I haven't looked very carefully at lights lately, but I remember hating LED lights I've seen in the past. But I've head that they have improved/some brands better/etc.
When I was young, we'd decorate tress that used a lot of power. Primary lighting were C7 bulbs. 2 strands. Plus a bunch of bubbling lights, which probably used as much power. (They used the C7 bulb base.) You'd plug our tree in, and lights for a three county region would dim momentarily.
At the end of my mother's life, we weren't in our own home at Christmas, so we didn't have a tree. But I remember commenting that when things returned to normal, maybe we should shift to mini lights. (Well, we had them--but they were blinking decoration, not actual lighting.) She shot that idea down, fast.
I did't bother decorating a tree at all for years after she was gone. For a few years, I'd decorate a tree. I used mini lights, feeling they were good enough. But added a small strand of C7 lights (with a couple of bubble llight bulbs) that I could use for old time's sake. It's funny--I never really partiuclarly liked the C7 bulbs when I was young. They were just...functional lighting. The flahisng mini lights and the bubble lights more fun. But I like C7 bulbs better now. They remind me a bit of another time. And the nature of the light is something I don't see from any newer light. Sure, they can copy the rough shape--adn they do--but the light is still a bright, clear modern light, not the bright, colorful, warm light that I see from C7 bulbs.
