I just received one of these as well. It gives a very good local illumination, not really intended for reading or things like that, but very useful. It is light, compact, and turned on right out of the package, so the power storage is pretty good. It has been sitting in my house for two days now with only artificial light available and it is still very bright. I will leave it inside for a few days more to see how well the battery stores power. I will then leave it turned on to see how long it stays on, then take it out to charge it up again. Seems practical to me.