# What's with the illuminator lights?



## fancynancy (Aug 9, 2009)

I love shopping for Kindle covers, especially from m-edge which has been quite prolific these days.  The one thing I'm not understanding are those little lights that attach to the covers that everyone seems to think are so necessary.  I've had my Kindle for about a year or so now and have never found a need for it.  What is it used for?  Just curious.


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## intinst (Dec 23, 2008)

Some people read after turning out the room lights, letting significant others sleep. The book lights don't bother light sleeps as much as the brighter room lights.


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## bkworm8it (Nov 17, 2008)

Or for use when traveling at night in a car and can't have the car light on 

theresam


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## mattskindle (Nov 14, 2009)

reading while in a traveling in a car-I get quesey just thinking of that!


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## Patrizia (Oct 29, 2008)

bkworm I am with you I can't imagine reading in a moving car


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## intinst (Dec 23, 2008)

I do it (when LL is driving, natch) without any trouble. Haven't tried it at night, though.


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## drenee (Nov 11, 2008)

I use mine at night.  Makes it so much easier to switch it off than to turn off the lamp beside the bed.
I've also been in dimly lit rooms in early evening where it came it very useful.  
It's so handy and stores so nicely it's not like taking along an additional item.
deb


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## Patrizia (Oct 29, 2008)

I'm lazy

I use my Iphone Kindle app at night.. that way I can flip through it with one hand while laying on my side.. I wouldn't recommend it for an entire novel but its easier then you think now that they have added the sepia font and it has syncing so I can go where I left off.. just like I can between my Kindles


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## mlewis78 (Apr 19, 2009)

I didn't realize until after I bought a clip on book light that the lights in my living room don't give me good reading light.  So I use it most of the time at home but don't take it with me when I take my kindle out.  I use the clip-on light with my paper books too.


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## F1Wild (Jun 15, 2009)

I've always loved reading bed while Mr. M. sleeps and with a little book light (I use the Mighty Bright, but just won an M-Edge e-luminator) I don't disturb.  It also comes in handy, in a pinch, when you need a tiny little flashlight.


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## austenfiend (Nov 17, 2009)

to all the enablers out there.  I got my m-edge yesterday.  Now I'm thinking that I REALLY need a light to go with it.  I wanted to read last night and my husband doesn't like too many lights on when he watches tv.  I think that will be my next acquisition....


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## Meemo (Oct 27, 2008)

mattskindle said:


> reading while in a traveling in a car-I get quesey just thinking of that!


LOL, and I get queasy thinking about NOT reading on a long trip in the car. BOR-ing! Thank goodness I've never had a problem with it.


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## Patrizia (Oct 29, 2008)

I get motion sick I can't even ride in the back seat.. I can do audio books but if I even try to read in the car I will throw up on my shoes.

As far as the light.. don't be sold on just the Medge light.. any clip light will work with your Kindle


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## Susan in VA (Apr 3, 2009)

Regarding motion sickness: I have never in my life been able to read a book in a moving car, whether front seat or back seat, and even looking at a map for more than a moment makes me queasy. But for some reason I can read on the Kindle just fine. I _think_ it's because of the narrower width of the printed lines, so that my eyes don't move side to side as much. (At least I can't come up with any other reason.)


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## Patrizia (Oct 29, 2008)

not me Susan, there is nothing I can read in the car,, even as a kid I couldn't ride in the back.. but now its even harder, I have a cracked optic nerve in my left eye due to a tumor that crushed it a few years back, so my eyes tend to work independently when I am tired.. also my left eye shuts down when I read.. you can't see it but I guess its my brains way of coping.. it just goes dark.. from a distance.. if I am using just the left eye it goes downhill and it very wobbly when it comes to symbols or letters.. so in a car its not fun as you can imagine


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## Susan in VA (Apr 3, 2009)

No, that definitely doesn't sound like fun!



Patrizia said:


> there is nothing I can read in the car,, even as a kid I couldn't ride in the back.


yep, same here... car trips were Not Happy. (Funny, now I love road trips, the longer the better!)



Patrizia said:


> so my eyes tend to work independently when I am tired..


I understand how that works.... not for a scary reason like yours, but because I have one quite farsighted and one extremely nearsighted. When I get tired they don't cooperate with each other anymore.


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## bkworm8it (Nov 17, 2008)

I can't read in a car either. I finally managed to be able to read on a train if I sit in the right position and not see anything moving outside.

Theresam


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## F1Wild (Jun 15, 2009)

Wow, just reading about this makes me queasy!


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## sebat (Nov 16, 2008)

We once lost power for several days...the book light saved me from boredom at night.  

My husband had to work during that time.  We also discovered that 2 book lights one in each corner of the bathroom vanity was enough light for him to shower and get dressed by.  Worked better than a flash light.


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## sherylb (Oct 27, 2008)

Susan in VA said:


> I understand how that works.... not for a scary reason like yours, but because I have one quite farsighted and one extremely nearsighted. When I get tired they don't cooperate with each other anymore.


Me too! My eye doc hates to see me coming, LOL.  I try to explain to people what my eyesight is like, but just end up handing them my glasses, then they get it. One is almost normal thickness the other is quite thick even with the super duper thin lenses they make now. They don't play well together when I get really tired and/or have had a little too much to drink...then I have to do some creative squinting or just take my glasses off and let the farsighted one take over if I'm watching TV. Of course now with my Kindle I can read without my glasses in a really large font, but too much of that makes me queasy. Also very prone to motion sickness.  My DH and I used to ride a tandem bike and one time I remember I had a new prescription, something that the doc said would make me see the road signs better, and after riding about 2 miles on the back of the tandem I was upchucking in the ditch beside the road because I was motion sick with my new glasses. Good thing I was on a tandem because I was able to get back on and just close my eyes until we got back home!


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## mtcoco (May 2, 2009)

I love my illuminator lights and use a lot 
in bed is the most of time.
we go camping a lot in summer and I read in truck passenger seat with k2 with bigger letters. 
I use illuminator lights when everyone in RV watching movies,,,  I go out side with chair with coffee, k2 with light middle of night I read out side alot when we camping.

I do also read on Treadmil , elliptical machine , staremaster at gym!!!    

Mt


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## Susan in VA (Apr 3, 2009)

sherylb said:


> Me too! My eye doc hates to see me coming, LOL.  I try to explain to people what my eyesight is like, but just end up handing them my glasses, then they get it. One is almost normal thickness the other is quite thick even with the super duper thin lenses they make now.


Unlike the good old days when you had one normal lens and one Coke-bottle lens... and people looked at you funny because to them one of your eyes was magnified and the other wasn't...  Thank goodness for ultralight lenses. (Not a candidate for contacts. )


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## Patrizia (Oct 29, 2008)

Thank goodness for amazing surgeons,.. who went into my head four times and you can't tell at all.. 30 years ago this wouldn't have been possible but the man I had was also a plastics and eye cancer specalist.. I saw some of his before and afters with patients whose eyes had been eaten by cancers.. it was amazing what gifts he has!


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## Susan in VA (Apr 3, 2009)

Eeeeeek, what a scary thing to contemplate!!


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## Dianne (Oct 22, 2009)

I use my illuminator light mainly at nighttime, but have also found it useful when reading during the day if there is not good light in the room.

I also get motion sick and can't read at all in a car. I also can't read on the train or when flying. I have different strength lenses in my glasses for each eye as the astigmatism in my left eye is worse than the right.


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## Richard in W.Orange (Nov 24, 2009)

I can read in the car, but I'm frequently also driving it so that doesn't seem like a good plan.

Strangely enough, the only place I DON'T remember Ann reading when we were kids is "in the car"...hmmm...


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## Flechette (Nov 6, 2009)

Both hubby and I have the lights and use them frequently - much less intrusive for latenight reading!

Just got back from a cruise and found the lights quite helpful in the stateroom ;-}


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## drenee (Nov 11, 2008)

I got the 2.3 update last week.  Now that I can read in landscape mode I like my Illuminator light even better. 
It lights much better.
deb


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## fancynancy (Aug 9, 2009)

Thank you all for responding!  I'm with those who can't read in the car.  In fact, my motion sickness is so bad, I can't even open my eyes if I'm in the back seat.  My husband almost always goes to sleep after I do, and he's not sensitive to light anyway, so I don't really need the illuminator.  But I think he would appreciate if I used one while he's watching TV.  Also, my night table lamp light isn't very bright.  Sounds like it would be easier on my eyes if I had the illuminator.  Does this mean I need a THIRD Kindle case  Oh goody.  I love buying cases.  Okay, which are the best cases to use with the light?


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## Razorhog (Dec 18, 2009)

fancynancy said:


> Thank you all for responding! I'm with those who can't read in the car. In fact, my motion sickness is so bad, I can't even open my eyes if I'm in the back seat. My husband almost always goes to sleep after I do, and he's not sensitive to light anyway, so I don't really need the illuminator. But I think he would appreciate if I used one while he's watching TV. Also, my night table lamp light isn't very bright. Sounds like it would be easier on my eyes if I had the illuminator. Does this mean I need a THIRD Kindle case Oh goody. I love buying cases. Okay, which are the best cases to use with the light?


The e-luminator 2 is best used with M-Edge cases...most of them have a special pocket it slides in. I'm thinking about getting the Platform jacket. The lights are on backorder for a while.
Another popular option is the Mighty Bright clip on light.


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## intinst (Dec 23, 2008)

Razorhog said:


> The e-luminator 2 is best used with M-Edge cases...most of them have a special pocket it slides in. I'm thinking about getting the Platform jacket. The lights are on backorder for a while.
> Another popular option is the Mighty Bright clip on light.


Great first post Razorhog. Would you happen to be another Arkansas resident? I'm in the Little Rock area. If you go to Introductions and Welcomes
and post a little about yourself, we could all greet you.


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## Razorhog (Dec 18, 2009)

intinst said:


> Great first post Razorhog. Would you happen to be another Arkansas resident? I'm in the Little Rock area. If you go to Introductions and Welcomes
> and post a little about yourself, we could all greet you.


I am indeed. I live in northeast Arkansas, but I'm originally from LR area.


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