in fact I think I could set it to ~3V, but I hooked her right from pin to ground, with uP at 5V. Left it running for 10 mins and still burning bright.

This may be a case of don't fully trust the sim. Sorta like the LED thread where Darrels sim showed the different levels of brightness for different resistor values. but in real life, it works great as you and Dhuston? said.

I don't mind a little smart $$. makes things fun