Uplift Technologies DL930 Day-Light 10,000 Lux SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) Lamp
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Customer Reviews of Uplift Technologies DL930 Day-Light 10,000 Lux SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) Lamp
Customer Review: Essential for students! Works faster than Wellbutrin!
Summary: 5 Stars
I live in Minnesota where it's winter about 65% of the year. A lot of cold, dark mornings where your alarm goes off and you want to stay in a warm snuggly bed because there's not a shred of sunlight to be found. I've struggled with wakefulness and SAD for the past few years, and decided, hey I could use a little piece of on-demand simulated sunlight!
This is one of the best purchases I've made for myself in a long time, and I wish I got it sooner. I've been operating with my brain sleepy for so many semesters, I forgot what it was like to be awake, well-rested and active. In nursing school it's easy to wake up tired, be tired all day and then go to bed really tired, hoping that you'll feel rested in the morning to follow. For the first time in 4 years, I have experienced an end to that tiredness cycle. Get this lamp if you feel tired all the damn time! It's also one of the best studying lights I've ever used (I put it on the dim setting and point the lamp parallel to my desk over my book).
I felt profound and significant effects right away, from the moment I turned my lamp on. It's now part of my morning routine, and I am phasing out my dosage of Wellbutrin.
EDIT on 1/20/2010
I have found additional uses for this lamp. It helps keep my basil plants alive all year round and can be used to stimulate little seedlings to sprout. It is also a great light for making webcam vlogs video chats. No more looking like a zombie with the light of your monitor reflecting off of the shiny parts of your face and eyes. Helps to make you look more professional and less nerd-in-a-basement on camera.
By far, the most awesome use I have had for this lamp is that it is a great makeup/vanity lamp. Simply sit at your desk with this lamp and set up a mirror and BAM you have simulated sunlight that helps you visualize clogged pores, hairs to tweeze and can help you get the right shade of foundation on. I learned the hard way that using the dim vanity in the bathroom could lead to disastrous results. Sitting at a desk with my makeup tools around beats hovering over the bathroom sink and occasionally knocking my stuff off the counter edge.
You simply see things better with this light. I've used it while sketching, crafting etc. It's everything an OTT light is, and more. I highly recommend this lightbox. Not only does it simulate a natural spectrum of light, it also helps visualize colors accurately without any shifts in color that comes with incandescent bulbs. My eyes do not feel as fatigued because they're not straining to make out precise details. A sewer/crafter's delight!
Customer Review: Appears to be helping to lift mood.-IT REALLY WORKS!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
I have to admit- I was a bit skeptical about purchasing anything like this product. I have a few friends that have used this type of product with great success, but I wondered if it was just wishful thinking on their behalf.
After having such a rainy summer and now we are back to the dismal winter season, I finally decided to give this idea a try. I researched a few products on the internet and this one became my choice to see if there is anything to this.
And it appears there is.
After setting this up- (and yes, it's helpful to have a 2nd set of hands to do this, as the legs are a just a tad woobley during the set up) right by my computer, where I start off each morning- I'm finding that the 30 mins fly by and the brightness of this light is very welcoming, and I look forward to using it, whereas, mornings used to be such a production to get up and started.
It's too soon to tell the overall effect- but I have to admit, subtle as the changes are, I'm waking up easier.
I'm hoping that this actually may help with resetting my circadian clock which is also mentioned to be effective for as well. The other issues this light has been recommended for are PMS and Antepartum Blues, Jet lag, Shift work adjustment along with non seasonal mood disorders.
This unit comes with a very detailed and easy to understand guide- complete with photos to show correct ways to set up the light and how to use it properly.
I haven't noticed any unusual or disturbing odors from the bulbs- other than the initial start up on the 1st day and that quickly went away.
It will be interesting to see in a few weeks if the initial improvements that I am experiencing, continue to increase and this puts my skepticism to rest, once and for all!
Definitely worth the try.
UPDATED REVIEW-(2/14/2010) I definitely will keep this a 5 star rating- This really works well. I have been using it for less than a month and I use it every morning for 25-30 mins. This has been a pretty bleak winter overall, and I feel way better and have more energy than prior to using this light. I have recommended this to my other "unfortunate" friends who see very little sun during our winter months. I find I am getting more done through the day and my mood is way better than the usual blah slump I would find myself in previous years by this month!
One minor thing I hope they improve upon is a stronger material for the legs, this has not toppled, but I can see that if you aren't careful, it could happen.
Customer Review: Seems to help
Summary: 4 Stars
This was my Christmas present this year. I actually bought it a few weeks before Christmas b/c it seems Christmas time is always extra stressful. This was by far the least stressed I have been at Christmas time. I am usually up for nights and can't sleep. But, this year I really passed through December as if it were just another month. I can't say whether the lamp works or if I believe the lamp works. As my husband says, it doesn't matter as long as it helps.
It does have a small slight smell as the plastic warms up and the light has been on for a while. I am one of those unusually sensitive people who can smell when milk goes bad from across the street. But, I have to say, the smell is not strong and most people would truly not ever smell it. I think that is why there is such differences in the reviews. Some people are very acute and do smell the slight odor and the normal joe would never pick up on it. Also, as a sensitive migrain sufferer the day that I did my light treatment and then went to see Disney On Ice in combo put my eyes and senses into over drive and I got a major migrain. My eyes felt like I had burned them and in my head I carried around the halo of the sun lamp. I think I was to blame. I believe I got too close to the lamp while I was reading and it really hurt me. I laid on the floor with a book and read up by the light - also on the floor without its' legs. You really do need to stay 12 inches away from the light. I called the company the next day to see if I could have the light shine on my back instead of my face (to avoid hurting my eyes any more) and they said that the light has to come in through my eyes. Also, I asked about UV and whether this was the same sun waves that cause skin cancer or skin damage and they said the UVs' are filtered out. I just thought I would pass that along since it isn't in the thin manual.
I do recommend this product. It really did make a difference so far this Winter. By reading many reviews (for a year - since last pre-Christmas) before finally chosing this product I think I made a good choice. Just follow the guidelines of doing your 30 minutes in the morning as early as possible. Stay 12inches away. Don't look directly into the light. Try not to skip days. Look at the manual for the actual photos that show 'the wrong way to sit' and 'the right way to sit' when using the light. I don't always read the manual; but this item really requires you to. Good luck and enjoy.
Customer Review: Happy and Sleeping in Portland because of this SAD lamp
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought this lamp three months ago, use it for the recommended 30 minutes in the morning at the high setting, and following the manufacturer's instructions (ie. close enough to my face, tilted down slightly, etc... ) and I can honestly say that I have absolutely zero symptoms of SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) - a syndrome I did not even know I had until I moved up from LA to Portland last January, naively looking forward to a little gloomy weather after all the unrelenting sunshine of the Southland (I'm a writer). Around late February, though, I started having severe and unexpected symptoms - extreme tiredness (I wanted to go to sleep at 4 in the afternoon!), depression, inability to sleep normally, the whole spectrum of symptoms I now realized was undiagnosed SAD. Sad to say, I suffered through an entire Portland winter and spring unnecessarily. Finally, this fall I bought the "daylight" and it rocked my world! It started working almost immediately! In three to four days, I started feeling better - and with consistent use, within a week, I was absolutely symptom-free! What's also worth noting is that if I skip a day (only when it's grey outside - obviously real sun trumps the lamp: so go outside and soak it up if you've got it!), I start to feel sluggish and cranky almost immediately - apparently, friends can tell when I haven't had my 'lamp time."
On a more pragmatic note, I searched around the internet for the best 10,000 lux lamp (the minimum you need to really get good results) and, at this writing, Amazon still offers the lowest price at $137.00. It is sturdily made, the legs twist on and off for easy assembly - and they don't raise an eyebrow at airport security (I travelled with my SAD lamp to Berkeley this Christmas and packed it in my carry on) - although it is a little awkward, and I'm thinking of getting a travel size for future trips.
All in all, this lamp gets an A plus in my book. There are more high-tech, pricier models out there with other bells and whistles, but If you've never used a SAD lamp before, and want a good, basic model that delivers the light in the intensity that you need to beat the winter blues -- this is the best one for the price by far.
Customer Review: Decent product with some flaws
Summary: 3 Stars
I am not going to write a long review of this product, suffice it to say that it has certain good points and bad points:
The good:
- I like the overall engineering of the product. For its size, it cranks out a ton of light (it has three 36w bulbs inside). You can stand it up on a table using the flip stand on the back, or you can attach the legs to raise it up. It is also very compact, visually appealing, and solidly built.
The bad:
- As others have commented, this light exudes the smell of burning plastic, no doubt because the back gets so incredibly hot. This smell fills the room and wafts throughout the house and is hard to get rid of. It has not abated at all in the week or so that I have been using this light, and it pretty objectionable.
- It uses 4000k bulbs and as a result casts a slightly warm yellowish light that does not really resemble sunlight. I know that recent studies have shown that light intensity may be more important than color temperature, but since the manufacturer has designed this light so that you are to work, read, etc directly under it, the 4000k bulbs give pretty poor color rendition. When you compare this light side by side to a one that uses higher color temperature bulbs, you really see how yellow it is. I can't understand why the manufacturer chose 4000k bulbs, but I personally prefer light that "looks" more like natural sunlight...i.e. in the 5000k+ range and there are other boxes that do this (like the UltraLux). On a dreary winter day 5000k+ light really feels like natural sunlight. Not so with this box unfortunately, though it may still be therapeutic.
Overall although I like the design, high output, looks and portability, I would not purchase one of these again. The nasty smell and lack of daylight spectrum bulbs detract too much from the product as a whole. I should have given it two stars, but I seem to be unable to go back and edit that field.