Lamp seems really nice, but I have concerns
I bought one of these lamps in April 2014 directly off the Verilux website.  My mother-in-law has one of these lamps and I was very impressed with it so I decided to get one.  My overall impression at first was that it was a very well designed lamp.  But after I used it for a while I noticed that the plastic tray was very wobbly and tends to work loose, so that I have to tighten it up frequently.  This is very annoying, especially in a lamp that seems well designed otherwise, but I could live with it.  But in March of 2015 the lamp developed a problem where the light began going off regularly while it was still turned on.  I tried a new bulb but it didn't fix the problem.  I also noticed a burning odor when the lamp was turned on.  Then one day I noticed it seemed smokey around the base of the lamp, which was still working, and that the base felt hot.  So I took the plastic plate off the bottom of the lamp to see what the problem was and discovered a plastic box with electronics in it, and the plastic box was partially melted.  I figured this box was probably a ballast resister for the light and checked the Verilux web site to see if a replacement is available, but none is listed.<br /><br />I called Verilux and explained the problem to them.  They looked up my order on their website and said my lamp was still under the 1 year warranty, so they sent me a prepaid label to return the lamp to them so that they could inspect it..  A couple weeks later I received a new lamp at no cost.  If the story ended here the rating would have been at least 4 stars, but I'm still concerned that replacement parts do not seem to be available once the lamp is out of warranty, and these are not off the shelf parts you can buy at a hardware store.  It gets worse.  While unpacking the new lamp I noticed the same burning odor around the base of the new lamp that the old lamp had made, and this was before I had even plugged the lamp in.  So now I've got the new lamp plugged in, and you guessed it - the burning odor has gotten worse, and I've noticed that the base on this lamp also gets noticeably warm after it is on for a while.  I'm not surprised since it smelled pretty bad before I ever turned it on but I am extremely disappointed.  Aside from the very annoying burning electronics odor and the warm base the lamp seems to work OK, at least for now.  I hoped the odor would go away after a few days but it is getting worse with use rather than better.  I've considered sending this lamp back for another replacement but at this point I'm feeling pretty disgusted with this lamp, and with florescent lamps in general.  I'm now taking a close look at LED floor reading lamps to see if there are any that I like.<br /><br />Note that I give Verilux customer service 5 stars for their efforts to fix this problem because they have been excellent to work with.  But having had 2 problem lamps in a row received from the company nearly a year apart, I'm greatly concerned about the quality of the lamp itself.<br /><br />I should also note that at the time I bought my lamp originally I also bought one for my wife and she hasn't had any problems with hers, aside from the plastic tray being kind of flimsy, but I do use my lamp a lot more than she uses hers.<br /><br />Note attached photo showing the melted area of the plastic box and a circuit board with a dark brownish substance on the bottom in the area where the plastic melted.  This is from the first lamp that I returned, and the second lamp is still very new.<br /><br />Conclusion:  What I like:  Customer service at Verilux has been top notch and easy to work with.  The lamp is well weighted and balanced so it is very stable.  The height is adjustable and the neck of the lamp bends so the head of the lamp can be moved around so that it is just perfect.  I like that the lamp has a low and a high setting.  I especially like the cover over the bulb that shields the glare of the lamp and puts the light only where I want it.  The lamp puts out good light for reading or working on detailed projects.  The pole of the lamp is very sturdy and overall the lamp looks attractive.<br /><br />What I don't like:  The flimsy plastic tray is a real disappointment in an otherwise very sturdy and well designed lamp.  I don't like that I'm having the same burning electronics smell in the second lamp that I had with the first lamp, (and the second lamp had the odor before I even plugged it in).  I don't like that the box with the circuit board (ballast resister?) has been such a problem for me yet doesn't seem to be replaceable once the lamp is out of warranty(part seems to be unique to this lamp and is not available on the website, and is hard wired in, not easily removable), as a lamp costing $100 IMHO should be easily repairable with reasonably priced and readily available parts.<br /><br />If Verilux were to fix these issues this would easily be a 5 star product.
Rating: 2 stars