What A Difference Fifty Years Makes: As a long-time photographer, lighting is obviously important to me, for both creating and evaluating work. In the case of the latter, good, reliable lighting is critical for for judging color balance and contrast in print output. It also helps that this level of quality lighting is good for working in general, and easier on the eyes when set up correctly.I've been using an ancient Luxo draftsman's task light (the big brother of Luxo Jr. of Pixar fame) which was old and worn around the edges when I got hold of it for a fraction of its not-inconsiderable price: they've never been cheap, and for a reason: they're built like the proverbial brick outhouse, and can take assorted knocks, which mine clearly did before reaching my hands. But nothing lasts forever, and in spite of having a fairly cushy life bolted to my work desk for years on end, it started showing signs of imminent failure. So I started looking for a replacement, and getting a good look at what good-but-not-crazy-pricey task lighting looks like in 2025. To say the least, there's a *lot* to choose from out there, with many innovative designs, mostly at non-eye-watering prices (at least for the moment, if you get my drift). I picked this Syrinx model from the bunch, and found lots to like right off the bat:- Ease of Installation: The box that landed on my doorstep was fairly modest in size and weight; everything was packed reasonably well. The lamp assembly itself was a one-piece affair, from base-clamp to lamp head(s), with only the power adapter and cable a separate component. As lightweight as the assembly is, nothing felt flimsy. The lower half of the lamp support is rigid, while the upper half is a flexible gooseneck affair, sheathed in a flexible but sturdy-feeling and sleek-looking tubing.- Versatile Controls: The inline control panel provides on/off control, as well as five levels of color-temperature and ten levels of light intensity. I had initial concerns about the latter two, since there was no specific mention of color-temp range beyond coolest (about 6000K) and warmest (roughly 3000K). Luckily, I have a calibrated colorimeter, and, for those of you interested, I measured 5500K and 4450K respectively for the coolest and second-coolest settings. As for intensity, this thing *does* get seriously bright. Light quality is even in dispersion. There's also a timer function that automatically shuts the lamp off after 15 or 30 minutes, if desired.- Flexible Placement: Besides the upper-half gooseneck allowing one to aim the light where needed, the heads themselves can be pivoted into a V-shape to extend light farther forward – handy for bringing light over a multi-tiered work desk like mine.- Ease of On/Off Switching: This sounds like a party trick, but it's handier than you might think: While I was able to place the inline control, via hook-and-loop fastener (i.e. Velcro) in a semi-convenient spot on my desk, it's still not the easiest spot to be constantly reacihing to. But if all you want to do is switch the lamp on or off, you don't have to: just wave your hand a few inches above the center of the lamp, and it switches on or off.- How It Looks: Compared to mi old lighting setup, there's almost nothing to look at: it's svelte and simple, no complaints there.Since I've only just set this thing up today, how it holds up to long-term use remains to be seen. But, for the moment, recommended.