M-Edge e-Luminator Touch
Lights up e-books. Lights up books too
Accessory of the Week The Kindle may have a screen that works well in bright light, but the quid pro quo is poor visibility in the dark. No backlight, you see.
Enter M-Edge's e-Luminator Touch, a tiny angle-poise lamp for e-book readers - and paper books too.
The bottom end of the accessory is built like one of those clip-over-the-page bookmarks, but it also slips into slots in M-Edge's Kindle cases. I tried out it with the company's zippered Latitude Remix jacket. I also gaffer-taped it to the back of the Kindle, which is a handy alternative to buying a case from a specific vendor, or if you don't want a case at all.
Unlike Belkin's bulky eBook Light, the M-Edge is slim, feather-light and powered by a single AAA battery. A touch-sensitive key above the LED lamp cycles through turning the light on, three brightness levels, and off again, so you can find the level of illumination you like best.
Works with books and mags too
The light pivots relative to the bookmark clip. That and the bendy-but-holds-its-position stalk on which the LED is mounted, means you can pretty much position the light where you want it.
The beam is nicely focused to fill the screen, but doesn't go beyond the it, so it shouldn't disturb folk next to you trying to get some kip.
As for the case itself, it has a USP too: a built-in stand that's ratcheted to prevent slippage and able to rotate to your Kindle can be mounted in portrait or landscape views.
The case mounts the Kindle in an X-shaped plastic clip, which adds to the bulk, especially if you fold other the side right back behind the Kindle. The upside is that it's easy to get the Kindle in and out if, say, you only want to use the case when travelling.
It's a nice looking case, but personally I'd prefer something more folio-like. ®
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M-Edge e-Luminator Touch
M-Edge Latitude Remix
COMMENTS
Re: angle poise
The inner face of the cover is fleece-covered but for the stand, which is inset by a couple off millimetres. Behind the lining, its solid.
Please, at least tell us the 'claimed' colour temperature of the LED.
The CRI would be nice as well, but most of these manufacturers don't publish that and I doubt you're set up to measure it!
A lot of consumer LEDs lamps are an extremely high colour temp (often well over 7000K) and use the blue/yellow metamer.
This is mostly because high colour temp appears brighter to the human eye against normal tungsten/warm white CFL, and the blue/yellow metamer is dirt cheap to make as it's just a blue diode with a yellow phosphor dot - but it's got a very poor CRI (~50) and CQS.
These also tend to be very different colours across the beam as well due to the phosphor deposition.
Good white LEDs use UV or deep blue diodes and a mix of phosphors to give a CRI around 80-90, the better ones also give a decent CQS.
These are available in a wide range of colour temperatures, and most people prefer lower colour temps (eg 3000K, normal tungsten) when relaxing.
For reference, 5600K is generally considered normal 'daylight', though a cloudy sky can take the colour temp up as far as 10,000K
angle poise
The lamp isn't angle poise it's goose neck. The important difference is that the head of an angle poise maintains the same angle as you move it.
How much protection does the case offer to the screen of the kindle?
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