Customer Reviews

Smart Solar Solar Powered Table Lamp, Bronze

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

 

 

I'm another of those rural homesteaders who's trying to become more self-sufficient. My Smart Solar lamp arrived yesterday and I'm very pleased with it. I wanted to address the reviews that claimed that the switch doesn't work, or only works when the lamp is in odd positions. First, there's a light sensor at the top of the lamp next to the solar panels, and the lamp will only turn on in a dark environment. This is probably so that the lamp can be left "on" out on a patio table and will automatically come on at dusk and shut off at dawn. So if it's daytime and your lamp "will only work when upside down," that's why. Second, the switch doesn't "click" or anything, but that doesn't mean it doesn't work. Try it at night or in a dark room, and it should work fine.

I gave the lamp four stars instead of five only because I wish it were a bit brighter. You can read by it, if you're right under it, and it's just right as a patio table lamp for romantic dinners, and it would be great in a power outage, but it's not really a day-to-day substitute for a standard 60 watt bulb.

It's great for what it is, though. I may order another one, just to have a couple on hand when the power goes out.

I've only had this lamp for a weekend, but I absolutely love it. It produced light the first day with only 3 hours of sunlight. (We didn't hook up till the afternoon.)The yellow ambiant light is perfect for evenings outside. We've yet to see how reliable the battery is after months of use, but I like it so much that we ordered another.

Latest update: we turned a sprinkler on it by accident, and it sat there for 2 hours getting soaked, and still lit right up! The longer I have this lamp the more I love it.

First update: be sure you remember that the lamp turns on only IN THE DARK! This threw me for a few days and I almost sent it back, but re-read the other review and realized I'd been trying to switch it on in the daylight sometimes, and the little sensor won't let it come on unless it's dark.

Been wanting it since last January, when the power went out for a week, but the only reviews at that time were not good, so I kept searching for a better one, but nothing else even comes close to the functional design of this one. The other solar lamps & lanterns out there seem to all be unshaded nightmares for my light-sensitive eyes. And it's not only the pain of glare, but glare seriously reduces the effective light from any source.

Finally took the plunge and ordered this little lamp from Amazon, since they're so good at standing by their products, in case I get a dud, but this seems great so far.

I put it in the sun for 3 days at first, just to be sure of a full charge, because that seemed to be a possible cause of the first terrible review months ago, and then I turned it on and - voila-- bright light. Bright white or a dimmer shade of yellow. Keeps going all night and into the morning. If it gives problems later I'll update this review, because this is an important item in my life.

I love that the full shade keeps the awful glare of LEDs out of my eyes. Plus it's white underneath and nicely curved to perfectly reflect more light down onto where you want it so you can work under the light. I definitely can read fine on a dark night under this lamp, tho of course for regular use I'd want several to give the eyes the best care.

Last night I couldn't find the flashlight and so I just grabbed this thing and carried it out on my errand to the shed so I wouldn't step on any snakes (they're never there but i always assume they are when I can't see) and wow-- it lights a good wide swath forward and to the side-- just perfect out here in the country.

Comes with the best manual. One page only. No words, just pictograms that are kinda cute, fun & easy to decode.

Only gripe: no mention of where or if you can get a replacement battery when it becomes needed. Maybe they're common and I just don't know, cuz I don't know much about batteries. THe other thing is that we get wind here and I don't want this to get damaged by tipping over so I'm working on a way to attach it to the table securely. Cleverly, the battery is placed in the very bottom, so the weight of it keeps it upright, and it has not tipped over at all in a week outdoors here. It is smaller than I imagined while looking at the photos, and this turns out to be fine becuase it means less "sail" area to catch wind. Plus, the low height keeps the light close to where you need it. It's about a foot tall.

Pros:

Great shade protects eyes from glarey LEDs

Bright lights or mellower ones, whichever you select

Easy to operate, one switch, 3 settings: white, yellow, off

Works good, runs long

Metal construction seems strong & tough

Looks pretty, solar panel is nicely built into top to blend with bronze color

Cons:

Replacement batteries available?

Could be tippy in wind.

Packaged in a solid block of styrofoam for protection, very landfill/earth unfriendly

In summary, it seems like the people who designed this worked hard to make it very functional, simple, versatile & elegant. So far it's doing very well on all counts. I like it a lot and now I don't dread the dark nights of the winter power outages to come, plus it's fun to use outdoors on summer evenings now. I hope they'll find a non-styro packaging and they'll have a perfect product.

We often lose power in our rural area and I thought this would be a nice alternative to our battery flashlights and oil lamps. It just didn't work well. We carefully followed the instructions and we finally got some light, but not much. The switch to change the intensity did not work at all. The light we did get was weak. We returned it. I think the technology is just not reliable, yet. For now I will stick to our Aladdin brand table lamp and battery head light.

Don't bother...save your money. You will get more light from a candle. I purchased this lamp with such hope. It is a nice design and is an attractive looking lamp. It takes one hour in the sun to charge, but it's basically an over priced solar night light. I placed the lamp on a large round mirror in the hope that the mirror will reflect more light, it really did not help. The lamp radiates about 4-7 watts worth of light. Would I buy it again knowing what I know now? NO...save your money. Perhaps in time technology will improve and they will make a solar lamp that is actually bright and not a night light. Smart Solar Solar Powered Table Lamp, Bronze

I purchased this January 2011. Soon after I noticed a problem with the switch not allowing it to stay on. With the San Diego power outage last night I found it stopped working completely. It is a smart looking lamp and loved it when it worked. It is too bad that the lamp seems to be quality but cheaper cost cuts with the switches and other plastic features.

After sitting in the sun for 2 days this little light has charged up and is working fine. I am thinking I may purcase a second one.

I bought this solar table lamp months ago.

Although we followed instructions carefully, we were unable to get it to work. I happen to like copper, so the lamp's purpose is purely decorative to this day- which explains the one star I give it.

Like the first rater I ordered one of these for our old farm house. The first one would only turn on if laying on its side. The replacement would only turn on if held UPSIDE DOWN. The lamps themself are wonderful heavy rubbed metal. If the switch was not a problem I would have ordered more, now I have none! We need things made in America with quality control.