Philips Crystal Vision bulbs

[TimG]

i spotted these @ costco yesterday

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a3/zillathegorilla/Cell%20phone%20shots/Image000-1.jpg

i've never seen or used these before. the price seems good. i've only used sylvania silverstars and philips vision plus.

any feedback on these?

[GTS Jeff]

After toying around with all these Silverstars blah blah blah...I've come to realize that all blue-painted bulbs are just blue-painted bulbs. They are dimmer than stock, yet give the illusion of being brighter than stock, they create more glare, and the bluer light is harder for our eyes to process.

If you are after the rice factor...then go for it. If you want real performance, look into high performance clear glass bulbs such as overwattage bulbs, Hella +50, Osram Hyper, etc. Actually I do recall Philips having a neat painted H4 bulb, where there was a blue section, a white section, and a yellow section.

[TimG]

These aren't blue painted bulbs afaik.

anyway, i wasn't impressed with silverstars - both of them burnt out almost exactly 1 year to the day that i installed them. i think i tried nighthawks and they were about the same as the silverstars but they're lasted much longer (so far, knock on wood)

[soupey]

i have philips bulbs for my drl's/highbeams, they are insanely bright compared to the regular bulbs that were there before, they had a purply color to the bulb, got them from princess auto for really cheap..., they have a yellowey color so not exactly a rice factor, but they work really well...ive been looking for lowbeam lights though, are those philips ones at costco available in all sizes or just a few?

[GTS Jeff]

Originally posted by TimG
These aren't blue painted bulbs afaik.

anyway, i wasn't impressed with silverstars - both of them burnt out almost exactly 1 year to the day that i installed them. i think i tried nighthawks and they were about the same as the silverstars but they're lasted much longer (so far, knock on wood) What you think you know is irrelevant because I know more than you do regarding halogen bulbs. They are painted. Halogen filaments cannot produce 4000k intrinsically.

Sylvania Silverstars are merely painted blue bulbs like the ones you are inquiring about. GE Nighthawks are clear glass, +30 bulbs, and are a great example of the cheapest clear glass bulbs available. Here is a shopping list of drop-in replacements to help you out:

+30 clear glass bulbs: 30% brighter than standard halogens, achieved with a mixture of 30% xenon gas. These will outperform the overpriced, blue painted bulbs such as Sylvania Silverstars, PIAAs, MTEC, and the bulbs you posted. They usually cost $10/bulb and are widely available. Examples are the GE Nighthawk, Sylvania XtraVision, and Hella +30.

+50 clear glass bulbs: 50% brighter than standard halogens, achieved with a mixture of 50% xenon gas. These will outperform +30 bulbs, but not by much. These are much harder to come by and usually require special order. $25/bulb. Examples are Osram Silverstar, Hella Premium +50..

Osram Hyper: The newest stock wattage halogen bulbs to come out. They are basically +100% brighter, but I don't know how they achieve this or what their longevity is like. I think in a few months time, there will be enough information on these for me to personally consider them. They are currently available from rallylights.com.

Hope that helps.

[hussein]

I was just wondering how you know so much about bulbs. Are you in engineering? :thumbsup:

[Ichigo]

yeah the silverstars suck.. I put them on expecting a nice white, however they look like oem bulbs.. worst $50 spent ever..

[GTS Jeff]

Originally posted by hussein
I was just wondering how you know so much about bulbs. Are you in engineering? :thumbsup: haha I just spend countless hours researching trivial things. I'm a purchase snob. In this case, I've tried a few different things with halogen upgrades.

[infected]

Originally posted by GTS Jeff
What you think you know is irrelevant because I know more than you do regarding halogen bulbs. They are painted. Halogen filaments cannot produce 4000k intrinsically.

Sylvania Silverstars are merely painted blue bulbs like the ones you are inquiring about. GE Nighthawks are clear glass, +30 bulbs, and are a great example of the cheapest clear glass bulbs available. Here is a shopping list of drop-in replacements to help you out:

+30 clear glass bulbs: 30% brighter than standard halogens, achieved with a mixture of 30% xenon gas. These will outperform the overpriced, blue painted bulbs such as Sylvania Silverstars, PIAAs, MTEC, and the bulbs you posted. They usually cost $10/bulb and are widely available. Examples are the GE Nighthawk, Sylvania XtraVision, and Hella +30.

+50 clear glass bulbs: 50% brighter than standard halogens, achieved with a mixture of 50% xenon gas. These will outperform +30 bulbs, but not by much. These are much harder to come by and usually require special order. $25/bulb. Examples are Osram Silverstar, Hella Premium +50..

Osram Hyper: The newest stock wattage halogen bulbs to come out. They are basically +100% brighter, but I don't know how they achieve this or what their longevity is like. I think in a few months time, there will be enough information on these for me to personally consider them. They are currently available from rallylights.com.

Hope that helps.

Thanks, very informative!!
I'm out in the market trying to look for a good set of halogens as well.

[HiSpec]

there is 2 different verison of the Silverstars... NA (Sylvania) and Europe (Osram).
Supposely the Europe version is brighter then NA ones.

I know, I know... one of you its gonna blab out they are the same company... but the Osram Silverstars does not have the amethyst coating like the Sylvania Silverstars does. So it will not have the blueish tint.