NEW: Festool SYSLITE LED accu lamp

[tiralie]

I have moved to Surfire for all of my flashlights. They are expensive but produce some of the best flashlight in the industry.

Agreed, surfire, are great. Compact and very very bright.

Tim

 

[harry_]

I would be happy with a set of half-way decent worklights that would politely pack into a systainer of pretty much any size, big or small.

 

[Brice Burrell]

I would be happy with a set of half-way decent worklights that would politely pack into a systainer of pretty much any size, big or small.

I'm with you, I've got a few clamps lights and they're a bit of a hassle to use so I don't bother to use them unless I absolutely have to.

 

[pugilato]

For that price, I would expect it to be completely and easily fitted to the MFT.  But I think I will pass on this one...

 

[peter halle]

After doing research - I have been interested in LED technology for years - despite what others feel, I really see this as not being a badly priced product.  Whether or not it works for others is up to them to decide.  For the record - if this were to come to the US, I doubt that I would not buy one.  In my work conditions there is not a need for me at this time.

LED technology and especially the focusing and light spread technology is not cheap.  If you wanted to go out to the internet and buy the LEDS and do something even remotely similar that didn't look anywhere as polished you would be spending easily over $200.  Then you would have to deal with internal rechargeable batteries and the ability to add on an external batteries.  And then all the other features.  And then there is the warranty period.  And then the dealer margin.

Really isn't a bad deal if you take all the costs involved.  I build LED lighting strips using raw components for friends and have even imported products from China.  

I can't wait to see the first real reviews here.

Peter

 

[harry_]

Peter,

While I agree with what you have said, I would be hard pressed to spend $200 on what in the end is a glorified flashlight. For that sum of money I could buy a $9 'headlight' at the Borg and a LIFETIME of (rechargeable) batteries or a LOT of beer in lieu of the green kool-aid.

Now if it was $25 and I could just use what Festool batteries I already have, that would be a different matter entirely.

 

[peter halle]

Harry,

Like I said, I probably won't own also.

Comparing this to flashlight is not a fair comparison.  Flashlights are not 18 LED watts of 180 degree light.  They are focused beam.  Flashlights usually do not have built in rechargeable batteries, nor the ability to add on supplemental batteries.  Nor car chargers...

This will not be for everyone for sure.

Peter

 

[Ken Nagrod]

Compare it to the costs of these.  I don't think for a Festool labeled product it's exorbitant.

probuiltlighting.com

 

[AlexThePalex]

Peter, you can talk about LED technology all you want, but that's not the point I was making. The LED's do not make up the heap of the cost of this lamp, the internal battery and charger do. If those were left out this lamp would cost at least 100-120 euro/dollar less.

Festool is always talking about their SYSTEM approach. Members here on the FOG constantly praise Festool's system approach. But once again with this release Festool proves it's just bloated talk. Just like Festool refuses to let us buy 'body only' versions of their cordless tools like all other brands do without problem. Take the Carvex. I already have a T15 with charger and 2 batteries, I would have already had the Carvex in my possession if I could have bought just the tool itself, without any extras.

But no, not in Festool's book. The minimum package you can buy is the saw+one battery+systainer. Ridiculous. Since a single battery sold seperately costs 140 euro and a systainer 57, that would mean Festool would force me to buy 200 euro worth of stuff I don't want and need. As a result, nothing gets bought at all and I simply get a saw from another brand while I would have happily put 200-250 € in Festool's pocket to get the saw by itself. Same here with this lamp. I'm not going to waste 100 € on stuff I already have. Again, as a result, I will spend my money on the competitor.

Festool's engineers know pretty good what they're doing, but Festool's marketing department constantly shows us they've got a plate in front of their head. Sure there will be some people interested in this lamp, and for those who have no cordless Festools the built in battery is of course a must have. But since Festool is an example of one of those brands that have a huge customer base of 'brand loyal' enthousiasts, you can bet that most people that would consider this lamp already have a Festool drill and therefor won't need the built in battery. Now if Festool would make a light that you could clip on one of your existing batteries for around 50-60 €, I think a HUGE part of those drill owners would get that light. But not this new light. Considering the high cost, rest assured that it will be for a very select bunch of people only.

 

[L.J]

Compare it to the costs of these.  I don't think for a Festool labeled product it's exorbitant.

probuiltlighting.com

Hmmmmm I might be interested in that Wobble Light !!!! I have a Dewalt worklight that can run off of or charge two 18 volt batteries and I love that thing.

 

[peter halle]

Alex,

I wasn't referring to your post when I made my statements.

eter

Peter, you can talk about LED technology all you want, but that's not the point I was making. The LED's do not make up the heap of the cost of this lamp, the internal battery and charger do. If those were left out this lamp would cost at least 100-120 euro/dollar less.

Festool is always talking about their SYSTEM approach. Members here on the FOG constantly praise Festool's system approach. But once again with this release Festool proves it's just bloated talk. Just like Festool refuses to let us buy 'body only' versions of their cordless tools like all other brands do without problem. Take the Carvex. I already have a T15 with charger and 2 batteries, I would have already had the Carvex in my possession if I could have bought just the tool itself, without any extras.

But no, not in Festool's book. The minimum package you can buy is the saw+one battery+systainer. Ridiculous. Since a single battery sold seperately costs 140 euro and a systainer 57, that would mean Festool would force me to buy 200 euro worth of stuff I don't want and need. As a result, nothing gets bought at all and I simply get a saw from another brand while I would have happily put 200-250 € in Festool's pocket to get the saw by itself. Same here with this lamp. I'm not going to waste 100 € on stuff I already have. Again, as a result, I will spend my money on the competitor.

Festool's engineers know pretty good what they're doing, but Festool's marketing department constantly shows us they've got a plate in front of their head. Sure there will be some people interested in this lamp, and for those who have no cordless Festools the built in battery is of course a must have. But since Festool is an example of one of those brands that have a huge customer base of 'brand loyal' enthousiasts, you can bet that most people that would consider this lamp already have a Festool drill and therefor won't need the built in battery. Now if Festool would make a light that you could clip on one of your existing batteries for around 50-60 €, I think a HUGE part of those drill owners would get that light. But not this new light. Considering the high cost, rest assured that it will be for a very select bunch of people only.

 

[AlexThePalex]

I wasn't referring to your post when I made my statements.

Perhaps not entirely, but I surely was to yours.  [smile]

Peter, I know you were not responding to my post directly, but indirectly you were since I'm one of the people commenting on the high cost of this unit, and you're counter argumenting everybody by justfying the high price. And of course you are right by justifying the high price because this light is without a shadow of a doubt very costly to produce, no argument there. Good LEDs are expensive and so are good batteries. But since you seem to focus solely on the LEDs, I'd like to add that those LEDs are not the deciding factor in the cost of this light. If you try to justify the price of this light, focus on the battery and the charger, they make up most of the cost.

And that cost could have been avoided by Festool, and they would have only read cheering replies in this thread.    

 

[Ken Nagrod]

We don't even know the cost of this light to the N.A. market yet, right?  As with other Festool products, you can't just take the price from another country and convert it to come up with the price Festool would sell it for here.  What if it winds up being $125 light for us?  Is that in the neighborhood of what more of us would feel is reasonable to pay?  Just curious.

 

[harry_]

We don't even know the cost of this light to the N.A. market yet, right?  As with other Festool products, you can't just take the price from another country and convert it to come up with the price Festool would sell it for here.  What if it winds up being $125 light for us?  Is that in the neighborhood of what more of us would feel is reasonable to pay?  Just curious.

Not I, when I could buy this

 

[Ken Nagrod]

Harry,

That's more of a portable light than the Festool KAL SYSLITE which is a bigger table mount type of light.  I think you would notice the KAL has a larger beam as a result.  There is a different option that hasn't been discussed on here, but that has to wait.

 

[tallgrass]

has anyone used one of these shop led lights....the few that i have seen were fairly dim. i would love a bright one.

 

[Ken Nagrod]

I have and the biggest complaint compared to an incandescent or fluorescent light is the tight coverage pattern, more like a spot light and short beam distance.  I don't see that being a problem with the Festool light being discussed in this thread.  My old favorite worklight would be the combo fluorescent/incandescent Makita LXT.

 

[Timtool]

festool also stands for making things practical with as few compromises as possible, a worklight that would only function with a tool battery is not practical. when you need the light for drilling, and it's using your spare battery. once one of these runs out of power you become stuck. unless if you own at least 4 compatible festool batteries. i only have the CXS, so i already wouldn't be able to use such a light, while anybody could buy and use this light, and if you have compatible batteries then it's only a plus that will come in handy in some occasions but in general i think it's a gadget feature.

that being said, the price, justified or not by the quality of the manufacture and components is insane.
when you know it will mostly run on it's own battery, witch will be good for a couple of years until it won't hold a decent charge and replacing it will be too costly. you will sit there with your top notch components built to last decades, good to throw away after a couple of years.

 

[AlexThePalex]

festool also stands for making things practical with as few compromises as possible, a worklight that would only function with a tool battery is not practical. when you need the light for drilling, and it's using your spare battery. once one of these runs out of power you become stuck. unless if you own at least 4 compatible festool batteries. i only have the CXS, so i already wouldn't be able to use such a light, while anybody could buy and use this light, and if you have compatible batteries then it's only a plus that will come in handy in some occasions but in general i think it's a gadget feature.

I think you're greatly misjudging the use of cordless lights. Nobody goes to a job to work for hours with a battery light. A battery light only comes out on select occasions when you're working in a strange spot and it would be too much work to haul a corded light to the spot.

A battery light is just a quick fix. If people want more permanent light they use this or bigger:

[attachimg=1]

If a battery lamp is such a gadget, please explain why these are so hugely popular:

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I personally have the DeWalt and it's the best torch light I ever had, and I use it on every occasion, both on the job but even more so in around the house situations. I wouldn't want to get rid of it but since the batteries died after 10 years of use I have to. Because of the cost of new batteries and the outdatesness of the drill's technology  I decided to get a T15 instead. A big drawback to that I see now is that Festool doesn't have a compatible torch light, while other brands sell these things for over 10 years, and they sell 'em like crazy. I was very happy when I read half a year ago that a battery light would be coming, and now that I see this thing, I couldn't be more disappointed. Once again Festool totally misses the point of what people want to see.  
 

 

[Timtool]

I think you're greatly misjudging the use of cordless lights. Nobody goes to a job to work for hours with a battery light. A battery light only comes out on select occasions when you're working in a strange spot and it would be too much work to haul a corded light to the spot.

A battery light is just a quick fix. If people want more permanent light they use this or bigger:

If a battery lamp is such a gadget, please explain why these are so hugely popular:

I personally have the DeWalt and it's the best torch light I ever had, and I use it on every occasion, both on the job but even more so in around the house situations. I wouldn't want to get rid of it but since the batteries died after 10 years of use I have to. Because of the cost of new batteries and the outdatesness of the drill's technology  I decided to get a T15 instead. A big drawback to that I see now is that Festool doesn't have a compatible torch light, while other brands sell these things for over 10 years, and they sell 'em like crazy. I was very happy when I read half a year ago that a battery light would be coming, and now that I see this thing, I couldn't be more disappointed. Once again Festool totally misses the point of what people want to see.  
 

well i agree,
basically the battery torch lights are popular because they are cheap gadgets that can be usefull at times. if festool made one like you suggested, it would also be popular. im not sure how handy they really are when you are holding tools in your hands, i suppose they are just meanth as torch lights, not worklights. a led light on your forehead is cheap and practical.
but festool made a jobsite battery lamp, handy for those who work on site with no power, expensive gadget for those who are to lazy to bring a cable in.