Worth the dough - yes or no? Thanks for any info.

They sell knock offs now, same lighting less than 1/2 the price of Ott :wink:

where can you find the knock offs? ( which stores)

Try WalMart. I've seen them in the larger stores. I have 2. One is floor stand. Keep it poised over my sewing machine while piecing. Then, move it beside my chair when I'm finishing off by hand. Second one sits on table with light and magnifying glass. Can't do without it when doing cross stitch. Both were well worth the money.

I bought a small Ott from Michaels that clamps on to the couchside table I use for cross stitching, but the second time I clamped it on the bottom cracked! Most of it is plastic and for the price of it ($80 CDN regular though I paid $30 on special), I would not buy another Ott. I would like to get a floor lamp for my X-stitch but will look for a regular one and just put a daylight bulb in it.
Evelyn

I agree that OTT is too expensive. The bulbs are nice however the rest of the components fall apart far too easily. I have one OTT lamp, and it is okay. I would not be happy with it however if I had spent over $20. It was door buster special at Joann's.

Not long ago I added two more florescent lamps that I found at Ikea for $20 which are a better IMO and I LOVE them. The Arm as well as the Head are adjustable. Since the head rotates and swivels, which my OTT does not, I can pull the arm down, rotate the head and point it right into the bobbin area when cleaning there. I love that it clamps to my table and therefore doesn't use up any space on the table top.

Here's a link to the type I got:
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/10018561

I have a floor lamp that sits behind the chair I do hand work in. It has a second lamp that can be positioned anyway. That's the one I use.

I just got a Daylight Floor Lamp - so worth it, it has made so much difference I wish I had got one a long time ago. Cant compare with what you can all get in the US, but not so much choice for us in Europe!

I have two Ott's - one a table light and the other a floor light. And yesterday I bought a knock off at Home Depot for $20. It is the light for my cutting table as the one there quit working. Looks like the same light bulb as the Ott ones. I too move my floor one around to provide more light when I need it. It has a nice long cord, so I do not have to unplug it.

I have two of the knock off Ott lights that are floor lamps, one is Verolux and I think the other is Happy Eyes. I also have a small portable Ott light.

I don't think the Ott are any better than the knock offs.

The reason I have two floor lamps is I purchased one for my Dad. The lampss give off wonderful light and they do not get hot at all to the touch. I was always afraid of him burning himself on the bulf in a regular lamp. When he passed away I rreclaimed the lamp and have one by my chain and one by my sewing machine.

Barb

I have an Ott and love it. My only complaint is that the base is not very heavy so it tends to topple over at times. But the difference it makes for ease of seeing things, especially dark fabrics, makes it a very valuable too.

Try a local metal shop for a piece of heavy sheet metal the size of your base. Glue it on, and then glue on a piece of felt to protect your table. It shouldn't easily tip over any more :wink:

I have the Ott desk lamp and haven't tried the other brands. All I know is my Ott lamp is over 10 years old and the bulb hasn't burned out. It's been dropped several times and still works like new. I take it to classes so it's been tossed in a tote a lot. I couldn't sew at night without it. I have a back up bulb, bought when I bought the lamp.

I've got 2 Ott floor lamps that I've had for over 8 yrs. (One was for our RV that we spent winters in searching for warm weather) and I have an Ott flip-type table lamp also. I love them..have used them extensively and still haven't had to replace the bulb. Hubby "stole" the Ott floor lamp that I had between my cutting table and sewing machine for his stained glass work, so I've been on the web to see who has them on sale now. Reading current reviews, I decided to use an old 3-way bulb floor lamp. Check reviews before buying. It seems that one out of about 5 reviews are favorable, the rest are not. Don't spend your money until you are sure. I still love mine, but I hesitate to buy a new one.

Hancock's sells the knock offs for $19.99 on sale. I see no difference. GG

I had trouble with my ott lamps about 3 years ago, I wanted to get them fixed because they were hit by lighting, not fixable, the transformers were somewhere untouchable, I was furious, $350 down the drain. I refuse to do business with them, I now have the knock offs, if it breaks and can't be fixed, I will just buy another knockoff.
Also, I purchased the full spectrum 48" tube bulbs for my ceiling ballasts lights in my studio - fantastic! I highly recomend. they lasted 9 years before I replaced them.