Customer Reviews

Phorm Light Voyager Book Light, Silver

5 star:		(52)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(13)

 

 

I purchased the Phorm Light Voyager about 2 months ago, and have been extremely impressed with it. It replaces an "Itty Bitty" book light I've had for years. With the Itty Bitty, I was forever replacing batteries after only nominal use. I eventually re-wired it and rigged up an a/c adapter - no more battery problem (but now I had a wire dangling from my book to the wall plug to contend with!). I was never happy with the Itty Bitty, but couldn't find anything better. Some of the problems I had with the Itty Bitty: the little power switch on the Itty Bitty stopped working. I had to replace it with a micro switch (luckily, I'm pretty handy doing this kind of stuff). Then the lamp arm itself would no longer stay in place. The only fix I could come up with was to wrap a rubber band around it and the base to hold it up. A few other pieces started to fall off, so I resorted to taping it together. I finally decided it was time to find something new. The new Itty Bitty's are pretty much the same as my old one (cheaply made and not worth the price).

Based on the reviews of the Phorm, I took a chance and bought it. I couldn't be happier. The flourescent light provides a nice, soft light compared to the harsh light of the flashlight bulb used in the Itty Bitty. It also provides wider light field so it lights up both sides of the book. I used to have to rotate the bulb housing on the itty bitty to get each page properly lit. In fact, for me, it provides a bit too much light, so I used black electrical tape to partially blocked the opening of the flourescent light lens. I found without doing this, it would literally light up the whole room (and keep my wife awake!).

This is an extremely well made, solid little device. Substantially higher quality than the itty bitty and similar book lights. From my standpoint, nothing else comes close.

As other reviewers noted, this book light can be used for other lighting purposes since it has such an excellent light, can be positioned to sit on a table top and the lens directed in any way you choose. Good for camping, or as a multi-purpose book and flashlight. Also, it folds up very neatly and is good for travel.

Too my surprise, battery life has been outstanding! After using it fairly extensively the past couple months, I see no need for the a/c adapter. Still using the first set of batteries, and it's doing great. I usually use it for 30 - 60 minutes 4-5 nights a week.

I really love this book light and highly recommend it! It is the best book light you'll find, especially for the price!

I've tried at least half a dozen book lights. I like to read in bed before I fall asleep, but my husband doesn't like the light from a lamp, hence the booklights. I've killed an Itty Bitty (the bulb kept getting loose, but the cord finally broke at the base where I had to keep adjusting the position because it kept falling forward) and have a drawer full of other small clip-ons that either shed totally inadequate light or run out of battery power much too soon. The Phorm Voyager has them all beat. The light is big, covering the whole page of my paperback, without being so bright that it disturbs Sleeping Beauty beside me. The light folds very flat when not in use, and the clip is great. The batteries last forever, and the light is bright till they are gone-not fading to brown on the downside of the curve as some lights will. The only drawback is that it needs 4AA batteries which are a bit heavy to hold in one hand with a book. There is an adapter for it, ..., as it's an odd voltage (5V) so using a universal adapter might not be a good idea. This one is a keeper!

This is the best booklight: it uses AA batteries and is therefore not as heavy as some of the lights on the market; it gives a wide swath of light for the book, rather than the narrow band in a lot of booklights; because it's not an incandescent light, it uses far less power; the batteries last a VERY long time in this light. It folds flat, can be unfolded and set on a table or clipped to the back of a book (one warning: the clip is tight and so it's not as good on a hardback as on a paperback). When clipped to the book, it can be folded flat so that it adds only about 1/4-1/2" to the depth of the book. I keep one in my knitting/book-bag, and always take one on trips. It's particularly great when we lose power (ice storms, hurricanes, etc.) and I don't want to give up my reading!
I found this light a number of years ago at Borders. I loved it and bought a few for presents. Then it disappeared and I couldn't locate it until Levenger's had a sale -- I bought another one for me and one for my daughter. I'm glad to see it's available again.

The strength and weakness of this reading light is the florescent bulb. It provides for adequate light and good battery life. Although the light is heavy to clip onto a book and nearly inpossible for a magazine, its pivoting light makes it great for reading in bed. Just put the light on your chest and rotate the light to the book. However, the florescent light is a problem to turn on. Move the switch to ON and wait. Sometimes seconds, often minutes, I thought the problem was the switch, but it was my patience. I wasn's used to waiting minutes for the light to go on. And now, it's gone down to half power, even with a power cord. Unfortunately, its no longer bright enough to read by, so I'm looking for a replacement.

Just received the light. I ordered it in the hopes of using it while reading music at clubs, restaurants, etc..

It really is a fantastic book light. It casts a nice clear white light (flourescent bulb with a plastic light diffuser). I have used it with a spare 4.5V power supply for about 6 hours while reading a book and about 3 hours while reading music and did not suffer from eye fatique. The adequately bright light illuminates both pages of a medium sized book. It adequately illuminates one page of sheet music (8.5x11" sheets).

There are 2 friction hinges which hold the base and light at any angle (with the one constraint that the extension arm to base/clip angle rotate such that the angle is constrained to angles 90 degrees or larger). The clip itself is a simple u-shaped wire abouth 3/4 the diameter of a coat hanger that has been tempered so that it is springy. The clip only expands from 0 to approximately 1/4", so forget about clipping it to a piano music stand (~3/4") without some modification. A simple mod that would work is bending some sheet metal that slides under the clip and fits snugly onto the piano music stand. A simpler thing to do is just clip it to a peice of cardboard (the back of one of those 8.5x11" lined paper tablet would work perfectly) and place the music books in front of it.....

The injection molded plastic casing seems to be heavy enough that it would probably survive droping it on a hard floor, though it is a little difficult to know for certain without..... well.... droping it on the floor. The light folds up as shown in the picture and lightly snaps into position.

I am considering ordering another light so that there is enough illumination for 2 pages of music, though I will hold off until my next round of book orders..... gotta save on that shipping.

Despite mixed reviews for the Light Voyager, I decided take a chance. I purchased this book light by putting my faith in (excuse the expression) the 'glowing' reviews. For those who've left five star ratings, I have one word for you: wait. My light also worked like a charm for about the first month. After that, it became flakey. Sometimes, it doesn't work at all: I'll turn the switch and nothing happens. A couple nights later and it's back in action. At other times, the Light Voyager only casts a dim light, as if the bulb is defective. When this happens, it usually lights as expected after a day or two of rest. In regards to this problem, some reviews have suggested patience, assuring that it will eventually reach full brightness. Unlike an oven, a night light shouldn't need to warm-up. These hassles are unrelated to the batteries. The lack of reliability is the key issue as I have no beef with the large size; I accept that it is only to be used on hard cover books or laid on a surface. While some reading lights use unusual batteries, the Light Voyager uses inexpensive and easy to find AA batteries. Also available through Amazon, the Fulcrum 113311-301 Flyweight Travel book light has proved to be a superior replacement. Compared to the Light Voyager, the Flyweight costs less, it is smaller, it is brighter, it weights less, it has two illumination settings and most importantly, it is 100% reliable. If you're going to get Phorm's Light Voyager, make sure that you also purchase a back-up reading light.

After reading so many glowing reviews for this light (pardon the pun) and having been generally dissapointed with all the other lights I've tried, I forked over what's a fair amount of money for a reading light and bought the Phorm. The other reviews are right: I find the batteries last much longer than other lights and the flourescent bulb itself casts more than enough light by which to read yet doesn't bleed over to the other side of the bed and keep others awake. I haven't had any trouble with the clip on either hardcovers or paperbacks.

The one problem I have is that there seems to be a problem with either the switch or the bulb, because it can take as many as twenty attempts to turn on sometimes. I understand the delay in lighting (only a second or two because it's flourescent) but not turning on at all makes it kind of useless. When it works, it's a five-star+ light; when it doesn't, it's very frustrating.

I have purchased many book lights over the years and was never very happy with any of them. Batteries wear out too fast, hard-to-find expensive batteries and bulbs, lights that never illuminate more than 1/2 a page without adjustment and best off all cheap junk that breaks before it's time.
The flourescent bulb provides great diffuse light over BOTH pages and does not consume batteries too quickly. Sturdy enough (compared to most) but not so heavy duty that it requires a back brace. Good stuff, I think I'll go read.

I have used this light for about five years now, and still love it. Batteries last much longer with this than any other light I have. I should also point out that I consider this to be a great utility light that happens to also function as a book light. The design is so flexible that you can use it in a hundred different scenarios - don't restrict it to just lighting books! In my opinion, this product is not marketed nearly as well as it could be, and I'm amazed that it's not more popular and more copied.

Great little light. Had the flourescent Itty Bitty booklight with only 2 AA batteries, it was a bit awkward in dimensions, and with poor balance to stand upright on a surface. I often do a crossword puzzle at an outdoors cafe after work. Ability to stand upright with stability is something I wanted.

The Phorm has 4 AA batteries which gives it a bit more lasting power, and it unfolds just fine to stand up by itself. With batteries, the Itty Bitty weight 130 grams, and the Phorm 210 grams. So the Phorm is a little bit heavier. I really don't notice that, but do notice what seems like a brighter light and better a design for adaptability.

So far as the AC adapter recommended at 5v, you can underpower the Phorm at 4.5v with an easily found adjustable voltage travel adapter. Should be OK at 6v even, as that is what 4 AA batteries @ 1.5v each produce. Tried at both and the light output looks about the same to my eyes, so I will power at 4.5v.

Light at either 4.5v plugged in, or with batteries, is quite good, even for casting across something a bit larger than a normal book.