Mighty Bright 44812 HammerHead Book Light, Silver

I bought this for about $20 here on Amazon. Don't pay more than that, there are plenty of sellers for around $16-18 plus shipping. I bought it to use as a music stand light, and it seems that it will work out great for that. I had seen the Mighty Bright Orchestra Light, which is really nice and has 9 LEDs and is supposed to light up 4 pages at a time, but it is almost overkill for a stand light and costs about $40. I was looking for something cheaper. I looked at the Mighty Bright Encore, which has 6 LEDs but otherwise similar to the Orchestra, but even that was $35. The Hammerhead appears to be the same as the Encore except it does not have a lip on the back of it, to keep the light from shining out into the audience I guess, so you'll have to be careful about aiming it so it doesn't shine out there. If there is a real problem with light going where you don't want it, I figured I could put a lip around the back with a piece of gaffer's tape. It doesn't come with a bag or the AC adapter either, which was fine with me because if I'm using a battery operated light it is because there is no AC available. If I had AC I would just use a regular stand light and plug it in. Anyway, it seems plenty bright for two pages at a time, in fact I think some of the time you could use it on the lower setting and it would be bright enough for most situations (there is a high and low light setting, which the switch toggles between the two and off) and I'm sure the batteries will last a lot longer on the lower light setting. At $20 I figured if it doesn't last forever, or I drop and break it, or I leave it on a gig I'm not going to be too upset about it. It takes 3 AAA batteries which are included, and the box that it comes in looks like I can carry it around in it for a while anyway.

I was looking for a light that illuminated both pages of a book and this works great for that. It is so handy now I'm using it with my clipboard for catching up on paperwork while watching tv at night, to avoid the glare from a large floor lamp.It has foam pads on the heavy duty clamp that grip whatever you attach it to and hold well, the arm adjusts readily and stays where you put it. The base is wide and solid enough that you can use this on your desk as a small table lamp, which works great to illuminate a computer keyboard or reading material. It feels very solid and well made. The unit is assembled with tiny screws rather than glued together which to me speaks of quality rather than cost cutting. As others have said, it has two brightness settings that aren't very different, I just use the brightest but if you are trying to avoid disturbing your bedmate the dimmer might assist with that. Seriously though, if that is your primary concern I would suggest finding a smaller light as this is an intensely bright unit. Focused on a page it illuminates the words wonderfully, hold it over your head and it lights up the room.The battery life hasn't been as issue as I don't use it all that much, it is still going strong after a few months use on the batteries that it shipped with. There is an AC adapter available separately should you desire one. I value the portability and cordlessness (is that a word?) of this so I will next invest in rechargeable batteries to replace the disposable ones.

I debated hard between a 2 and a 3 on this. Here's why: This was my THIRD Mighty Bright book light. The prior two developed shorts at the adapter plug.This one looked so COOL, and the wide head actually does solve the problem I have always had with book lights where the light pool is just too small to comfortably read if you are in an otherwise dark room. The Hammerhead spread the light very well across the width of 2 pages of a book; I could see edge-to-edge on both pages without having to move the light. That was AWESOME.Not so awesome was the fact that the second time I turned the light on, it stayed on for about 10 minutes, then blinked off. After it cooled down it came back on; eight minutes later, it went off. YES, ANOTHER SHORT at the adapter. I should note that I am using the official Mighty Bright book light adapter - that's not this problem. The light works if one puts in batteries, but I don't WANT to use batteries, since I was going through a set every day to every other day. (Rechargeables do not last long enough.)So, the Hammerhead has gone back. :-( I spoke with Mighty Bright and they said they were "unaware of the problem", although I have spoken with them and corresponded with them about it in the past. I am sending the two prior book lights to them to demonstrate the issue - thank goodness I'd not thrown them out -- and perhaps someday I'll find a book light that actually LIGHTS a BOOK.I gave this 3 stars because it works with batteries and it is a very cool concept. The light is effective, bright, widely dispersed -- it's just not working for me since I need it to work on the adapter, not consumable batteries. I did have a MB book light that worked beautifully for a decade (plus). IT was appropriated by a former boyfriend... it figures, huh?

My wife and I love our powerful, low-cost Hammerhead light! Its 28 lumens output is triple that of other similar lights. On the 'portable' side of the equation, its AAA's will last eight hours of continuous use at the highest light setting. On the other hand, my primary use will allow me 100,000 hours = 11 years of continuous use. Hmmmm, okay I am not planning binge reading for 11 years. My way of saying that I use the handy AC adapter so that I am always ready to use it sans any need of batteries.I clip my Hammerhead to a metal, circular pen holder which sits just to the right of my PC's keyboard. Now, when I need extra light I just hit the switch and voila! You can see this in the actual photo of my Hammerhead lighting a large calendar on my desk in an otherwise totally dark room. Literally….BRILLIANT!The Hammerhead has an amazing 4.5 star rating from 266 Amazon users. As seen in my photo the Hammerhead will light up any book's full page and not merely a small spot. Too much light, one click reduces the light by (my estimate) 50% making the Hammerhead 'flexible' in so many ways.I guess I can sum it up by saying Hammerhead cost so little and does so much!

Not an expected

Lots of button issues,works 2 times out of five.

Love this light! I use it for cross stitching and it fits nicely on my Q snap frame. It is a bit heavy for that purpose as I hold my work with one hand. Wrist gets tired after a while. But a small price to pay for being able to see what I'm doing! Eats through batteries. I will be buying rechargeable ones.

I've used these lights for years and they're awesome. Fast delivery, comparable pricing.

• Doesn't scratch ebooks• Lasts a long time• Good amount of light, spread over a good area• Not too heavy when clipping on a book