With ageing comes challenges.  Especially with our eyesight.  Am I right or what?

My own experience was the not-so-pleasant gift of cataracts.  It was especially challenging for me simply because I was in denial.  My eyesight, albeit bad to begin with, was getting progressively worse—and rather quickly.  I blamed poor office lighting, people using their bright headlights, mother nature for making the day sky too bright and the night sky too dark.

Frankly, Cataract surgery changed my life–definitely for the better!

It wasn’t until I went to the Ophthalmologist that I was faced with the truth. I had not only one cataract in each eye but had two.  One in front of my lens and one behind.  But the worst was when my doctor told me it happens with age.  I couldn’t handle that—age hasn’t made me less shallow!

But it’s a fact. Our eyesight changes as we age.  A number of people not needing eye glasses when they were younger, now are in need of prescription lenses.  Many develop cataracts.  Others develop conditions such as presbyopia, glaucoma, dry eyes and age-related macular degeneration. Yeah. It stinks but that’s the ageing process for ya!

Eye drops and medication for eyes often becomes the new normal!

Luckily, though, I had the surgery and my eyes are better than ever.  However, I do need to take care of my eyes.  These days I wear blue-light readers whilst working on my work and home computer.  I use eyedrops to keep my eyes hydrated and on doctor’s orders, religiously wash my eyelids with baby shampoo every evening.

My blue-light friendly eyeglass wardrobe has expanded!

Good lighting is also paramount. Honestly—it is.  I can think back to childhood and my parents constantly nagging me to read in better light.  Little did I realize my parents were right!   So, you can just imagine my surprise when the folds at BenQ, reached out to me to try their e-Reading desk lamp!  I jumped at the opportunity and waited for this lamp to be delivered.

From the BenQ website

Here’s how it rolled:

First of all, the lamp was delivered quickly after I agreed to review.  Considering how the postal service is these days, I was impressed.

This large package arrived in due time!

The packaging:  The lamp was shipped all the way from Taiwan and I was a bit concerned about the packaging.  My fears were put to rest upon opening the large box.  Every component of the lamp was packaged securely in Styrofoam and wrapped in sheer cling wrap.

In the box, the lamp was housed in styrofoam..

…and components wrapped in cling wrap.  The lamp was sent extremely secured so nothing would be broken!

My next fear was how to put this together.  I’m not particularly astute in assembling any sort of household good or furniture and I thought this would be no exception.  Again, fears were put to rest with easy-to-follow visual directions!  Honestly, have no fear of complicated instruction. This was easy-peasy, lemon squeezy to put together.  I used the little wrench that came with the packaging and it took less than five minutes to assemble.

A quick-start guide was included as well as a small wrench for assembly.

With the pieces of the lamp on the floor, and instruction, along with the little wrench, I was able to assemble the lamp in record time!

Another attribute of this lamp is the fact that the base is a good solid weight.   It won’t topple over with any surprise movement but isn’t so heavy that you cannot transport it up and downstairs from room to room.  Don’t transport it while barefoot though because if you drop it, you can run the risk of a bruise or worse.

I especially liked the visuals illustrating the importance of using the wrench to tighten the arm into the base so it won’t fall off and hurt your foot!

Performance.

This performs so well! First of all, the arm of the lamp is adjustable and allows you to custom-fit the lamp to your needs.  When I’m on my computer, I lower it so that the curved lighting area is placed over the length of my laptop.  It can be adjusted higher or as low as you need.

You can adjust the lamp to your desired height. Another plus is the generous sizing of the base.  It stays put!

My preference is having the light lowered to hover over my laptop! (And yes, my grandson is my laptop wallpaper!)

The lamp’s light literally covers the length of the laptop or computer. 

You can also adjust the lighting from a warmer yellow lighting to a cooler blue lighting.  In fact, there’s an icon you can touch with your finger to adjust.

Warmer lighting or cooler lighting?  You have the option!

Warmer for reading, cooler for computer!  It’s foolproof!  Just a touch of the book or screen icons will adjust for you!

The button at the top of the lamp also allows you to adjust the lighting and with a light touch can be turned on and off.

A light touch is all you need to turn on and off!

And in true LED fashion, will last forever. No bulbs to change!

No changing lightbulbs with this LED lamp!

The coverage of this slender lamp is incredible. There is no area left untouched when you’re working on your computer.  There’s no glare given off by the lamp so your eyesight won’t be strained nor will your eyes be fatigued. It’s all good and I prefer using this to overhead lighting or a smaller lamp.

The lamp covers over the top length of your workspace.  No glare either!

Used as a reading lamp, it’s just as good.  It’s very easy to carry it over from my work area to my sunroom for some pleasurable reading.

Easily transportable from room to room.  I can sit comfortably in the corner of  the loveseat in our sunroom and enjoy the pleasure of a book and good lighting!

The price?   The list price is $229 and can be found on Amazon.  Although it might seem pricey, the lamp is well-worth the money spent.  It is solid. It is well-constructed. The adjustable arm is user-friendly.  The lighting it gives off is well-needed and a must-have for those of us with ageing eyes.  At this juncture in our lives, we might purchase less “stuff” but what we do purchase can be money well-spent.

Definitely worth the price!

And if you are a grandparent of a child in school who happens to be visiting you or spending time with you, this light is great for their study and school time.

Overall, I’m impressed with this.  I use it every time I’m on my home laptop, which is practically every day.  Since I’m now working from home once a week, it will be used while working.   Eyesight is a gift—and almost losing it to cataracts was a big scare for me—I’m now taking very good care of my eyes and this e-Reading lamp from BenQ is assisting in that care!

As a proponent of Senior Class Wellness, I highly recommend this e-reading lamp to my friends of our demographic!  Especially with the challenges of ageing eyesight!