ThinkLight - power usage and longevity

Can anyone share some insight into the ThinkLight? is it an LED? How much power does it consume when on, and are there any concerns with how long it might last if used daily for hours a day? I do alot of work in the dark and sometimes I lose track of the keyboard so having the light on is handy.


ps. I'm already a touch typist so that's not a solution. I often need to "reorient" myself in order to touch type, and when using the trackpoint or taking my hands off the keys I take a moment to reorient myself, it's just easier to do so with the ThinkLight.

 

it is an LED, and its useless unless you're working with the brightness turned down ..otherwise the screen works as a better light

 

Power used is <1w. It may affect battery life, but it's not going to be by a ton.

 

I am also wondering what the longevity is of the light... I use mine daily after the wife goes to bed, and I have never had a problem but it was only a year old when I upgraded, anyone know how many years before theirs stopped.

 

Most LED's have a minimum of 50,000 hours life. That's near 6 years of being constantly on. This is a such a low power LED I'd imagine it's even longer than that. I doubt you'll ever wear it out.

 

I haven't checked power consumption with it on, but the Thinklight on the X220 (and maybe other current models) is insanely bright, almost like a flashlight. Too bright when the room is dark.

 

you can probably run your laptop on battery and open power manager and turn on and off your thinklight to see the difference in power consumption.

however, most LEDs last long time and consume 1 to 10 mA of current, depending on the model and the preset brightness.