Customer Reviews

Kensington 33120 FlyLight USB 2.0 Notebook Light (PC/Mac)

5 star:		(42)
4 star:		(30)
3 star:		(17)
2 star:		(14)
1 star:		(16)

 

 

Why do I get the feeling that some of these later reviews were written by Kensington people? The fact is, this light has some unique features that most USB lights don't, including an On/Off switch and two brightness levels. However, that doesn't come close to overcoming the drawbacks. First of all, the price is way too high for what you are getting. Also, the brightness difference between four and eight LEDs is negligible. But the biggest flaw in this light, by far, is that the flexible arm is not NEARLY strong enough to support the weight of the lamp. I have had to resort to clamping the arm to the side of my monitor, which is just plain ridiculous. For the price they are getting, they should have produced a more durable product.

The Flylight 2.0 has such a narrow beam, even with all 8 LEDs on, that you need to choose which 1/3 of the keyboard you want illuminated. There must be a way to diffuse the light. Kensington needs to test things before mass-producing them.

I finally bought one of these lights and I can't imagine how there could be negative reviews of this thing. First off, it gives PLENTY of light. It is a little too centrally focused, but there is enough "spill" to illuminate the entire keyboard - even at the 50% setting. (If this had a diffused plastic lens over the leds, instead of clear, it would soften the light considerably.) Something to keep in mind, this light has EIGHT leds. Many pocket/keychain flashlights use a single led for similar lighting situations. This is effectively 8x the power of a typical keychain flashlight. I have mine pointing toward the keyboard from the side so the light is angled across the keys instead of straight down. The flexible shaft is adequate to hold the head in place unless you move the notebook while the shaft is fully extended; any flexible shaft would be subject to movement at its maximum length. Keep it partially coiled and off to the side and this will easily do the job.

So I believe those who pan this product are either using defective items or they are simply unreasonable in their expectations. This thing is almost too much for what it's supposed to be.

I recently purchased the Kensington FlyLight 2.0. I am very pleased with this light! Don't expect a desk lamp. The eight LED bulbs in this powerful lamp work wonders. The laptop lamp will not illuminate a stadium but it definitely provides exceptional lighting for your laptop keyboard. I am really fond of the flexible cord that allows you to manipulate the lighting effects. You have a choice between 4 LED bulbs for dim effect (as to not disturb anyone near you) or 8 LED bulbs for a bright keyboard. The FlyLight 2.0 is a great investment that you will not regret making.

I love this light ! I was always in the dark with my laptop, since I sit in various places, often in the living room. I didn't know anyone made these little direct lights that plug into a computer port and run on the laptop power. You never replace the bulbs. My light's arm is flexible and is very useful. The light is bright enough for me. It has 8 small lights and can be dimmed to 4. The other letters here don't like the light, I would not be without it. I love it.

I read the reviews before buying the light. I thought, I know how to fix this thing. My fix is sandpaper on the lens, I roughed it up with 320 grit sandpaper, it gives the lens a slightly diffused quality and it gives the 8 LEDs just enough dispersal to light the entire keyboard on my mid size laptop.

I just bought one of this yesterday and was so dispointed since then. The goose neck is so weak, it kept falling off from it setup position. 8 LEDs light is not in any way brighter than regular 5-buck-1-LED-notebook light. Paid 20 bucks for this item and it was the worst investment ever. I could find better one with one one LED light for 2 bucks on Ebay. Never gonna by any product from Kensington any more.

This is an excellent USB light. Too bad it has one glaring design deficiency that keeps it from being darned close to perfect.

Eight LEDs provide an abundance of light. There's a switch allowing just four or all eight to be used. Frommy testing, I'll be using the four LED option most of the time.

This is also where the design problem comes in - and it is a significant problem.

Presumably to save a few pennies, Kensington opted not to include a reflector of any kind. At this price, unusally high for a USB keyboard lamp, Kensington certainly has the leeway to have spent the money on design and the few pennies per unit to include a reflector in the finished product.

Instead the LEDs jut straight out of the flat plastic surface. The light pattern is very hot, excessively so. The center of the light field is very bright, but also very narrow and relatively small. Even on a small netbook keyboard with the lamp fully extended, the bright light area covers only half the keyboard. Falloff of the illumination is very drastic from the center.

While there is adequate light overall, the center is lit so brightly, that the eye is fooled into thinking that the areas outside the center are dimmer than they are.

I can see why so many people complain about this. I think many overstate the issue, but at core, the complaint is valid. Kensington shortchanged itself and its customers by not including a reflector in the design. The design keeps he FlyLight from being a five-star product.

The stalk iis good. It holds the lamp in the position you set it. Everything rolls up into a compact package that will fit in practically any carrying case.

Overall, a pretty good value. Overpriced, one really poor design component, but puts out lots of light the and on/off switch is really handy.

Jerry

After trying several notebook lights and not being happy with any of them, I tried this one. It works much better than any of the others I've tried. It is pretty bright and lights up enough of the keyboard to work in the evenings without being too bright.

This lights up my whole keyboard, just barely. I have a 12" HP and larger keyboards will be left in the dark. I find it difficult at night to light the keys w/o blocking part of the screen or causing glare on the screen. After a little adjustment, this light works very well for a bit of late night browsing while my gf sleeps undisturbed next to me. This also makes reading a credit card easy so I can do some Christmas shopping.