Highlight brand LED Christmas Light Set, retail $12.50 (see below for purchasing info)
Manufactured by
Last updated: 11-29-01 (Gave product its own page)
Tired of getting out the Christmas lights every year and finding they don't work because half of the bulbs are broken?
Tired of the endless chore of hunting down & changing bulbs as they go out over the duration of the holidays?
Do you live in California or Washington and pay so much for power you can no longer afford to put up lights anymore?
Then these are for you: A fairly ordinary looking set of Christmas lights that have colored LEDs instead of bulbs.
They run cool and the bulbs never pop, and the whole set uses just 6 watts of your precious electricity.
These lights come packaged in a colorful & sturdy cardboard box along with the unusually small "wall wart" transformer they plug into.
The transformer plugs into any standard two prong 110V receptacle, and connects to the light string with a 5 foot cord.
The length of the lighted portion of the string is 65 feet, and it has 120 LED 'bulbs' on it. The color of the cord is dark green.
Use these like you would any miniature strings: decorate the Christmas tree, trim all around window & doorframes, light up wreaths or garland, or just hang the suckers up in your dorm room for that Christmas look all year 'round.
The package these come in says it is equipped with an 8-function controller; however the lights being sold come with no such controller and burn steadily. So you should be aware of that when you purchase them.
The seller is already aware of this and they are priced accordingly.
Unlike most Christmas lights, there is approximately 5 feet of cord before the first bulb on the string; so you don't waste bulbs going from the outlet to the Christmas tree (or the window, or the doorway, etc.), and you don't have to hide them under a towel or the tree skirt.
Bulbs are spaced approximately 6" apart, which is similar to the spacing for most incandescent miniature light sets.
They aren't very bright when compared to incandescents, but they have pure, vivid colors and they are bright enough to light up your tree as long as you don't use too many incandescent strings along with the LED strings, which could tend to drown the LED version out under some circumstances.
They will also look good when used by themselves (that is, not mixing with incandescents) in window & door frames, and they aren't so bright that other decorations you might want to use with them are drowned out.
Each LED bulb has a tiny lens on the end, which "magnifies" the light in three different directions, resulting in a sparkling effect that is noticeable especially when the lights are densely strung. A shiny gold band on each bulb base helps to accentuate the decorative nature of the light set.
For a more thorough evaluation, I will need to hang the lights up and live with them for awhile, so don't change that channel.
LED Christmas lights blazing away while still in the box. :)
TEST NOTES:
Lights were just received today (May 04 2001) and require additional testing.
The lights operate on 24 volts AC from the supplied transformer. This makes them inherently safer to use, especially in households
with young children or chewing pets like rats, hamsters, or new puppies.
During the first half of the AC cycle, half of the LEDs in the set are on. During the second half of the AC cycle, the other half of the LEDs come on; this helps minimize that annoying "AC flicker" that would be noticeable if all of the LEDs were simply connected in series. This was verified by connecting the set to a DC power souce.
Lights are UL listed, but does not specify whether they are indoor only or indoor/outdoor.
For the purposes of this document, assume they are for indoor use only.
Any updates related to this review will be posted as they happen.
UPDATE 05-05-01:
I spent the morning hanging these up in my room. The single string provided as an evaluation unit was long enough to completely encircle the average sized, "L"-shaped bedroom along the ceiling line without having wasted bulbs hidden behind the door where I started the string. Since my room doesn't have enough outlets, I started the string in the corner behind & above the door, and ran the cord to the outlet strip I have mounted just outside the bedroom door for my lab equipment. The string then follows the contour of the walls all the way around the room. Works just fine this way.
I will take a picture after dark and post it here.
UPDATE 07-15-01:
Admittedly, this light set has been unplugged more than it has been plugged in.
I can only stare at yellow, green and red for just so long... would be so much nicer if blue bulbs were included.
Except for the first several weeks I had them when they burned continuously, the usual state of this set is a day to maybe up to three days on, and one to maybe two (or a bit more) weeks off.
Currently, they're on, and show no signs of degradation - nor was any expected at this early stage.
To order, contact Frank at cpodhaizer@aol.com.
Supply name, address, quantity required, and preferred payment method.
Credit card # preferred but money order or COD should be fine. Lights ship via ground carrier unless otherwise specified.
Shipping wgt is 1.7 lbs.
PROS:
Very energy conscious product - uses only 6 watts or less per string.
Pure colors won't fade over time like the paint on regular bulbs tends to quickly do.
Long lead-in cord means no wasted bulbs under the tree or behind a door.
CONS:
Not that bright.
They can easily be drowned out when mixed with incandescents.
Bulbs only come in red, yellow, and green.
LED light set tangles up in the closet just as good as ordinary Christmas light sets.
Transformer-powered set means you need a "wall wart" for every string.
Not listed as being water-resistant; do not use outdoors.
MANUFACTURER: Unknown/TBA
PRODUCT TYPE: Miniature style LED Christmas light set
LAMP TYPE: LEDs, tombstone lenses
No. OF LAMPS: 120
BEAM TYPE: N/A
SWITCH TYPE: N/A
BEZEL: N/A
BATTERY: N/A
CURRENT CONSUMPTION: Adapter output 24VAC 0.2A
WATER RESISTANT: Probably not
SUBMERSIBLE: No
ACCESSORIES: AC adapter
WARRANTY: Unknown/not stated
PRODUCT RATING:
Do you manufacture or sell an LED flashlight, task light, utility light, or module of some kind?
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