Normande Brushed Steel Halogen Desk Lamp (Not CA Compliant)

I was looking hard for a lamp to sit on top of my digital piano. I looked everywhere. IKEA, Target, etc. I wanted something contemporary and low profile, and those places had nothing of the sort. Finally I came upon this lamp on Amazon. At an average of 3.5 stars, I was very hesitant. In fact, I didn't order this product for 3 weeks after I saw it online. I kept mulling it over. I even asked my uncle, an industrial designer, about this type of lamp. To my surprise, he told me he had 3 of these style lamps that he bought 20 years ago and they all still worked. I was a bit skeptical since he bought them 20 years ago, and I would assume the quality nowadays probably suffered in comparison. A quick glance at some of these 1-star reviews exacerbated my fears. I don't like buying cheap stuff that breaks, and that's why it took me three weeks to come around. Then one night I was playing piano in the dark, and I was fed up. I took a gamble on this $40 lamp. And it paid off.QUALITY: As I mentioned, at this price point (compared to the $70 and $130 ones Amazon sells) I was a little worried about the quality. Let me tell you, the quality is absolutely fine. Based on the reviews, I was also worried about the packaging/damage: you have nothing to worry about. The lamp came well packaged in its retail box (Normande), surrounded by Amazon's large shipping box. It was very well packaged. The bulb was not broken or bent.DESIGN: The design is timeless and it looks good in any room, on any desk, in any decade. My uncle has 3 of these lamps, and he's very design conscious.PRICE: You won't find a better lamp at $40. Not even at Target or Ikea. You also won't find halogen lamps this cheap, since halogen is a little more expensive (I think).MISC: I live in CA, so when I saw "Not CA Compliant" I was a little worried Amazon.com wasn't going to ship it to me. Boy am I thankful they did!! As far as I'm concerned, anything that says "Not CA Compliant" is probably one kick-butt product.

Great Amazon shipping that arrived within 2 days, but came with a defective bulb which seems to have happened to several past reviewers. Furthermore, the scant printed user info does not specify the pin-type of the replacement bulb since Type JCD 120V 50W bulb can come in several configurations. I spent half the evening on Google getting an unwanted crash course on halogen bulbs which apparently can come in G4, GY6.35, and G8 configurations. The warranty specifically excludes any bulb-related problems. If the manufacturer does not want to cover the bulb which is understandable, they should at least provide sufficient specifications for replacement bulbs. I went ahead and ordered the Sylvania bulb linked with this product on Amazon. It it turns out to be the wrong bulb, then I will change this review to a single star . . . what a frustrating experience (should have just drove to Office Depot). The overall appearance of the halogen lamp is as advertised (nothing special) and lever mechanism seems smooth and solid.***Update 4/1/10********************Okay everyone . . . don't bother with the linked bulb on Amazon (Sylvania 58660 50-Watt 12-Volt Halogen Single Ended Quartz Lamp with Clear Finish and GY6.35 Bi-Pin Base, 1 Pack #50T4QCLRP Sylvania). I ordered it and it does not fit. I widened the legs and got it to fit, but the bulb was immediately fried when I turned on the lamp . . . total waste of time and $$. I went to eBay and found a seller (lightingsaving) that was actually selling 10 bulbs G8 JC Type Halogen Bulbs / 120V 50W and they arrived within 5 days and work perfectly (10 halogen bulbs for < $12, they should get 5 stars!). Finally, I have a working lamp which works as expected, so I bumped the rating up to 3 stars. The trouble I had to go through to get a replacement bulb was ridiculous and the company really should have provided the exact bulb specifications. Now, I'm a self-taught expert on halgen bulbs . . .***Update 7/1/12********************I bumped the review up to 4 stars for durability. I've used this lamp daily for over 2 years and it's still going strong. The lever mechanism still works like new and none of the joints are loose. I've gone through 4 bulb changes over the past 2 years.***Update 1/10/2013*****************Lamp still going strong with daily use, lever works well, change bulbs every ~ 6 months***Update 8/5/13********************Still hanging in there in my home office, lever strong, bulb changes q6 months

The gear mechanism that permits the lamp height to be adjusted is designed so that the full weight of the lamp arm AND the load of the counterweight are transmitted through just a couple of tiny little gear teeth at the common fulcrum where the two lever arms that carry these weights cross. The position of the weights way out at the extremities of their respective lever-arms exacerbates the gear-loading situation. There is no adjustment possible on the engagement of the gear teeth. The result of these design features is that, if the gears are not made of durable materials and are not precisely aligned at assembly, they will strip. They do. The gears on the lamp I received were obviously very cheap 'pot metal' and arrived already stripped, probably from simply moving the arm at the factory when the unit was packaged. This is an execution and quality-control weakness, made more or less inevitable by the weak mechanical design.It seems that some reviewers have had not problems with the gears. I can think of two possibilities: (1) the assembly tolerances might result in some units that are fine for a while, but even then if the arm is adjusted frequently eventual stripping of these gears is almost certain to occur, (2) there may have been recent design or material or manufacturing changes that have degraded the quality.On the plus side - the lamp _looks_ great.I'm returning mine for a refund.