Last year, I decided to be lazy and just get a projector for the outside for holiday lights. They were all fails. It either took forever to warm up or you couldn't see the color on the house. It was fustrating to say the least. I was surprised after seeing this and figured I would give it a try. I can plug it in and it works as soon as powered on, just like a regular light. The light is super bright, which works great when you live close to streetlights (gotta love the city!). The remote is very simple and has some distance on it (compared to my musical christmas tree where I have to be right up on the box which makes the remote pretty pointless!) Overall, awesome deal! I'm glad I talked myself into one this year!