Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Purchased this Lighting Ever 1000 lumens lantern and the Rayovac Sportsman 240 Lumen LED Lantern SE3DLNACOM on the same order. Not realizing the identical nature of each lantern at the time, having both in hand together allowed me to make a side by side comparison. This might help someone chose which one to buy. The Rayovac I purchased on this page shows a 240 lumen lantern, however the one that arrived clearly states 305 lumens. Physically, the LE and RV are manufactured almost identically in composition. Both require 3 D sized batteries to operate. The LE is only one ounce more than the RV, but the LE feels and looks sturdier and of higher quality. LE and RV will be used when describing each lantern, but keep in mind that I am comparing the Rayovac 305 lumen that arrived, versus what is advertised on the Amazon page. The LE's output on highest mode is 1000 lumens compared to the RV's highest mode at 305; both are daylight white on high. On high, the LE touts a run time of 18 hours (10 watts), to the RV's 70 hours (4 watts), RV wins on run time. The LE's second mode both reduces the lumens (dimmer) and changes the color temp to a warm white. While the RV does not have a color temp variable, it does provide an option to dim the output to 140 lumens for its 2nd mode and can run 140 hours. LE wins due to the option to change to preferred temperature color. The LE's 18 hour operation will increase to 25 hours when on mode 2 (warm white). The third mode of the LE further dims the light and combines the warm and daylight temperatures to somewhere in between. The paperwork for the LE shows that mode 3 will last only 12 hours, which does not make sense as to why it shortens the life by the most . The last mode for both (LE's 4th mode, RVs 3rd mode) is a blinking / strobe light of the daylight / cool white color. I've not much to say on this mode - does not seem relevant at the moment to me. The RV has one final feature though, which is a dim green light on the power button that blinks very slowly, to assist the owner in locating it during periods of darkness. Personally, I do not like this feature and would either remove the batteries or put a dimmit over the light. Buyers might prefer this, I'm just not a fan of idiot lights with or without power. Lastly, I mentioned these being cut from the same mold, and both have battery compartments in the base of the lantern. The LE has a stem mounted in the base that the cover's slot must align correctly to close the battery compartment. The RV has a slot (no stem) on the rim of base to align to the cover's slot opening. However, the LE cover is still much easier to close with the batteries in the unit. Once the appropriate alignment is met, you must push down and turn to close the base. Think of pushing a child-proof pill bottle's lid to open it. Do the same on these lanterns. The LE base closed after 3 tries, to the RV's numerous tries getting frustrated. LE wins on battery replacement procedures. Overall, the LE wins hands down. For a 15 ounce lantern with more features, I paid approximately 17.00. The 14 ounce RV cost $24, but the Amazon page shows the list price at $34 and the buyer was getting a $10 discount at purchase. Though the 4 watt RV runs much longer at 2.9 days or 5.8 on mode 2 and the 10 watt LE has a run time of .75 days or 1 full day on mode 2, I am not using this to go camping. This was purchased for power failures, to be used as part of an overall emergency preparedness plan, and bright is what we need indoors during power failures. The hours will be broken up over various times and 18 hours will get us several days. For the money, same battery requirements and functionality, LE takes the cake. I've never heard of Lighting Ever before, but the product packaging shows they have their home base in Las Vegas, NV, another in the UK and one in China, where this lamp was made. It comes with RoHS certification, 1 year warranty and the instructions are the most accurate regarding the English language than I've seen in a long time. How refreshing to receive grammatically correct documents included in the box (yes, a real box). The RayOVac has a limited lifetime warranty and came in a plastic transparent bag, unbranded. The TLC shows on the LE, while the product packing on the RV is a wrapped label with specs, and it is though product presentation was an afterthought. For the $24, some type of protection during delivery wouldn't hurt. Whoever LE is, I will buy again if they produce a product as good as this one.