I have gone through about half a dozen maglites, AAA, AA, 2C, 4D. They last a while but the original bulb is pretty weak, and the whole twist on/off for the minimag has inadvertantly turned a light on inside my bag or backpack more times than I can count. Pulling your flashlight out of your bag only to find the batteries dead kinda sucks.
I have two surefire gun lights, one on my shotgun, and one on one of my pistols. Those things are so bloody bright I literally couldn't see for about an hour after testing one on myself. They use the same bulbs as many of the regular Surefire lights, so I think that is probably going to be my next purchase.