LS-306BLK Halotech 29-Inch 8W LED Desk Lamp,Metal, Black

I had the earlier halogen version of this lamp for many years. Other than the led light and the dimmer button, it looks nearly identical. The original was made in Taiwan; this one was made in Vietnam. It is an attractive design that occupies a sweet spot between cheap $30 lamps and expensive $400-$500 European models. The lamp is bright. As another reviewer noted, the weak spots (other than possible problems with the power button) are the two small gears that carry the weight of the counterbalance and the lamp arm. The gears are small with very small teeth. Over time, the teeth broke on my first one, making it impossible to adjust the lamp height. I am surprised that the manufacturer has not improved the gears over the past 20 years. This time, I put a small dab of heavy grease on the gears to reduce friction and wear. I’m hoping that will help. Also, the tiny screws holding the gear rods in place were very loose on arrival, allowing the gears to shift and clash. I used a small eyeglass screwdriver to tighten them up, which helped a lot. Overall, a good lamp for the money. More robust parts and better assembly would be a big improvement. I’m assuming that’s partly what you get from the much more expensive European lamps.

For over $100 I have to be the critic. There is nothing offensively wrong with the lamp, but the quality is very disappointing for the price. Unfortunately it seems this style of lamp is a niche/novelty item hence the $$$. The price is certainly not top of the range, but truth is this is a very cool item that is constructed poorly and I hate when that happens.Main quality issue is with the gear assembly (probably the main feature that makes everyone buy this lamp); the gear shafts have some play in them (they wobble), and upon 1st use I already see small metal shavings from the teeth of the gears. How long will the gears last? Unfortunately I feel that is up to me and how gently and infrequently I adjust the lamp.The 2nd quality issue is the wobbly bowed base. I had to shim it with some of those little felt furniture pads so the lamp wouldn't rock back and forth.The remaining quality issues are simply with the rest of the low grade materials. I put this last because it's becoming nit-picky and frankly most consumer goods are built to a similar standard. Aside from the gear assembly, thin gauge stamped metal is used in places like the hinges around the lamp head resulting in a flimsy feel. The head on the lamp I got was a little crooked and I easily bent it back to straight. I really hope the 12V transformer inside the base is of reliable quality.My thoughts are - this is certainly a cool lamp with the counterbalance and gear assembly. Big "but" is I feel like I can't even play with the lamp because I can see it will wear out with use. As a lamp that sits on a table just so, never to be adjusted it's perfectly fine. But as a desk lamp it begs to be fiddled with and adjusted and for this purpose it's a no-go, hence my 3 stars.PROS: the lamp looks nice, has two brightness settings, and is proportioned appropriately for a desk work lamp.EDIT: I wish I would have shopped a little smarter. I chose not to purchase this lamp  Normande Brushed Steel Halogen Desk Lamp (Not CA Compliant)  for less than half the price but in retrospect I think I wasted a bit of money. My reasoning was the this lamp, the LS-306, has a 29 inch arm and the Normande is 4 or 5 inches shorter per the specs. Looking at the photos of both more closely I cannot see the significant 4 to 5 inch difference between the two. I can only assume the arm lengths were measured from different points on the lamps. The base and gear assembly appear to be identical.

Fragile in the box / but once out it's lovely. I use this to do jigsaw puzzles andhey - during our TRIPLE Pandemic I needed help to fill the boring time at home.:) Press and hold for a light that gradually gets super bright! Then press once andlet go to turn it off completely. I'm very happy with this - I now have two of them.:) Don't hesitate.

I guess I really should not complain since I have had it working well since 2011! There was plenty of light cast-even the lower level was sufficient. It finally kick out (2022) in what I thought was a bulb replacement issue. Damned near cracked the glass getting it off. Replaced the bulb but it has kept tripping off after a few minutes. I have come to the conclusion that it now heats up internally and shuts off-bulb is not the issue(?)Finally, a plague on the engineer that designed the receptacles for the bulb so close to the edge that it is very difficult to angle in the bulb connection.

I read the reviews of this and other desk lights. For my purpose, inspecting mineral specimens, this was a great choice. The height and arm reach are perfect. It does look like Big Bird, but has excellent functionality and really is not bad looking.

December 2014 Update:I am going to "internet shame" myself. My replacement lamp stopped working the other day and it was obvious to me that the bulb had burned out. I replaced it with the correct wattage and base type per the instructions that came with the lamp. Lo and behold no light and I was besides myself thinking that the unit had failed again. I logged into my Amazon account to see when I had purchased the lamp and decided to see if anyone else was having the "switch" issue I originally described below. I did not see anything like that but DID notice one person's post about the VOLTAGE of the replacement lamp. It turns out that I had purchased the correct wattage and base type but overlooked that fact that the voltage needs to 12V, NOT 120V which I bought. So I purchased a pack of 10 12V bulbs from Amazon since I can only find the 120V variety at my local hardware stores. I've received them and the lamp is back in business. This also leads me to conclude that I tossed away a perfectly good lamp in 2013 and my review below was completely wide of the mark. This episode also does little to bolster my self esteem but that is another matter altogether. Bottom line: pay attention to the voltage when you buy your replacement bulbs. Changing my rating to 5 Stars since the unit functions and looks great.August 2013 Original Posting:I bought one of these in December 2011; after 18 months it failed - either the switch or something in the base - not that it matters since it does not seem serviceable other than to change the light bulb. Too bad since it provided excellent illumination of my desk space. In spite of my grousing, I will purchase another one today as I cannot seem to find anything quite like it at retail locally and other internet offerings seem even pricier.

Great addition to my fly tying bench. Could be a little brighter.

Sturdy and well designed. Very similar to the halogen light I had for many years in my office except this light source is LED rather than halogen. Have had and used this light since January, 2022 so I cannot attest to its long term reliability but so far, so good. No problems with the switch that some others complained about. The switch is a dimmer switch and as I say, no problems so far. It functions exactly as it should - hold switch button and light will cycle through dim to bright.........and then bright to dim until you release it.Light has a good heavy base and overall construction is very good. All adjustments to height and angle of light feel solid and secure. Somewhat surprisingly, the LED lamp is quite bright at its highest setting.Overall well made and reasonably priced. I recommend to anyone seeking a dimable and adjustable desk lamp.

I liked this lamp as a desk light well enough when I bought one 2 years ago that I recently decided to buy another. The link from my previous purchase brought me to this lamp which in the photo looks identical to the one that I bought previously, but it isn't quite the same. To help anyone in the future who decides to purchase this lamp and expects it to be what is shown in the picture (or to match one that was purchased previously), here are the differences. My 2 year old lamp uses a halogen bulb. This one uses an LED. My 2 year old lamp has a rocker switch that selects for "off" and 2 levels of brightness - as does the one in the photo. The new one has a round push button switch (not shown in the photo) that adjusts brightness and turns the lamp on and off. Does any of this make a difference in the real world? Depends whether you believe that the pciture and the ad copy should match. Also depends on whether you prefer the slightly yellow light from the halogen bulb or the very white light from the LED supplied with the lamp. On the plus side, the LED runs cooler than the halogen. Still a good task lamp, but caveat emptor.

Got the light, it worked at first, then after only 1 week, the switch died in the on position. Now the only way I could use the lamp was to keep it unplugged until I needed it.I decided today (10/26/21) that there must be something wrong internally.I scraped the rubber matting off the bottom only at the center and found a Phillips-head screw.I unscrewed it and took the bottom off, to see some wiring inside.There was a plastic connector hanging loose. I looked closer and saw another connector it was supposed to be attached to. I needed to use 2 pairs of needle-nosed pliers to get a good grip on each connector (there is not much space inside the base), but you need to put in some effort to be sure the connectors are plugged all the way in to each other.Once I plugged the connectors in to each other, the switch worked fine.Someone at the factory is not plugging those connectors in all the way, so either in transport, or after you receive the lamp, the connectors unplug from each other and the switch will not work. If the lamp was switched off when the connectors disconnect, that probably prevents the lamp from working at all.In my case, the lamp was on when the connectors became disconnected, so as long as the power cord was plugged in, the lamp would work, it was just the switch that would not.We should not have to be doing repair work to these lamps which cost too much money to begin with.

Having just purchased this lamp, I am very happy with the purchase thus far. The lamp is very clean and would look great on any wood desk or darker background. I was pleasantly surprised by the fact that the lamp has two adjustable light settings, one being somewhat dimmer, and the other being brighter if more light is necessary. The lamp is very appropriate for small rooms and gives the room a nice glow. The lamp is not distracting when trying to read papers or books. The lamp comes preassembled, so I did not need to put together the lamp which was convenient.I was surprised how large the base of the lamp is, the picture makes the base look like the size of a soda can. However, the base of the lamp is larger than expected, The radius of a soda can is 1.25in whereas the radius of lamps base is 2.25in. Sorry if that is confusing.Pros: Easy to read with Two light level settings Base of lamp is very heavyCons: The Base of the lamp does get relatively hot after being on for a long period of time, (after an hour I would imagine) possibly sooner. *I will update this review in a month as to whether the bases heat becomes a problem* It would have been great if the arm extended further rather than stuck in one position other than only swiveling up or down.Overall: Very Satisfied with the lamp so far and worth the price.

I currently own two Halogen lights. One of the lights is an original, the other is a knock off. The difference of the two, one has a connector on the arm when you put the lamp together. The original came in one piece. Both work well.---When ordering the current lamp I knew it would be an LED bulb. The lamp came in a well packaged box. When turning on the lamp the LED gives off more of a whiter light than the halogen lamps. I actually like the whiter light than the halogen, as the halogen bulbs give off a yellowish light. The halogen lamps have a toggle switch for high and low and the LED lamp has a button for on off, hold button down and it can go dim to high. I might add the knockoff lamp is a little dimmer than my original halogen. Being that I only have the new lamp one week I will keep all posted regarding longevity of the product.

Home Office lighting. Kinda expensive.....but it was a gift.

Professional craft artist. Using this light on my carving bench. It replaces a high intensity halogen lamp which may have produced brighter illumination; however, the ease of adjustment and lack of radiating heat make this a far superior tool. Very satisfied. Let's see if it lasts.

I bought the LED version. It is good looking and seems sturdy and well made. The bulb is bright. The dimming feature is easy to use. I like the adjustable arm and head. It is perfect for my small desk.I saw reviews that warn not to remove the screws when changing the bulb. I hope the reviewers are referring to the halogen version because my instructions say to remove the two phillips head screws that secure a small (1" diameter) bulb cover. I do not see another way to remove it. Not an issue right now, but maybe later on.