While this is a wonderful lamp, I do have to be honest about the foolishness of it coming with a fluorescent bulb. After I put it together, I found out that the bulb packed with the lamp was cracked from being crammed into the styrofoam packing with the rest of the lamp. It really was not a good idea, since the bulb cracked when I carefully tried to open the packaging around the bulb. I didn't even get that far in the process before I heard that awful cracking sound.

This is a very crucial point to make because of the mercury powder inside the bulb. I had to carefully put the bulb--still in its packaging--in a plastic bag and put it in my storage area because I did not want my kid inhaling this very toxic material. (I'll have to take it to the solid waste management service in my town to safely dispose of this hazardous waste tomorrow morning.)

Whatever you do, err on the side of caution and go to a local hardware store to get the replacement bulb rather than order it online. It's much safer that way, especially with the whole interstate shipping process. Were it not for this one important issue, I'd give this lamp a five-star rating. It is really a nice bit of hardware, especially when it's put together according to the instructions. It's good to have actual written assembly instructions instead of some cheap drawings with arrows to tell you what to do. Everything works just the way it's supposed to (that is, once I went to a local home improvement store and bought a couple of bulbs, just in case).

Apart from the caveats I mentioned, this is a wonderful product and would recommend it to my friends...with the proper cautions, of course.

Lamp appears to be nearly perfect for my application, but my Amazon purchase arrived with a minor but fatal manufacturing flaw: Although the assembly directions for the pole sections stress caution against cross-threading, one of the sockets itself was already cross-threaded so that the assembled pole was not straight. Return to Amazon was simple and quick, but the replacement lamp suffered from the same flaw. The second return was equally expeditious, but Amazon was unwilling to send a third. The base is very heavy, and postage must be considerable.
At this writing, Amazon only makes this item available from a 3rd party at more than twice the cost after shipping.

I ordered this product from Amazon a few weeks ago to replace the old halogen torchiere lamp I had in the living room for more than a decade. Even though I selected free shipping, the package arrived promptly and in perfect condition. It took about 15 minutes to unwrap and assemble by myself. The lamp parts were very carefully packed at the factory so everything inside, including the glass bowl, was in perfect shape. The light itself gives out a white glow rather than the hallogen's yellow glow I was used to, but it lighten's up the room just about the same while costing less to run. One thing, though, the lamp doesn't "warm up" immediately, you have to wait 2 or 3 seconds to get the full power, but that is not a problem for me, so I'm pretty much happy with my purchase. If you're just looking for a basic lamp to light up a room, this is it.

This lamp look and works great! I can not belive a lamp of this quality could be around fifty bucks. The shade is made of real glass and the light illuminates the whole room which is about 22 ft by 18 ft wide. The light also dimmer switch wich is pretty cool because you can make the room ligher or darker if you wish.

This lamp was a great buy. It's attractive, plus good quality. The base is nice and heavy. The lighting goes from dim to high. The off/on switch can be reached while sitting. The only problem I can see might be purchasing a replacement bulb. I saved the information about the bulb because I may have to order one from one of those specialty bulb places on the internet. Worth it to me.