Ritelite LPL792 Wireless USB 5-LED Touch-On Computer Light

I work as a freelance computer programmer from a powerful laptop computer, and I sit in chairs or on the floor, never at a desk, in all sorts of lighting conditions, including darkness when other people are sleeping nearby. I usually have the computer on my lap at an angle, so I have to crane my neck to see the keyboard straight-on. My newest laptop has no keyboard light. I researched the various USB keyboard lights and in the end I purchased two of them - this one, and the "Portable USB LED Flexible Work Light for Laptops/Notebooks" (http://www.amazon.com/Portable-Flexible-Light-Laptops-Notebooks/dp/B002WI8GG8), which is rated higher. I am in an excellent position to give a detailed comparison of these two lights.I can now report that in comparing the two, the one here is clearly superior to the "Flexible Work Light", so I'd like to push its rating up in comparison with the other light I'm comparing it to.Both lights have switches, and both switches are convenient to use in their own way.It is true, as other reviews pointed out, that the gooseneck of the "Flexible Work Light" is longer by about 4 inches or so than this light. However, neither light is even close to being long enough to be able to arc over the top of the keyboard and shine down directly from above, rather than from the side (for MY laptop computer, which is gigantic), so the extra few inches of the "Flexible Work Light" makes no difference for me. For those with a Netbook or otherwise very small laptop, the extra few inches might make a difference, I suppose.Because neither light is long enough to reach over the top, I have two lights - one on each side of the computer. (That is how I am able to compare them so carefully - they are both in place and turned on right now, with the current light on the right side, and the "Flexible Work Light" on the left side.)The gooseneck cables themselves are slightly different, but of equally solid quality in both cases. If anything, the gooseneck of the current light is slightly thicker and stiffer - but they're both solid.The USB connection is identical for both, and both remain in place just fine.Another reviewer reported that the connection between the gooseneck and the light for the current light was weak. I do not see this problem at all. Both this light, and the "Flexible Work Light", have a very solid connection between the gooseneck and the light mechanism, and evince no indication that this connection is problematic in any way.The main reason that this light is significantly superior to the "Flexible Work Light" is that it is MUCH brighter. As noted, I use them both at the same time, one on the left and one on the right. The "flexible work light" seems like it's probably about what you might expect for a USB light, and if I didn't have the current light being reviewed to compare it with, I would resign myself to the fact that even with a typical USB light, the keyboard is still dim enough that I have to crane my neck sometimes - albeit much less than the amount I have to crane my neck and squint with no keyboard light at all. Still, instead of feeling good about the USB light and feeling that I can work in dim lighting conditions in a completely relaxed fashion, I would still feel frustrated about having to crane my neck and stare at the keyboard a bit, even with the "Flexible Work Light". I think it's no exaggeration to say that the current light being reviewed is 8 or so times brighter than the "flexible work light", and in addition, it is diluted a bit better as well. No neck-craning is necessary at all when using this light, and there is not the slightest hassle in immediately seeing the keys clearly when you glance at the keyboard from any angle.I still need to have two lights - one on the left and one on the right - even with the current light being reviewed - because it shines from the side and illuminates one side of the keyboard much more brightly than the other side. And, on a related note, even though it's a bright light, the light is still localized so it won't bother others nearby in the darkness unless they are sensitive to any light or unless the light faces in the direction of their eyes. (The "flexible work light" might bother them as well, but not as much.) It is true that if the light is angled in such a way as to face directly into the eyes of someone nearby, the glare from the lightbulbs of the current light I'm reviewing is much worse than the lightbulbs of the "flexible work light" when you stare at the bulbs straight-on, even though the light from the current device I'm reviewing is diluted a bit better in terms of how the light shines down onto the keyboard.Also - and this is important and I almost forgot to mention - the current light being reviewed has two brightness settings (the "flexible work light" does not). Even on the lower setting, it is still 5 times as bright (or so) as the "flexible work light", but there are occasions when the light *is* too bright for me on the high setting (when it's completely dark in the room), and in these situations the lower setting is just fine. (Even at the lower setting, the glare of the bulbs when you stare straight on is much worse than the "flexible work light" if you stare at the bulbs straight on.)I should also note that when it is *completely* dark, the "flexible work light" actually works well enough (though it's still not as good as this current one I'm reviewing). It's only in situations of "medium" light, or "grey" surroundings, areas with deep shadow, etc., in which the need for a BRIGHTER light is most noticeable. In these "grey" settings, you still need to crane your neck to see the keyboard, almost as though it's totally dark, and the "flexible work light" comes close to being useless in these situations. The current light I'm reviewing, however, is absolutely sufficient and is perfectly bright enough when it's on the high setting.I am currently on the site to purchase a second one of these, to replace the "flexible work light" which is currently on the left side of my computer. So I thought I'd take the opportunity to review this and give it "5 stars".

This review is for the "Ritelite LPL792 Wireless USB 5-LED Touch-On Computer Light"I have two desktop keyboards that are back-lit. Until I bought them I'd never thought they'd make much of a difference but, pardon the pun, it's like night and day.Unfortunately, no such feature exists on my full size 19" Dell laptop which has a keyboard that's the same size as my full size desktop keyboards. So because I tend to sit in the dark and watch TV and, and occasionally work on my laptop, I finally decided I needed some kind of a light because, even though I've done touch typing for over 40 years, apparently when I try to do it in the dark my use of the backspace key just about quadruples and my typing speed plummets into the low double digits.So, I looked at a few of these types of lights and this one appeared to be the best design. Plus having an overall 4 star score didn't hurt.Pro's -It plugs into your USB port.No batteries are needed and has a 100,000 hour light life.It's bendy and flexible.It has a nice soothing blue light facing the user to reduce eyestrain.It has 5-Led Lights.It has a push button switch that's easy to get to.Con's (more or less)It plugs into the USB port but... it's not a snug fit which, along with my comment below about the goose-neck, makes it difficult to keep the light in one place. However, I've only tried this on one laptop but it's a problem on two of the USB ports I've tried.This isn't a con but if you're buying this for the 100,000 hour life... I just thought this was kind of a "nice, but really..?" As a casual user, I might use this, let's say on the outside, 2 hours a night, 365 days a year. That would give the lights a life span of almost 137 years. Terrific... but somehow I don't think the goose-neck, USB, or the casing will last anywhere near that long. So, it's an impressive number but meaningless. If this lasts over the next 2 - 3 years I'll be impressed and figured I got my money's worth.It's bendy and flexible but... It took some trial and error in order to get the light positioned so it wasn't glaring into the screen and was covering a decent chunk of the keyboard real estate. I had to take it out of the USB port, bend the goose-neck to a point that would have made it go through the screen if I'd tried to bend it while still attached to the laptop, just so that when I did plug it back in, it would flop into a position that was kind of close to where I wanted it to be. In my opinion, the goose-neck should be stiffer to make it easier to position the light.Since it tends to get a bit floppy I don't see being able to move this around much to, say, read some papers I have, because once moved, I don't think it's going to be easy to get it back to the position I wanted it in in the first place. I'm seriously thinking about getting it into the position I want it and then solder the goose-neck into place.Coverage. Not as good as I expected but it's workable. Again, keyboard laptop is the same size as a regular size desktop keyboard so there's a lot of area to cover. This lights up the section of the keyboard that it points at very well. But, this is the type of device that you don't want sitting too high above the keyboard or it reflects off the screen. So, to keep it low, and cover the most keyboard geography you have to sacrifice about half the keyboard, which you can still see, but the keys are more in shadow than in light. But, as long as I can still make out the letters and number I'm okay with that. I've seen at least one comment about someone who bought two of these and put one on each side of the keyboard which is a great idea. Unfortunately, I'm writing this while at work so I'll need to check but I think all of the USB ports on my laptop are one side.The blue light. My opinion, I like blue, it's my favorite color. I have blue shirts, I used to own blue cars.. I think it's a cool color. I just don't believe that it's going to provide any real benefit in helping the user to avoid eyestrain. What I think would help with the eyestrain would be to have this designed so that the LED lights provided better coverage over the keyboard.However, on the plus side, the blue light *might* help keep you from nodding off in the dark. Blue light therapy is used to help people who don't get enough sunlight and have problems with fatigue or depression when season's change and there's fewer clear sky's and sunshine (usually in fall and winter and generally referred to as SAD Seasonal Affective Disorder). Not a reason to buy this but who knows.. maybe it'll help cheer you up when you're typing those memo's or term papers in the dark at 2 a.m.

Use one with the laptop and the other with my stationery bike because it's readout is not backlit.