The light quality blends nicely with what comes in from the north facing bank of windows.
Best Deals for Festool 498568 SysLite LED Work Lamp
The tool came in a timely manner and in great condition. I charged it over night and took it to work the next day to review the interior of a burnt home. As we all know, the soot is a light sucker, there is no reflecting the light, it simply hits the wall and stops there. I found this light to be a great tool to see in these conditions, with it's wide funnel of light and bright white output. Where I got disappointed was with the built in battery life. Festool estimates up to 4 hours on the built in battery. What they didn't say was that this would be on low. What I encountered was after an hour on high in this burnt home, that the built in battery was already drained to the point of the light shutting it's self off. I found the light easy enough to grasp in my hand, but a strap of some sort would be greatly appreciated, perhaps one that would fit over your wrist and also act as a band across the back of your hand, so as to sandwich your hand between the light and the strap. Included was a wall charger and cord, and also a car charger (good thinking there Festool). Overall it is a good tool with great output, the switch is in a good spot even. My disappointment is with the built in battery life and no strap. Overall I would buy this tool again.Honest reviews on Festool 498568 SysLite LED Work Lamp
I have several lights from Makita and Milwaukee that use the tool batteries. I have been very pleased with them but they are not flood lights and cannot light up a large area with a real usable type of light. I have a few FESTOOLS and they are all very impressive. So I assumed the light would be worth the rather high price. It is. It casts an incredible amount of light in a large even pattern. It is small and very easy to handle and designed so when you put it down it is easy to set it in a good position. I am not aware of anything else that comes close. For those that cannot get over the price, compare this to some of the small, excellent flashlights from Surefire and Streamlight.Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Festool 498568 SysLite LED Work Lamp
I looked at all the portable handheld lights from all the big supply houses. Almost all of them we're less than half the price. I needed a light that would work great underneath the bathroom vanity where I was installing some 3 hole faucets. So I said to myself "how many times in my life have I wasted $175 on crap ? " Well more than I care to admit for sure. So I went and got this light and I been feeling less guilty every day since I got it. I must say it's really great. Underneath the vanity it lays on it's back in the corner by your shoulder and with the low setting it's plenty of light-just right. Very white bright light even on low. On high it is so bright that during the day I shined it on my wife and she yelled at me; yea it's that bright. It's really made all my flashlight's(including the Streamlight's) obsolete. Positives are wide even light. Can run off it's recharge cord. Also has a 12 volt charge cord for the car. There is a nice case included but I wish it we're a little bigger; you can never rap the cords up as tight as when you unpack it new. On the negative side is the price of course which is the only reason I didnt give it 5 stars. You get a few hours of use on low with a full charge, and right before it goes out it will dim a little, then it goes out about 30 seconds after that. You don't want to be in the crawl space under the house and have it run out on you, but it would be perfect for that kind of job. If you needed to change a tire at night also nothing better. Overall I give this unit a "kick ass" rating which from me is way up there. Just buy it and skip a few meals eating out and you'll be a happy camper with this light.
0 comments:
Post a Comment