Customer Reviews

BlueMax Sunrise System Model 320

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is an excellent sunrise simulator. It is quiet; it makes no sound at all. The light source is LED bulbs, not incandescent, so there's no buzzing sound mentioned in many reviews of similar products. Also, it has a power failure backup, which was something I was looking for because so many reviews of similar lamps mentioned that it would be useful.

The settings are highly customizable: you can have a different wake-up time for each day of the week. You can use just the light or both the light and the audible alarm. I prefer my stand-alone alarm, so I only use the lights. I think the simulator options run in 10-minute increments up to 90 minutes. I have mine set for 30 minutes. The light comes on very gradually. I usually wake up naturally a few minutes before the alarm goes off. This is great because I like to enjoy the light with my eyes closed. It looks like sunshine, the only thing missing is the warmth you'd feel if it were real. My brain seems to process it as sunshine. I wake up happy and ready to face the world.

I bought this lamp because after a move from sunny Florida to a rather cloudy part of Germany, I had a hard time getting out of bed most mornings and insomnia set in. The lamp literally changed my life. Within the first week of using it, my sleep schedule was back to normal, insomnia gone. I'm no longer dragging in the morning. I absolutely love it, think it was worth every penny, and recommend it to everyone.

This is a great idea for waking up 'naturally' and gently like a real sunrise, or light therapy...but the execution is very flawed: cheap components (flimsy & it weighs but a few ounces), an el cheapo program to set the time/features is Very frustrating and time consuming...and the price? this shouldn't be one dollar over $44, let alone pushing $200! It does gradually get brighter, use LED's, and can be programed differently daily, but the antiquated way to do it is cheap cheap cheap and a hassle! not what I expect at this very high price. I sent mine back, which was hassle free.

Not as bright as a typical floor/desk lamp, but bright enough to light up the room for general purposes. I reflect it off the ceiling above my bed to read by before I go to sleep. I also set it to slowly come on starting 30 minutes before my radio clock comes on - great for slowly raising the light level when you have to get up before dawn.

I made a home-made spectroscope using a music CD and a cardboard box with a slit in it, and I checked the spectrum of all of the light sources around me: Sunlight has a smooth, complete spectrum; Incandescent also has a smooth spectrum, but often weak in the blue; Flourescent has bright bands in red, yellow, green, and a weak band in blue, with dark bands between these colors; White LED flashlights, and the BlueMax both have banding similar to Flourescents, but the blue light is a little stronger (hence the bluish tint as compared to other lights - in reality it is probably more white, but we are used to other lights that are yellowish or just lacking in blue.) So, I HOPE, but I can't prove, that it will provide some extra blue spectrum to help my skin make vitamin D during winter months. Since it is low voltage (12volt at the lamp) and it hardly produces any heat at all, I feel comfortable laying on the bed, reading using the room light and using the BlueMax to shine on my pasty white legs! - not enough to tan by, but enough intensity to (supposedly) provide light therapy and maybe even give me some Vitamin D.

The controls are a little quirky, but once you learn what they do, it's okay. Otherwise, it does what it is supposed to do: Provide an alarm clock based light that will come on slowly to sort of simulate dawn, or slowly turn off to fall asleep by.

If you don't mind the cost, and you are not expecting miracles, I would recommend it to anyone who likes LED lights and wants a nice, versatile, house current powered LED light source.

I'm currently deployed with the US Army to Afgahnistan. We keep pretty crazy hours, and because of the constant threat of mortar and rocket fire, none of our buildings have windows. One of the things we take for granted is how much that little bit of sunshine in the mornings helps us wake up. After working until 0100, it's hard to spring out of bed at 0730 without that sunshine helping you switch back into "awake" mode.

After a few weeks of stumbling into my morning meetings blurry-eyed, I took my wife's advice and started shopping for a light-based alarm clock. This thing really made a difference. For the size it generates a very bright light -- not so bright that I can't snooze through it, but bright enough that when the audio alarm goes off, I'm ready to sit up and get going.

My only complaint is the bulk -- it is NOT a portable device. The unit is about a foot tall. The menu system isn't really intuitive and the buttons are a little squishy, but once you have it set up, it works very reliably. Just be sure to read the instructions.

Overall a big help, especially if you live in an unlighted, windowless reinforced concrete bunker.

I have two complaints about the Sunrise 320: (1) it's not as bright as it seems in the picture; and (2) the light seems to go off an hour after the morning set time, unless you hit the snooze button. Sometimes it takes more than an hour for me to wake up, so I want something that stays on. All that said, this light has been a big help in my coping with delayed sleep phase syndrome. I considered returning it because I was disappointed, but it's still the best dawn simulator and full spectrum light I could get for the price, so I decided to keep it.

Overall, the light box does what it purports to do: it operates as an alarm clock by gradually increasing the light intensity, over a time period set by the user. The color of the light is slightly blue, and at full intensity is blinding when used as instructed, set approximately 12-16 inches from your head while sleeping. The light alone wakes me up before my separate radio alarm goes off. Although the light is marketed for people who have difficulty awakening (not due to lack of sleep), I have difficulty falling asleep, and therefore I have always had trouble waking fully, and usually just sleep through my radio alarm. It is impossible to sleep through this light!

The two downsides are the price and the seemingly shoddy construction of the box itself. I don't expect the light to last longer than 1 year, but since it's fully waking me I'm willing to pay the approximately $ 15.00 per month for using it (assuming it breaks in 1 year).

I read a number of reviews on different light alarms and selected this one. I didn't want to skimp on this purchase because being able to wake up is very important to me - I was tired of being tired. Came in last night and it took me 5 minutes to program - was very easy once you realize that the menu button is your key for programming. I like the fact that you can select a different wake up time (or none at all) for the weekend.

I was concerned that the light would not be bright enough, but that fear was relieved - gradual light brightened up to a fantastic white light that filled the room. Amazing. I smiled when I got out of bed on time this morning.

I love several things about this lamp:
1. it is convenient for travel (I kept the original packaging and take it with me on most trips)
2. LED technology means the lamp doesn't get as hot as traditional lamps
3. LEDs are long-lasting
4. GREAT blue spectrum
5. VERY bright--easily the 10,000LUX it claims
6. Sunset and Sunrise features are very effective...not just a gimmick

What could be improved
1. the dimmer...fairly bright even at lowest setting. Not really a problem when waking (for me anyway--I am not jarred awake, and the sunrise seems pretty "natural"); however, when dimming on sunset, the turn-off is quite abrubt considering the last level of the light. I think this is a drawback of the LEDs.
2. Alarm is 'gimmicky'. I would prefer natural sounds to an alarm that jars me out of my sleep, so I choose to not use the alarm function.

I looked at buying a S A D light box last Winter. Since moving from 22 years in DC to Chicago - I noticed that dark days affected me more - when not working. I also have sleep apnea and my CPAP device and I have a love-hate relationship.

My depression worsened when I could not find a job and had a goodly loss of money in the Stock Market/banking crash.

I found a job and held it for 6 mos. till the Company went bankrupt and laid so many off.
My depression returned and thought that I might as well look at adding a timed S A D light to see if it would help. I have had this model for a month.

I read the Amazon reviews and sniffed around on the web and bought this model. The light is not blue but a warm LED and back-lit reflector. That it ramps up to full brightness - is good idea. I wanted a lamp with LED's which would not get hot nor need yearly bulb changes.

UK designed - made in the Far East but it comes with 3 plug adapters - so one can world travel with this.

The initial set-up makes one scratch your head but after 2 weeks - it is understandable.

The sunset mode is too bright for me. The internal clock likes to gain time - about 2 minutes in a month.

The sunrise mode - I like - except when I have the audio squawking alarm on. You can turn the buzzer off. You can also do a manual switch-on if taking a nap.

Some days - I DO feel better at wake-up with this unit - so I am giving it a try!
The unit has a small but tallish foot-print. I have it at a 45 degree angle from where I sleep.

It's also designed for office "at work" use and would not take up a lot of desk-space. Though I think any cubicle mates might find it a tad bright...

S A D lights are a "work in progress" but I think that I bought a good first model.

Overall, I'm very pleased with this product. I would definitely buy it again.

Positives:
* Very bright light actually feels like the sun
* Effective at waking me up without the alarm
* Definitely helps with the seasonal affective disorder (SAD) that I've felt this year
* Useful during the day as a sunlamp
* Perfectly quiet

Negatives:
* The setup function is bizarre. These folks could go into any Target in America, buy an alarm clock, and copy the settings approach. Why reinvent the wheel?
* No nature sounds or MP3 player. Just the beeping sound (if I chose to activate the sound).
* Expensive. Basically, it's an LED flashlight attached to an alarm and a transformer. Why so expensive?
* One color. It might be nice to get other natural light colors in a sunset/sunrise situation, but the color here is mid-day sunlight only.