I purchased this in Jan '08 for use as a bedside lamp and work desk lamp. I'm picky about my lamps and I spent a good deal of time looking for a good reading and task lamp. At $100 this was much cheaper than the commercial grade task lamps, and it's stylish too.
There must have been some improvements to the product since the 2004 review.
Pluses
* Bright halogen light good for bedside reading, desk top lamp, task lamp.
* Easily positioned anywhere within it's 3 foot range with one hand
* Completely stable at any reach or position.
* Very light arm and weighted base make for easy portability.
* The base does not take up a great deal of desk space.
* On/Off switch is located on the lamp head so it's always easy to reach.
* Can be used with 50W or 20W halogen bulbs.
The minuses
* Uses a wall wart power supply (it is fairly small and low profile)
* The Halogen bulb does not run at full brightness (it's still bright though)
The weighted base is more than sufficient to support the lamp even at full extension. I find the weighted base is much more convenient than a clamp system since it makes this lamp very portable.
The other reviewer seemed concerned about the warnings about not looking at bright light bulbs and heat etc. This lamp uses a stock standard 50W 12V halogen bulb so it performs similar to any other 50W halogen lamps on the market with respect to brightness and heat. The only part of the lamp that gets uncomfortably hot to touch is the reflector shell above the bulb. Fortunately this is not necessary as there is a small stick handle that hangs down, and a small loop handle at the front of the reflector shell that can be used to grab and position the lamp. Neither get uncomfortably hot. The lamp positions easily and stays where it is put. It's easily positioned with just one hand ( I've never needed 2 hands). You can hand adjust the joint friction in the arm joints to tweak the ease of moving the arm vs having enough friction to hold it's position.
The only point I found against this lamp is that with the power supply in the wall wart and the long wires to the base and up through the arm to the bulb the voltage at the bulb has dropped below the 12V that the bulb is rated for. This means the light is slightly more yellowish than the crisp white of some other halogen lamps running at higher bulb voltages. It's also somewhat dimmer. The upside is that since the filament is running cooler it will probably last much longer than normal. It also makes the hot filament much more resistant to breaking should you bang the lamp.
Don't get the wrong impression though, it's a bright light and it puts out a lot of light. You probably won't notice the difference unless you have another better halogen lamp to compare it to (which I did).
Which brings up another option, you can put a 20W 12V 2 pin halogen bulb in this lamp also. Since the load is only 40% of the 50W the voltage drop in the wires is less, and the filament runs hotter and the light is whiter. I tried it and it seems to put out almost as much light as the 50W bulb, and the whole thing runs considerably cooler. For my own uses I've stuck with the somewhat brighter but yellower 50W bulb. If you need a really bright white Halogen lamp and are willing to pay for it check out the industrial task lamps from Dazor, Electrix, and others.
I have only had this lamp for 1 month so I can't say much about long term reliability, but it's worked fine so far. The arm and light are spindly and light weight and it encourages you to treat the thing delicately.
I wish I'd had a lamp like this back when I was a student. I highly recommend it and I intend to buy another. It's good bang for the buck. Note that the lamp does come WITH a bulb, you don't need to order a bulb unless you want a spare. It's a very common bulb.
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Architects Halogen Desk LampProduct Description: Hi-tech, contemporary styling and a slim profile make this architect's lamp the perfect desk accessory. Classic twin-arm design swivels and adjusts into a variety of positions. Sleek black matte finish with adjustable shade head. Comes with one 50 watt low voltage halogen bulb. Extendable to 35" high.
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This lamp is well made and nicely finished. The lamp head is quality plastic. I expected the same manufacturer as the excellent MagLite flashlight, (Mag Instruments) from the name, but it was a different firm.The flip-up cover makes a useful dust shield for the lens, and the light output is quite uniform.Well worth the money.
