Beam n Read LED 103M Hands-Free Crafts Light; Wide & Bright Light from 3 LEDs

Okay, even though this is something that someone much older than me usually wears, my eyes are terrible...and I love to do needlework.The pros:It's portable. It doesn't need to plug into the wall, although it does have a port for an AC/DC adapter that you can buy separately. The instructions tell you what kind to get. Otherwise, it takes 4 AA batteries.The neck strap is adjustable and made from elastic. It's comfortable to wear.It folds up nicely if you need to pack it for traveling. Doesn't take up much space.Comes with 3 different magnifying lenses, each in their own protective pouch.The cons:One HUGE con, actually...The magnifying lenses have thin wavy lines across them. I have no idea why, but I can SEE them as I'm looking through the magnifier and they mess with my eyes. I'm trying to focus on my needlework and my eyes keep trying to focus on the lines in the lens. I'm extremely disappointed about this, since I believe the Beam N Read is the only product like this.I'm going to try and get used to it, but it would be much much better if they weren't there at all. I see no reason to have them there (they're textured like something that's meant for keeping fingerprints off...but that's what window cleaner is for).

second light that I bought - it works so well I put one in the car to read with while driving back and forth to work as a passenger (long dark winter days)

Extremely disappointed - the image through the lens is blurry. The lens has concentric ridges and grooves on the surface, which diffuse the eye focus. Yes you still see the letters and you do see them larger, just not as bright and not sharp at all. It does magnify, but it does not help you see better. I tried to do both reading and crossstitching - was not able to to either.

I thought this would help with my needlepoint. However, I found the lenses very difficult to manipulate and they do not really help.

Beam N Read LED 103M Hands Free Crafts Light ; Wide & Bright Light from 3 LEDs This item comes with 3 magnifying lenses. This was not included in the description, so I ordered an additional magnifier that was not needed. The light is not as bright as I would prefer, but it may be adequate for hand sewing while watching TV/Movies. I've found it acceptable for reading the newspaper in a darkened room as well, but it does not work too well for reading a book because the light/magnifier needs to be moved while reading to fully highlight the page. Holding the book and manipulating the light with the other hand is awkward. The neck strap is elastic and adjustable and I really like that. The lens holder operates on a hinge and offers several adjustment positions and the light also is hinged to provide comfortable positioning. The magnifier can also be used without the light. I believe that this is the best product available for hand work and I would recommend this to a friend.

I bought the  Beam N Read LED 103M Hands Free Crafts Light; Wide & Bright Light from 3 LEDs plus 3 Clip-on Fresnel Magnifiers  to help me complete a large cross-stitch project. When I took it out of the box I was impressed as it seems to be well thought out and constructed nicely. It puts out the perfect amount of light for what I need but I wish it was more adjustable, simply shortening the length of the strap puts the light exactly where I need it but being far sighted I simply can't see that close up. Though the Fresnel magnifiers do magnify, I find their circular pattern very distracting. I had hoped by simply focusing on my project several inches beyond the magnifier it would not be a problem.I still think it's a nice product, just doesn't work for me very well anatomically. I do look forward to taking it with me when I travel because hotel rooms seldom have sufficient light for close work, I'll just leave the magnifiers at home.

I often knit in the evening and find it difficult to see - especially with dark yarn. This light works really well. I highly recommend it.

The Beam N Read seemed like such a good idea, but it really isn't much help for me doing cross stitch. It doesn't hang right, I have to put myself in an uncomfortable position to get the light to shine in the right spot. The magnifying screens are difficult to use. It may be my vision rather than a problem with the magnifiers, but I find them very difficult to focus while using them. I'm going to keep trying to make this work for me, but I am disappointed.