LightWedge Original Book Light
by LightWedge
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Our Price: $24.99 Category: Lighting See more product details |
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Kitchen and Housewares Reviews of LightWedge Original Book Light
Customer Review: Does it's job
Summary: 4 Stars
The LightWedge Original Book Light works perfect for low light conditions. My daughter uses it while laying in bed with all the lights off. A nice feature is that it will illuminate both pages since the reflection of the light hits the next page, so no need to flip it over to the next page. This is a perfect gift for anyone who enjoys reading.Customer Review: Don't buy it
Summary: 1 Stars
I was planning to buy this for my girlfriend who likes to read on bed but it disappoints me twice.
The first time I got this, I installed the batteries and turned the light on. I found dust and some scratches IN the glass. So I returned it.
The second time which amazon.com replaced another for me. This is worse than the previous one. The margin of the glass is full of scratches. Then I asked for a refund.
Hey, if you really want a reading light, get a LED overhead reading light or install a bed reading light. It works better than this piece of c-rap.
Customer Review: Good idea and usable, but needs a Rev. B to correct flaws
Summary: 3 Stars
This is a great idea for an alternative to the gooseneck-type booklights: It spreads the light across the whole page rather than just a spot; the acrylic plate handily keeps the page open with little effort, and obviates the need for a cumbersome clip at the top of your book.
The main flaw is the same as with every other booklight: The LEDs they're using for the light source are at once too harsh and too dim. Given that this product's LEDs are pointing laterally into the acrylic rather than directly at (perpendicular to) the page means it's even dimmer. I would rather have some over-engineered industrial-strength incandescents as light sources (assuming that the bizarre, retro-fascistic 2008 law "banning" incandescent bulb manufacture in 2014 or whenever is not repealed *before* it can inflict its lunatic damage,) but a better lighting solution is clearly needed to do this excellent "transparent plate" idea justice. I don't know the physics of how light behaves when directed sideways into a transparent mass, but I'm thinking that some type of refraction grating or prism application would direct the light more efficiently? Mirror coating on the outer edges?
At any rate, it's too dim and fades too quickly in terms of battery power, even with Lithiums. Which brings me to the second flaw: The unit is only powered by AAA batteries, and the compartment has this little conductive metal clip that sits between them and...it's loose, as in: Detached from the rest of the product. I don't remember if it was ever attached, but right now I have to hold it carefully in place between the batteries, then sneak the lid shut before it all springs skyward. I assume it used to be attached, which since I've only opened the battery cover twice means it's intolerably delicate. Look guys, I'm happy to pay a couple extra bucks to cover the cost of the .01 grams of extra plastic molding it would take to secure that thing. If you won't build it to last, why build it? Doubling the battery capacity too would likely increase the life and quality of the light - or maybe it would be better to just integrate a compartment that will accomodate a 9V and adjust the circuit accordingly. Or maybe incorporate the same kind of rechargable lithium/nicad/whatever that our cellphones use?
The last drawback is that the acrylic plate apparently has no scratch-resistant coating of any kind on it, which means that in less than a couple of months of careful usage, mine already has an annoying network of Nazca-like runways and swirls all over it, and a bunch of little dust flecks/pits that can't be wiped off. Eyeglass manufacturers have used scratch-resistant coatings for decades that make plastic lenses virtually impervious even to demonstration scrubs with SOS pads. Application of that kind of coating to a product whose entire function is to be a window for text ought to be a no-brainer.
So I'll continue to use this, but hope beyond hope that they'll re-think the design and build some practicality and longevity into it. I can't claim to have done any marketing studies, but I personally would be happy to pay twice the price for something that was built like a tank and provided perfect, consistent lighting. IOW, I question the assumption that no market exists for a booklight that's better quality than minimum-function plastic but happens to cost more than $25 as a result.
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Customer Review: Good product, poor design
Summary: 3 Stars
The product meets my expectation. However, I gave it 3 stars because the compartment that holds the batteries is weak. It is easily broken when you apply a little force to change the batteries. After I broke that part, I have to spend more time aligning batteries and testing it before I can use it.Customer Review: Good, but not durable
Summary: 3 Stars
I loved my light wedge when I first got it. Unlike some reviewers, I found it to be the perfect amount of light to read by, and it didn't disturb my sleeping husband.
I quickly discovered, however, that the plastic scratches incredibly easily. It wasn't long before it had accrued quite a number of distracting blemishes. Also, it tends to slide around on the book, and you have to move it out of the way when it's time to flip the page.
Then there's the battery compartment. It was hard to get the batteries into the compartment, and even harder to get them out again. The battery cover was extremely flimsy and it broke off after the second battery change. I'm not willing to use duct tape on the thing, so I guess I'm done with it.
Despite the drawbacks, I'll probably buy another one. The price has come down since I bought mine, and it's still the best way I've found to read while the person next to you sleeps. I really wish the manufacturer would improve the design, though. In fact, I came to Amazon hoping to find a "Light Wedge II" or something, but no such luck. If only they read the reviews.