Flex Neck Reading Light (Cherry)
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Tools and Hardware Reviews of Flex Neck Reading Light (Cherry)
Customer Review: Great lightweight booklight
Summary: 5 Stars
This light is light enough to clip on any paperback, puts out just the right amount of light to read and covers the book well. Best of all its inexpensive - very good value. I had to buy more because my 8 y.o. son (avid reader) immediately ran off with mine!Customer Review: Handy and Effective Light
Summary: 4 Stars
This is an extremely effective light for use where portability is key. I do not consider it a replacement for a regular reading or room lamp connected to household current. While perfectly adequate for reading in some environments, it simply is not as bright as a good room lamp. Where this light "shines" (so to speak) is when you want to read in situations where there is no regular electric power (such as camping, riding in a car or other conveyance at night, reading at home when the power is out, etc).
The light is created by two LED bulbs powered by 2 coin sized (CR2032) batteries. They are a little harder to find than regular AA or AAA batteries but I found them sold inexpensively in bulk packages of 5,10,20 or more each and with reasonable shelf life. These have turned out to be a cost effective and adequate solution for me. You should be able to find them on Amazon, Ebay or just by doing a "Google" search on "cr2032", the battery number and you will get a list of electrical suppliers who stock them.
I noted that one other reviewer mentioned that the light wasn't bright enough. I agree with that comment but with a qualification. I have what's generally considered to be better than average eyesight and I found myself frequently wishing the light was brighter while I was reading with it. That is why I noted that regular household lighting is preferable and is my first choice for reading whenever it is available.
On the other hand, I did find the lamp quite adequate for reading over long periods of time, even though I would have preferred a brighter one. You can in fact adjust the brightness to some degree by moving the flex neck closer to the book page. This may take some experimenting to get it just where you like it. The lamp is light enough to be able to clip to the back few pages of a paperback book without causing any problems in holding the book.
One problem I had with mine was that although batteries are included, it arrived from Amazon with the batteries almost completely depleted. The light was just barely visible and I had to replace the batteries with new ones before I could use it. I'm not sure where the source of this problem lies, i.e. did it sit too long on the shelf at Amazon or did it sit on the shelf too long at the manufacturer before being shipped?
To Amazon's credit, they issued me a partial refund because of the problem. The specifications say that average battery life should be about 30 hours. I haven't been able to test the light long enough to know if that's true but I have no reason to think that it isn't.
I decided to rate the light with only 4 stars instead of 5 because I thought that changing the batteries was slightly inconvenient. There are no instructions included with the light so you have to figure out how to change them on your own. The cover is held by 2 small philips screws so you will need a small jewelers screwdriver with a philips head to open the cover.
Those shouldn't be hard to find at a hardware store however. In a pinch, the tip of many small knives, such as paring knives will fit the screw and can be used in place of a screwdriver. Once the cover is open, there is a very small clip holding the batteries in place. The batteries can be slipped out from underneath the clip and new ones slipped back in under it.
Care needs to be taken when doing this however since the clip seems frail and would likely be easily broken. The polarity for seating the batteries is also not noted on the lamp so you need to remember the position of the old ones when replacing them. If the light doesn't work after changing batteries, simply reverse the batteries. It's very easy to get them in backwards.
All in all, I am very pleased with the lamp, in spite of the few drawbacks I noted. I wouldn't hesitate to purchase another one.
Customer Review: It's okay.
Summary: 4 Stars
The light is okay, but doesn't provide enough illumination for me to give it 5 stars.Customer Review: Light strength not adequate for reading
Summary: 1 Stars
These lights (you get two) are very attractive, but the light output just is not enough to read by.Customer Review: Light was weaker than I expected
Summary: 3 Stars
Even with 2 LEDs, this light doesn't quite cover a full page on a paperback at full intensity. The part that is brightly lit is quite readable, but I find that need to keep adjusting the goose neck to read one page, let alone trying to find a position where it sheds enough light to cover two pages without have to moving the clip.