My intention was to use it as a clip lamp for reading in bed, but when that proved impossible (see below), I tried using it on my desk to illuminate my keyboard at night. But given that its illumination is all of 2 inches and I wanted to see more than A S D Q W Z at the left of the keyboard, it was useless in that regard too. When I type, I don't limit myself to the words: a, as, ad, add, saw, was, and sad (or nonsense syllables with q and z) but getting this lamp "was a sad" choice on my part.
Seriously though here are the problems I experienced with this ridiculous excuse for a book lamp:
a) The gooseneck is barely 3 inches, and users are instructed not to look at the bright LED light which they wouldn't want to look at anyway, unless they tend to like staring at the sun and damaging their eyes.
This means that the lamp has to be pointed sharply downward right over the reading material. Since the lighting components are not even ½ inch in width, the result is a very narrow (2 inches?) area of super-bright illumination surrounded by shadow, and then (at night) blackness.
That's completely impractical for reading a book unless you are reading columns of 3-4 line stanzas with four words per line. Come to think of it, it's not a bad choice for reading haiku poetry but you'd have to reposition your book after every three line poem.
Since the beam casts uneven light, you also have to be willing to stare at an intensely lit area which levels off into darkness. Even a small flashlight would provide better illumination.
b) As a clip lamp what are you supposed to clip it to? I tried clipping it to the bedpost but given that it has to be pointed down so I didn't stare into intense light, it didn't reach far enough to be of use for reading in bed. It did a good job of intensely illuminating my right forearm, but I had to twist my head to look at my arm, and very soon my arm got hot. (Maybe it could be used as an artificial tanning device?)
My aim however is not to illuminate a small area of my arm or pillow but a book. Positioning it on furniture beside the bed isn't possible either the light doesn't reach far enough to do anything but reveal the wrinkles in your unironed sheets.
c) The magnifier neck is also around 3 inches, and the magnifier is circular. When you push it down to read an area, it only magnifies part of a line, and the big circle on it distorts the magnification. If you had a magnifying glass, you could move it freely as you scan pages, but not so with this lamp, which immediately topples over if you try to move either it or its neck. So if you want to magnify about two words and keep staring at those same words, it might serve you, but the only two words I'd want to magnify after trying to use this lamp aren't written down and aren't allowable in this review.
d) If you so much as lightly touch any part of the lamp when it's on, it blinks on and off or turns off entirely so you have to flip the on/off switch again. That does at least exercise your finger.
e) It relies entirely on batteries, and definitely, folks, for $23+, do you think that Normande would include two AAA batteries? No way.
f) The LED lights can't be replaced. That means that when they burn out, it's goodbye, lamp another piece of unrecycleable junk to add to our overflowing garbage dumps. I've only had this lamp for a week, but reviewers of other Normande desk/book lamps almost all indicate that the LED lights burn out in a few months. I can't comment on the longevity of this particular lamp maybe Normande has made one improvement this time around.
What's good about this lamp?
a) Black and silver tend to go with almost any decor.
b) At least it doesn't look like a dimestore novelty item.
c) Having it on your desk may help convince the IRS when they audit you that your home office is really a home office.
d) Plus if you've bought it, you've probably helped employ a poor worker in China. But you'd be better off directly sending him or her the money you'd pay for the lamp it may feed a family for a week, and will save you a lot of aggravation.
In short, don't waste your money or your time on this so-called book light. But keep your sense of humor. That's worth having and will brighten your days, without costing you a cent.
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Customer review from the Amazon Vine Program I think it is unfortunate that they labeled this item as a book light. The magnification is intense; so much so that you can see the hairs on gnat's legs but can't see the page because it appears blurred, and that is the regular intensity. The light follows suit. It is a narrow beam with a concentrated light that measures about 3 or 4 inches in diameter. So between blurry over intensity for reading a page in a book (unusable for that) and the narrow beam of intense light, my advice is that if you are getting this in order to clip on your headboard at night, or use it on your desk to read forget it.Ok now that we have that out of the way let's look at what good this lamp and magnifier is good for. I noticed on the box it says, "Elite LED Magnifier Lamp". That is a very accurate description. So I am shouting out to the manufacturer, or vendor to change the title here at Amazon. Instead of saying Book Light, say the same thing the box has on it because it really is an excellent, excellent magnifier lamp. If you have ever dealt with the chore of removing a splinter out of your finger, do the job just one time with this magnifier and you will never want to do it again without one. Imagine someone holding a concentrated lamp, and a magnifier at the same time while you are trying to get the perfect distance from the lenses in order to see clearly, and all they have to do is move an inch and you are out of focus. This Normande does it perfectly. If you are working around wood on a regular basis this thing is a must have.
Some additional magnificent uses(no pun intended)would be for soldering wires, or for working on watches in order to insert a screw, or anything that you need magnification for. Don't let the bad reviews over weighted with book reading concerns fool you, this thing works great and is superbly engineered as a magnifier.
Additional comments. At first I was disappointed that it is powered by two AAA batteries. (Not included) I was hoping for a USB power source or a plug in adapter into 110 AC but it only runs on the batteries. However since this is a specialty magnifier instead of a book reader you are only going to be using it sporadically and usually for a short period of time. If you are into rechargeable batteries then that is an option also.
At first I gave it three stars because of how useless it is as a book reader, but then after some additional consideration I moved it up to four because of how well it handles magnification chores, and for that purpose it is highly recommended.
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Customer review from the Amazon Vine Program I took this on a recent car trip and was very glad I did. First of all, the base is heavy so it stands up well on any desk BUT you can slide the little light right out of the base and clip it on anything as well...such as a book you are reading, the Kindle, your headboard, a bathroom cabinet etc and illuminate whatever you need. This means not only is it great for reading, but you can use it for sewing, tweezing eyebrows, trimming your dog's nails when clipped on the back of a chair or at a side table, reading a menu, etc etc. It's just handy.What makes it exceptional is that you can either use the magnifying feature or not when you use it...the bendy necks mean that they can bend out of place or in place or you can shine light sideways, up or down.
The magnifying feature was GREAT for night reading in the car. You need light but magnification is even better.
And, for anyone elderly, it sure makes a great gift...my mom will get one of these on her birthday as she has macular degeneration but loves to read.
Honest reviews on Normande Lighting GP5-803A LED Book Light with Magnifier, 4-Piece
Customer review from the Amazon Vine Program I like to read in bed, even after my wife's gone to sleep. That means either I leave the light on, which she doesn't like very much, or I use some kind of bedside or book light. This appears aimed to serve either purpose, but doesn't work very well at either. It clips into a stand to work as a desk lamp, but there's not a lot of flexibility or length on either the lamp or the magnifier to make them very useful for that purpose. I have a small table at the side of my bed, where I'd like to place this but from that vantage I can't really get this angled or oriented correctly to illuminate what I'm reading unless I contort myself into a position I don't much like to read in. The alternative is to pull it out of the stand and clip it on to the back of a book, but this is too heavy and bulky for paperbacks and doesn't even work all that well with hardbacks. It needs a thinner, lighter, clip to work well for that. Sadly, that means this just doesn't do the trick for me. My daughter sometimes uses it to read in bed, putting it underneath the covers to hide the light from her sister who's in the same room. Under the blanket, I guess, it works okay but I wouldn't use it that way, and don't think most people would.Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Normande Lighting GP5-803A LED Book Light with Magnifier, 4-Piece
Customer review from the Amazon Vine Program This light with magnifier works well for reading brief texts that are too small to see otherwise. The key word here is brief. You certainly can't read a book with this, as the light only covers very small portions of page. But for small pieces of text, this works well.The LED light is convenient and comfortable. The overall design is on the cheap side--the plastic is easily breakable and I found the battery compartment hard to open. Batteries are not included with the light.
I like the idea of this type of lamp, but I felt the description was a little misleading. It should not be called a "book light," as one certainly can't read a book with this. Furthermore, the overall quality should match the price better.
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