NatureBright PER3 Deluxe Light Therapy Lamp
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List Price: Our Price: $129.99 You Save: $20.00 (13%) Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Category: Health Care See more product details |
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Customer Reviews of NatureBright PER3 Deluxe Light Therapy Lamp
Customer Review: False advertising -- a physician's perspective
Summary: 1 Stars
The history that brought me to this website was that a patient brought it up to me in clinic today, and I've felt medically compelled to write my opinion on this device.
As a practicing physician, I am appalled.
The type of 'therapy' offered is not even close to the clinical standard of care. You need full spectrum, 10,000 lux light. The original data on this came from Terman et al.'s work in the 1998 in the Archives of General Psychiatry, and has been confirmed time and time again by randomized, open clinical trials. For those of you that are a little more academically oriented, I'd recommend looking it up -- the read is fairly short and straightforward and it will really help you avoid getting scammed by a company like this.
Open clinical trials have tried partial spectrum light, ionizer therapy, infrared light, ultraviolet light, and every combination of timing and intensity you could imagine. The answer has always been: 10,000 lux therapy, 30 minutes, every morning, hitting the back of your retina but not staring at the bulb. 6,000 lux can have good effect too and there are a few other promising combinations. But this device is perhaps a few hundred lux at most (although they do not reveal the actual rating on their packaging).
Essentially, the makers of this device are dismissing 25 years of research and a the work of an entire medical subspecialty.
I have seen many patients suffering from severe depression and that could benefit from true light therapy. Instead, they take anti depressant medications, usually something called SSRIs. And while these medications are effective and priceless for many, they can have serious side effects. Light therapy can be life changing for these people.
I am not a political person, but I feel it is a true travesty that a company as reputable as Amazon is allowing this company to sell snake oil as elixir.
I would highly recommend against anyone with interest in anything beyond a desk lamp from purchasing this device.
Customer Review: These Lamps Seem to be Haunted...
Summary: 3 Stars
I'm on my second unit; I returned the first for an even exchange. During the three or so weeks I had the first unit, it behaved very strangely.
Sometimes when using the timer, the entire clock would reset itself at the end of the cycle, and I would have to re-set the date, time, and everything else.
The clock would randomly change time from AM to PM. In other words, I would hear the alarm go off at 5:00 PM, and discover that the time displayed on the clock was now 5:00 AM, instead of the correct time of 5:00 PM.
When using the lamp as a reading lamp (i.e., just turning it on) the light would turn itself off at random for no reason.
When using the lamp on the timer, the timer would occasionally end the cycle after a few minutes. I'd set it for 30 minutes and it would turn either turn itself off short of the thirty minutes, or I'd look over at the display and it would now say 54 minutes remaining.
So I returned that unit and got another one.
This new one randomly loses 1 hour every couple of weeks. By that I mean that every couple of weeks, I will look over at the clock and find that it says 9:00 PM instead of the correct time of 10:00 PM and I will have to reset it.
When using it as a reading lamp, this one also turns itself off occasionally for no reason.
This is a great lamp; I love reading by it, and I love being awakened by the dawn simulation feature instead of a jarring audio alarm, but as I said, this clock is haunted. I've decided to live with this one's idiosyncrasies, but for $160, the lamp should work reliably.
So if you decide to buy this, it's a great lamp when it works properly, but expect some surprises. (I set a backup alarm on my Palm device just in case the clock has a hiccup during the night...)
P.S. As I am typing this with the lamp switched on, it just shut itself off again for no reason. Haunted.
Customer Review: Works- used for three winters now
Summary: 4 Stars
I have been using this lamp (PER3 Deluxe) for several years now. It is especially helpful in the winter - I wake refreshed. I use it even on weekends so as to keep my sleep-cyle regular - although some days I go back to bed after letting the dog out, etc. In the summer, I sometimes use the "sundown" feature.
For those who are complaining that they can't get the sunrise to work: Read the instructions!!!!! Set the WAKE UP TIME to the time you want the "alarm to sound" and then adjust the "sunrise" to between 30-60 minutes. The sunrise will then start that many minutes before the alarm sounds.
For those who complain that the "sunrise" can't be set to less than 30 minutes: you bought a SUNRISE SIMULATOR. It's a rare day when the sun "jumps out" of a fully dark sky to total illumination. Even in winter, the sky lightens at least a half-hour before the sun is over the horizon.
For those who complain that the Max Brightness doesn't occur until two minutes before the "alarm" time: See the above paragraph. It's a SUNRISE SIMULATOR!! Max light comes rather suddenly when the sun clears the horizon!
The lamp DOES come on gradually - I have detected at least TWO changes in gradation of low light before the maximum bright.
The one drawback is that the bottom could be better weighted and the neck is a tiny bit loose - a small bump can cause it the lamp head to lose proper positioning.
Customer Review: Great features, some problems
Summary: 3 Stars
I bought the lamp a couple weeks ago as it was the only one listed that has both a dawn simulator and light therapy function. I came pretty close to returning it due to a few issues with the unit (and I had found another product online - Morning Sunrise SRS320 - that has both dawn simulator and light therapy features). First of all, it looks ugly and feels flimsy - lightweight plastic, garish LED lights, and buttons that beep each time you press them. I can accept that; the lamp is significantly cheaper than most of the single-purpose light therapy boxes, none of which are especially beautiful either.
The most frustrating flaw was the difficulty of setting up and testing the sunrise feature; the first morning the "sun" rose quite a bit earlier than I thought I had set it for. Attempts at testing the feature by setting the wake time for 32 minutes in the future and the sunrise time for 30 minutes did not result in dawn glimmerings in two minutes. I'm not sure if this was a problem with the clock or with the directions...I subsequently seem to have gotten it working, but you should be aware than a 30-minute dawn consists of 29 minutes of light at 10% brightness (which is still rather harsh first thing in the morning) and then a 1-minute ramp up to 100% brightness. The clock does not allow a sunrise of less than 30 minutes. The sunset feature does seem to ramp down more evenly from 100% to dark in the set time.
Customer Review: This works GREAT for me!
Summary: 5 Stars
I identified myself as suffering from SAD over 15 years ago. After consultation with a psychopharmacologist and use of antidepressants for a period of time he suggested I try light therapy during the winter. That was the answer for me. I have used the large light boxes one must sit in front of for 30-60 minutes each morning for years but still wished it was easier to get up in the morning during the dark winter months. I bought this lamp solely for its dawn simulation aspect. It took me a few attempts to understand the directions for the dawn simulation but have been using it since October and it has been wonderful. I have it sitting in front of my east facing bedroom window about 5 feet from my bed with the light pointed directly at the bed-- not the typical lamp stance. It bathes my room with light gradually over a 30 minute period. As reaches its full intensity it has a gentle 'tweet' sound for the alarm. Several mornings I awoke thinking truly the sun was coming in the window -- but alas, no, it is still winter! It is easy to adjust the time of day the simulation occurs, or turn it off completely, as I like to sleep later than 6am on the weekends. I give this a 5 star rating. It is an EXCELLENT dawn simulator doing for me exactly what I had hoped it would. Take it from someone who has dealt with SAD for years and used a variety of products to help alleviate the symptoms.