A small package arrived today, and upon opening it I found this Brinkmann Legend inside:

But wait a minute -- the proportions are all wrong. Let's take a better look, this time on the all-too-familiar floral tablecloth that graces MR Bulk's workbench:

Well, that still doesn't seem to get it right. Perhaps next to somethng more familiar, like a real LGI:

There, that's more like it. This baby is tiny.

So I opened it up to get a look at the insides. Yup, everything was there all right:

But the heart of this whole light making system is smaller, in fact much, much smaller:

And yet the tiny reflector was expertly enlarged and centered to take full advantage of its diminutive reflecting properties to spread out the Luxeon SE's yellow phosphor over the entire surface:

Time to put it up against a big bad bully, the hugely popular and well-thought-of Nuwai AL-606...

...with six (6!) bright white Nichias driven by 6 full volts of CR123 lithium power:

And the beamshots tell a story of The Little Engine That Could. The Micro Illuminator fought back valiantly, spinning a mesmerizing David and Goliath tale all its own:

Yes, the Micro's beam is greener. But that is a product of the particularly greenish 1W SE Luxeon used in this pre-production prototype, the result of the good ol' Luxeon Lottery. A whiter Luxeon will of course produce a whiter beam, and from what I understand the makers have secured a line on some doozies.

However, clinical beamshots against a hospital-white wall do not tell the whole story anyway. This is a truly bright little light that proves highly utilitarian when used for everyday tasks. From four feet away, you will get an idea of the size and usefulness of the Micro Illuminator's output by using the rolls of paper towels for scale:

And of course, the final yardstick by which all light output is incontestably measured -- the Lightman LM631 as taken from one meter away:

Nuwai AL-606: 69 lux

Micro Illuminator: 84 lux

The Micro Illuminator will be available soon, around $70 I think they said, at an internet dealer thousands of miles away from you.

And the pre-order line forms right HERE.