Intro:

    Need some more light at your computer desk? Something that uses very little electricity, yet provides lots of light? This just might be your answer. A USB powered Desk Lamp. But ah, this one is a bit different. I expected it to use LED's. Nope, this one uses a white CCFL. Isn't that slick?

Specs and features:

    Taken as a copy and paste from the website.

Working deside desk or using your PC/Laptop under light in long term.

Gentle ray, bright, without frequency change, preventing eyesight.
Safety, high efficiency and saving energy.
7 inch of lamp.
Weight : 250gm.


The packaging:

    My review unit was shipped via airmail in a large padded envelope from Hong Kong. Where the sponsor, USBGEEK resides. It got roughed up a little but nothing to cause concern, otherwise I would have taken shipping pictures. But yeah, anyway, the top and the bottom of the box can be seen below. And also the specs. I personally thought CCFL's could only be powered from a 12 Volt source. But since you know, or perhaps should know, or maybe even don't care, USB ports provide 5 Volts DC. This product of course is very happy with 5 Volts DC...

(1) Top of packaging	(2) Bottom of packaging	(3) Specs

Inside the box:

    Opening the box, you can see the lamp itself, and is held down with twist ties in the cardboard insert. There is space in the packaging for an AC power adapter, mentioned in the manual, but not included. I'll touch on that next.

(4) Opened

The manual:

    Seeing that this product is made overseas, the manual has gone through the "translation to Engrish blender." While this product is pretty straight forward, and even no manual would suffice, just be ready to do your own translating to English while reading it if you must. For instance, "Do not put metal or easy fire goods in lamp seam." Ugh...

(5) Manual

A closer look at the product:

    The lamp itself is pretty small. If you are familiar with CCFL kits, you'll clearly see in the base a transformer like you would anywhere else that converts the DC input power to the higher voltage that a CCFL light needs to run. In picture 6, if you look at the bottom of the base, there are small felt pads that protect your surface, and cover the assembly screws. I removed one for giggles, and put it back later. In picture 7, although very hard to get a clean picture of, the base of the lamp is really designed like a mouse. There are two buttons on it. Left and right respectively. Left click to turn on the lamp, right click to turn it off. Cute huh?

    Since the neck of the Lamp is flexible, you'll be able to position it an any angle, or direction. Almost, that is. The base of the lamp does not contain any sort of a weight, so moving the lamp head too far to the right or left causes it to tip over. Moving the lamp up and down doesn't usually cause the lamp to lose balance though.

(6) The lamp	(7) The base

Light it up!:

    Plugging the near 68" long USB cable into a hub, or a USB port on your PC, pushing the left button (switch) on the lamp base, turns your lamp on. I tried both an un-powered hub, and my PC's USB port without incident. Your mileage may vary though. I'll just let the next four pictures do the talking. There isn't much I can add, other than the "a picture is worth..."

(8) Lit up	(9) Bright!

(10) On desk	(11) Above desk

Summary:

    While this is a nice gadget, if you will, not everyone will need something like this. However, I wanted something like this, and I thought other gadget freaks, or one that wants an unobtrusive bright light for their desk would too. Which is why I requested doing a review on this item. For one, it saves me from having to put on my room light. That's two 60 watt light bulbs, compared to this 5 watt light. The savings are clear in that aspect. It also casts enough light in the room to keep the cats and dog from being trampled under foot, as anyone that has pets of that nature, know how that game works in the dark. And, I can almost hear the people in your office now, "Where'd you get that light?"

    While not a perfect product, when my better half says, "That's neat!" You just have to appreciate that as well. Most women don't really care, or approve of something you think is pretty darn cool that is computer related. Coming in a $17.00 USD + shipping, it isn't the cheapest lamp in the world. But, like I said above more or less, less electricity usage, it could almost pay for itself eventually.


Pros:

  • Very bright clean white light
  • Low power draw
  • USB Powered!


Cons:


  • Base of lamp does get warm. (43C after a few hours.)
  • $17 USD maybe slightly high for some
  • Can tip if the flexible neck is bent too far
  • Poorly translated manual, but that isn't too important in this instance
  • USB Cable could be longer, but should deem adequate for most
 

"A surprisingly bright USB powered lamp!"

Closing:

    I'd like to thank USBGEEK for sponsoring this product for review. If you thought this was remotely interesting, USBGEEK has tons of USB related gadgets, lights, cables, and well, just about everything USB related, with new products being added all the time. Go check it out! They also take Paypal and Worldpay as payment options. Oh, and my qualm about flexing the lamp too far will cause the lamp to tip, with a "clip" base light. And it is only $10.00. I hope you enjoyed this short write up. Thanks for coming by! Until next time...

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