Fulcrum or Great Point? A Comparison

The power in my house goes out on a regular basis so I finally figured out that maybe getting a book light or two would be a worthwhile investment. After reading the reviews I decided to get both a Great Point Light-Flex-Neck and a Multi Flex from Fulcrum. Each has its pluses and minuses and which one is better for you depends on what you want to use it for.



The Fulcrum light is brighter than the Great Point and covers a larger area. The switch is also much easier to use since it slides. On the Great Point the top presses down and it's hard to get it to stay on. Sometimes it switches off for no apparent reason. It's either a poor design or I got a defective unit. The Fulcrum also takes 3 AAA batteries which fit into the base making it both heavier (about 2 1/2 ounces compared to about 1 1/2 ounces for the Great Point) and as a result making the clip a lot bulkier as well. The Great takes lithium batteries much lighter but also harder to find.



The Fulcrum is too heavy and too bulky to make it easy to attach to a paperback and if you want to attach it to any book and hold the book up to read it gets heavy very quickly. Its brighter light and greater weight and area make it a good choice for when you want to set a larger and heavier book on a table or for attaching to a very sturdy and prominent back rest plus the easy availability of AAA batteries means you probably have a spare set around when the ones in the Fulcrum run out or at least you can grab replacements at the grocery store. The Great Point is better if you want to attach it to a book you are holding up to read or to a paperback or for when you want a little less light so as not to disturb a partner in bed. In any event since they are both better than reading by candlelight both suit my needs but one or the other is probably going to be better for most people depending on what you want. Or spring for both so you always have a spare. At this price you could just about afford one for every room.More detail ...

These Bags are NOT Biodegradeable

When this arrived I noticed in tiny print that it said they were 100% biodegradable *except as defined by California. Suspecting I had been cheated I looked it up. California defines biodegradable as being able to degrade at the rate of an apple with NO plastic bits left behind. In all other states there is NO definition of what biodegradable is and so manufactures can consider all and any plastic bag biodegradable if they wanted cause plastic will eventually degrade...after about a million years. IF you really want a bag that IS 100% biodegradable then visit poopbags.com These bags are made with corn and will degrade at the rate of an apple.More detail ...

Clean efficiency in a white box

This is an excellent high-efficiency budget air conditioner for small to medium sized rooms. The fan speed is adjustable so that the unit can push cold air further into a room at higher speed.



I really like all the options available in the controls. You can have it run as long as you want or you can set it to run on an internal timer or according to an internal thermostat.



The on/off button is easy to use and the whole control panel responds well to presses. I don't feel ignored by this control panel.



In addition to setting the fan speed you can set the thermostat from 60 up to 90 or you can set the unit to run the fan only without cooling the air.



Also there is an energy efficient mode which turns off the cooling system when the thermostat reads the right temperature but the fan keeps running for 3 minutes to continue moving air over the inactive but still-cold compressor. Then at 10 minute intervals the fan turns on for another 3 minutes and continues like that until the temperature goes high enough to activate the compressor again.



There is Clean Air button that turns on a little electric air purifier in the unit. A good bonus for allergy sufferers which I keep on all the time.



There is a sleep button that works with the thermostat settings. When the sleep button is pressed the unit continues operating. 30 minutes later the thermostat is set 2 degrees higher. 30 minutes after that again it is set another 2 degrees higher so it is more efficient while you sleep. The unit will then operate with the thermostat at that higher level for 7 hours and then turn off sleep mode automatically returning to the original thermostat setting before the sleep button was pressed. I don't know anyone who sleeps a full 8 hours so the sleep mode can be deactivated with the press of the button.



The unit reminds you when to change the filter by turning on a light. The reusable filter can be rinsed clean and the button under the filter light can be pushed to reset the timer which runs for 250 hours of operation before lighting again.



There are two control features that I don't like so well.



First there is the mode selection button which controls which of the three modes you are in: "Cool" "Energy Saver" and "Fan Only". I would have preferred two buttons to go up or down the list instead of only down. It's a minor pet peeve for me.



Second I think the controls beep too loud when pressed and I don't think there is a way to adjust volume.



Another thing I dislike is how the timer can only be set in half-hour increments up to 10 hours and then 1 hour increments up to 24 hours. I would have liked to select smaller time slices like 10 minute intervals. That makes it a longer process to program the timer but gives me more control. However since I normally use the thermostat mode this is not really an issue for me anyway.



Be careful about putting furniture directly in front of the plug. The plug itself looks good and the cord comes out the bottom but the reset and test buttons are not placed deeply enough into the plug box so they can be accidentally pushed. This may turn off your unit and the instructions say not to use the test and reset buttons to control the operation of the unit.



The unit seems to generate an average amount of sound. It does not sound any louder or quieter than an average air conditioner.More detail ...

Handicapped version of BC900

Just in case you were looking for the La Crosse Technology BC-900 AlphaPower Battery Charger: please be advised that ths is NOT the same charger.



Except for the color the BC700 looks exactly the same as the better-known BC900. However it is actually a "handicapped" version of the old charger. Its charging current can only go up to 700mA in three steps (200/500/700). The BC900 on the other hand can go up to 1000mA for 4 cells or 1800mA for 2 cells. Also the BC900 package includes eight NiMH rechargeable cells (4 AA and 4 AAA) eight C/D cell adaptors and a carrying case. The BC700 does not come with any bonus items.



This is not to say that the BC700 is a bad product. Quite the contrary it is better than any other NiMH AA chargers in the market except for BC900 and Maha MH-C9000. If you can find it at a substantial saving (like maybe 30% off from the price of BC900) it is still a good buy. But as it is right now I recommend getting its older brother instead.



[update on June 13 2008]

Recently the price of BC700 has settled to a level much lower than that of BC900 (partially because the price of BC900 has gone up) so it is now an excellent buy - especially if you intend to buy some low-self-discharge NiMH cells separately. In light of this the criticism in my original review now seems unnecessarily harsh. Too bad I'm not allowed to change the star-rating for this product.



[Update on April 7 2010]

I hope my overly critical review above did not discourage anyone from buying the BC-700. As of this moment it is the best value if you are looking for an advanced battery charger/analyzer. This is because:

- The BC-9009 has been recalled recently due to excessive overheating/meltdown incidents.

- The Powerex WizardOne Battery Charger-Analyzer is more powerful but costs twice as much as the BC-700.

- The newest La Crosse BC500 has severely limited functions compared to the BC-700 (see my review for details) yet it costs more.More detail ...