OttLite 18W Replacement Tube Light Bulb

This bulb fits my Ott-Lite Crane Desk Lamp. It lights up. There is nothing remarkable about it. So it gets three stars because-- it's okay. My Crane lamp is at least six or seven. It's had the original bulb all that time, seeing daily use.The only reason I had to replace it now was pilot error. I forgot to turn it off so it ran for about 11 hours straight and I believe it suffered heat stroke. It wasn't easy finding a replacement bulb. The original bulb, 18W, made in Thailand, was U-shaped like the current 13W Ott bulb, but has a four-prong notched base. The package states "18W" and "508 Technology". The 13W bulb will not fit this lamp. The current version of the replacement bulb has four basic differences: •Two parallel tubes instead of one U-shaped tube •Non-notched base •Warmer color temperature •Made in China Because of the two-tubes I wasn't sure that this was the right bulb though reviews said it was. And since some of the reviews complained of short life I ordered two. The old bulb had a notch on each side of the base that lined up with two protrusions in the lamp's socket. I think this was to make the bulb a proprietary item. At some point this changed. New bulbs don't have the notches in the base and won't fit in the older socket without minor modification. Using long-nose pliers, it was easy to snap the little walls that formed the protrusions and twist them out. Using a sharp-edged flat screwdriver as a tiny chisel removed most of the rest of the walls. One reviewer used a Dremel tool which is a cleaner method. The new bulb fit well enough into the modified base. Once the pins were aligned with the holes in the socket, mild pressure snapped the bulb into place with a "click". Without modifying the socket the bulb will *not* fit. Let there be light. And there was. The bulb has a slightly lower color temperature than the original so the light is very white instead of the slightly blue cast of the original. I prefer the previous, cooler light, but I can live with this. Being made in China is a wild card at this point. Some high quality products are manufactured there, as is a lot of junk. I have no idea where this lamp falls in that spectrum so it's wait and see. This bulb works in the Crane lamp with an easy, minor modification. No magic, no glamor, three stars.