Review of Ultra-Efficient 108 LED Magnifier Lamp - Large 7" x 6" Lens

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List Price: $199.00
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When looking for a magnifying lamp, I found there are a lot of options out there from around $50 to near $500. I'm sure you could spend $1500 if you worked at it. This one seems like a good compromise, not too expensive, not too cheap.

The item we're talking about here identifies itself as a Bourya Model 8069LED magnifier lamp. It does indeed have 108 LEDs, I counted. As others have noted, the magnifying head is big -an 8.5" x 11" sheet of paper won't quite cover it.

I was pleased with the packaging. The lamp came in an extra-heavy cardboard carton. The magnifying head was well-protected in a styrofoam clamshell and plastic bag. The rest of the lamp was guarded by more cardboard, styrofoam, plastic bags, and twist ties. Amazon packed it in a big box with an orbital sander, yet the lamp survived its journey unscathed.

One thing not included in the package was any kind of printed material. At first, the base clamp seemed to be missing from the package. It turned out to have been taped to one of the styrofoam pieces, and was just light enough to be easy to miss. A picture or a thousand words might have made this clear. I didn't really miss the usual warnings about not using the product in the bathtub, however.

I'm very happy with the magnification this lamp provides. The lens is huge, and is actually a compound lens. If you look at the lens edgewise, you'll see an inner disc-shaped lens surrounded by a larger doughnut-shaped lens. A quick search on "compound lens" will show why this is a good thing. Still, if you look at at 3.5" square piece of paper through this lens, you'll see some geometric and color distortion. The edges of the paper appear to curve inward and have a blue fringe. These effects are not evident when you look at smaller objects that are more in the center of the lens. So this is not the lens you want for reading, but it should be great for electronics or hobby work. The outer edges of the lens are like peripheral vision, allowing you to see where hands and tools are in relation to the workpiece.

I'm satisfied with the LED lighting. It's bright without being too bright. I'm not sure if the "color temperature" is optimal for long hours of use, but it beats fluorescent lighting as far as I'm concerned. And of course, LEDs burn a lot cooler than the other options. Most of the LEDs are on the sides of the lens. There's a row of single LEDs across the top edge of the lens, and no LEDs on the bottom edge of the lens. What I'm calling the "bottom edge" would normally be closest to you when using the magnifier.

One thing to think about is where you'll mount the lamp. The optimal spot is probably on the opposite edge of your work surface, directly across from you, so you would pull the lamp down and towards you to use it. This is tricky if your work surface is flush with a wall or unusually deep. If you try to mount the light on the near edge of your table or counter, you'll find the magnifying head doesn't want to be parallel to the support arms. The connection between the magnifying head and the lamp arm is not a ball joint, so not all angles are possible. Other mounting options would include using a hole through the work surface or a sturdy shelf above the work surface. If you can provide a 1/2" hole, about 2" deep and lined with a suitable material, you don't need to use the base clamp.

All in all, this light is a very good value. I don't think you'll find this lamp in your doctor's office or on a Foxconn assembly line, but it's pretty good bet for a lot of light-to-moderate uses that don't involve life-or-death decisions.

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lamp received seemed to work very well, except the mounting bracket was missing, the lamp emblems were damaged, straches all over the lamp. The lamp was shipped inside a huge box, they could have placed 6 or more inside of the shipping box. The company refused to pay for return, it cost over $40.00 to return the lamp with insurance !!! They claimed they could not send a new one, this was the only lamp they had. Sad part about all this...no one seems to care that you loose money, they take there sweet time giving you Return Authorization, then you must wait until they receive the package back, then you wait for another 10 days to have your funds returned to your account..

VERY UNHAPPY WITH THIS PRODUCT only because they shipped out damaged goods and there return policy was bull-_-!!! .....

I lost money because I had to ship there damaged product back!

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I just received the lamp and hooked it up. It's a big improvement on the lamp I had, both in terms of lighting and optical performance.

The construction quality and design are pretty good, and the magnifying glass and light from the LEDs are excellent. The light is pleasantly bright and even, there is no electrical hum, the LEDs give off no heat, and there is no flicker.

The only disappointments are that the design of the arm was switched from a counter-weighted one to a spring-loaded one, and that the cover for the magnifying glass doesn't latch open using notches or friction from the hinges. If the magnifier is used with the lamp in a nearly vertical position, the cover won't stay open.

Overall I'm happy that I spent a little extra on this model and would recommend it to others.

Honest reviews on Ultra-Efficient 108 LED Magnifier Lamp - Large 7" x 6" Lens

I have used several cheap desk lamp magnifiers. They always wind up breaking. Either the clamp or the arm bolts, etc.

This lamp though is absolutely perfect. The magnification is excellent. The viewing area is huge. And the mulit-leds light up everything you put under it perfectly.

The thing is built like a tank also. Wonderful design. Very solid.

It's a must buy for electronic work, or small projects.

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Ultra-Efficient 108 LED Magnifier Lamp - Large 7" x 6" Lens

ON USAGE: First, I LOVE this lamp. It's the only type of lamp that can reach the middle of my curved Anthro Cart Console desk. It seems really well built! Now I can see resistor color codes with ease and work on electronics projects. And my 65+ year old eyes don't get tired after a long time using it.

USAGE: The plastic connector (it may have a metal insert, who knows) at the lamp head appears to me to possibly be a weak point. I don't want to take a chance on breaking it. So for me, instead of adjusting the arms by moving the lamp head alone up or down, I place one hand on the pivot point of the two arms and the other at the upper clamp assembly. Then adjust the angle up or down. That way there's no strain on the lamp head-to-post clamp and one can make sure that the main pivot point doesn't flex down instead of up.

Make sure to clamp the light to a very sturdy surface, as the force on the base clamp will multiply exponentially with the amount of extension of the fixture.

LENS COVER: Although there's no "click to stay open" feature with the lens cover, it does tend to stay up with the lamp head at approximately a 35 degree tilt down from horizontal. If it ultimately tends to fall (after a time of wear)from a "too steep position" a simple wooden cloths pin at the back of the hinge should do the trick without marring the plastic hinge. This is not a substitute for a hold-open feature, but it should work reasonably well.

WHAT THE HECK IS "PURE WHITE"? The color of the light on the product description is described as "pure white". This is description of reflective light when compared to another color or "the absence of color" but is very subjective, not factual. "Pure white" is a useless word when describing a light source. Light color is measured in degrees Kelvin (color temperature)or in wave length. So what does "pure white" mean?

BACK TO SCHOOL: Light exists within the electromagnetic spectrum. The visual portion of which ranges from infrared to ultraviolet and is measured in wave length. Degrees Kelvin however refers to color temperature and is easier to measure than wave length and is (or should be) an industry standard.

As a reference, candle light might be about 1850 degrees Kelvin, "indoor light" approximately 3200K, and outdoor light varying quite a lot, but "daylight" might around 5600K or on an overcast day maybe 10,000 degrees Kelvin. So what is "pure white"?

I don't own a color temperature meter and so can't measure the color temperature of this particular light fixture. Since this is not a "name brand" unit, there's no manufacturer to query for color temperature specs. So we don't know what color it really is. But "pure white" as a description is just as meaningless as "cool white" or "warm white". Its advertisement, packaging, or what ever you want to call it, but not fact.

So which color is best for what application? Depends. We're told that 4,000 degrees Kelvin or thereabouts is best for electronics work or office work, but 6,500 degrees Kelvin tends to be more efficient,in Lumins per watt,for LEDs which this fixture uses.

So which is more important regarding lighting? Our eyes or energy efficiency? So what is "pure white" light? I guess only the advertisers know? (joke). Sorry about the rant, but advertisers sometimes tend to leave off vital data, at least for some. Product description is supposed to be factual, right? Depends on who's writing it. Ever seen an imperfect home in a real estate ad? You probably never will. But I digress.

All in all, this is really a great lamp and I would recommend it to anyone who needs a high quality light with a magnifier to swing over their desk with only a few caveats as mentioned above.

One can only wish the manufacturer would get on the stick and spec out the color temperature for those who care about their eyes or matching the light source with other fixtures. Regardless, you can't go wrong with this light fixture unless you require a specific color and/or want to match other light sources.