Discount 2-in-1 Spring-Arm Magnifier Desk Lamp - Large 7" X 5" Lens - 5

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List Price: $179.99
Sale Price: $109.99
Today's Bonus: 39% Off

I purchased this magnifier/lamp for the purpose of using it to read small numbers on financial documents. I had been using a small hand-held magnifier with only a 2x or 3x power. This was very inadequate because it left my eyes feeling strained.

This magnifier/lamp looks much smaller in the picture. When the FedEx driver left it at my door, I had to struggle to just lift the box up from the ground. It weighed 20 pounds. I opened the box and immediately noticed the magnifier/lamp was much larger than I had expected. It reminded me of the equipment that you see at the dentist's office i.e. the light-device that the dentist moves over your face to examine your teeth. It comes in two pieces that you have to assemble. Due to the weight and awkwardness of the two pieces, you may need two people to put it together. I did it myself but it was a struggle.

The base of the magnifier/lamp takes up a large space on a table or desk. 12 inches wide and 10 inches deep with about the same size for the magnifier/light part of the unit. This size is really too large to leave on a regular desk so, for now, I put it on a side table. Also, due to the size and weight of the unit, it is very difficult to try to change the positioning of the unit over the documents. You really have to leave the magnifier/lamp in one spot and then change the positioning of your documents to suit the magnifier/lamp.

The magnifier itself is 5x so it does a great job of blowing up small numbers and the light illuminates the area extremely well. The size of the magnifier is large so you can pretty much see a whole 8x10 sized piece of paper through the magnifier without having to move the paper around as you would with a small hand-held magnifier.

Since the magnifier/lamp is so large, I may not use it for the purpose that I originally bought it for, but I will definitely keep it. This magnifier/lamp would be best suited in a laboratory or work shop environment but not an office environment.

One more thing if you want to move it, you're moving 20 pounds each time.

Also, the plug is a 3-pronged one which can be important if you planned on using an extension cord

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I ordered this lamp from Amazon Seller "Pro Magnify". Upon arrival, I was stunned at how badly the lamp was packed in its Chinese factory carton; it was actually loose inside the box.

Annoyingly, the lamp arm is not seated in the base! There is a 3-4 inch length of cord between the bottom of the arm joint and the base, so I struggled with the same cord problem as another reviewer. Basically, you have to pull hard on the cord at the arm joints to get the lamp to seat in the base, resulting in a large coil of cord protruding from both joints. You DO NOT want to force the extra length of cord back into the base, because it can end up wedged against the hot ballasts.

In addition, the protective lens cover (not shown in the product photo) was dislodged during shipping. When I attempted to re-install it, I discovered it was warped, and would not lay flat on the magnifier head or seal the glass against dust.

However, once powered on, the main problem that quickly emerged was a strong odor, and the raised housing of the base where it meets the arm, becoming extremely warm. I disconnected the lamp and removed the base (also encountering a stripped screw) and discovered some alarming and possibly dangerous problems.

There are two ballast transformers inside the raised housing. Both of them are coated with white paint, but the paint was literally peeling off one of them, most likely due to the heat. In fact, when I removed the base plate, paint chips fell out on to my worksurface, and the burned paint odor from the now-open base permeated my entire office so strongly I had to open a window for ventilation.

The paint was also dripped on to the wiring, and the wiring exhibited abrasions from the assembly process (see the photo I have loaded above with these problems annotated).

After finding all this, I quickly decided this product was both a potential health (wanna bet that Chinese paint is lead-based?) and/or fire hazard. It was quickly re-packed into the carton and I have e-mailed Pro Magnify for a UPS pickup tag.

This lamp is priced low, and that's about all it has going for it. It's cheaply constructed, badly packed, and possibly dangerous to leave unattended while attached to electrical power. After doing some more research into illuminated magnifiers, I know I'm going to be spending at least 2X for a better product, but at least I won't have to worry about a fire hazard!

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I bought this product because I paint miniature figures as a hobby. This works very well light up and magnify the miniature so I can see the how the detail painting looks closeup..

The base is nice and heavy so I don't worry about knocking the light off my work table. In combination with the helping hands holders the work on my miniatues goes more quickly and my work is of a higher quality.

Highly recommended

Honest reviews on 2-in-1 Spring-Arm Magnifier Desk Lamp - Large 7" X 5" Lens - 5

My 88 year old mother-in-law asked for this to help her in her hobby work. She is legally blind with macular degeneration, but a well lit magnifier helps. She had a low cost 3x purchased at local home improvement store but wanted a larger lens, higher power and better light. After trying this 5x magnifying lamp out, she has gone back to the old one. She found this too heavy, hard to position, and the light didn't suit her. I think it is great, and my wife and I can use it for our projects. It was not obvious (instructions are in poorly transliterated Chinese to English) that the head can be rotated sideways. I just noticed that from the photo as I wrote this review. It moves only after a lot of force is applied. (Also it was difficult to fit the very stiff wire into the base when inserting the lower end of the arm.) I felt I might break it, but it went. This makes it much easier to position, so maybe Mom will find it usable, now. Still, she did have other issues with it. Most serious hobbyists and professionals should be delighted, I would think.

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I have been struggling for so long just to see well enough to do simple daily things. All I could find was a 2X/3X hand held magnification glass. I happened to come accross an item on-line and with further investigation I found the 2 in 1 Spring Arm Fluorescent Magnifying Lamp with a large 5X lens. This lens is just the best. I had been trying to use that hand held glass that measured 4X4 for the 2X and a small monogram area in the handle for the 3X. This 2 -n 1 measures 7x5 and is 5X through the whole viewing field. I use it for my computer, the mail,my Bible and crafts. It is enableing me to do things I have not been able to do for a very long time.