Great deal for earthday
I bought these for my grandparents after doing my whole house with them. They love them and the startup time really isn't an issue due to the fact that they usually leave their lights on all the time.

TAKES A BIT OF GETTING USED TO.
These bulbs work well, and I personally don't think the half second or so it takes for them to light up to be an issue. However, they are certainly not bright enough for my needs, and thus I find I need to use a halogen bulb in one lamp in a room I am in while also using one of the fluorescents in another lamp. Don't know if, energywise, this is defeating the purpose or not. Another issue - 10 out of the 12 bulbs shipped were smashed on delivery(Thank you, again, Amazon, for standing by what you sell and for the partial refund). I have ordered halogens many times through Amazon, and everything arrived intact. This is my second order of fluorescents through Amazon, and both times bulbs were broken. Amazon, and its dealers, need to pack these items better. But, I am not sorry I purchased these.

Good value
These arrived a couple of days ago, none broken. Each bulb was individual boxed inside a Sylvania carton, this inside an Amazon box with 1 other item I had ordered. I was surprised there was no other packing material, the normal bubble wrap was absent. The basic Sylvania packaging seems quite adaquate for shipping.

I'm new to flourescent bulbs. Not sure if I want to use them everywhere. I ordered these primarily to experiment with replacing the lights in a bathroom vanity light bar that seems to eat normal bulbs at a high rate.

So far I'm very pleased. These bulbs are quite compact while still putting out a nice amount of light. And of course the price is hard to beat.

Great alternative to standard light bulbs
Purchasing these bulbs was among many things we're doing to be more energy efficient and 'green'. Even though these bulbs may not be so green. Overall, I'm please with them as a replacement. As with any fluorescent, there are some things to get used to.

1) There's definitely a color difference. You do get used to it, but it's noticeable.
2) When you turn them on, there's a short delay in getting any light and then a long delay to reach full brightness. Again, not that big of a deal, but it takes getting used to.
3) We had intentions of replace all of our incandescent bulbs with these. However, their design makes them ugly when used with exposed light fixtures. We've taken advantage of the somewhat graceful look of incandescents. With these sticking out, there somewhat ugly.
4) I love the fact that they're somewhat cooler, which makes it less dangerous when you have children.

I may not have bought the pack, if I hadn't gotten such a good deal. I'm please with the purchase and the differences are fairly easy to get used to. I would recommend for those that are interested in energy conservation and saving money!

1 bulb shipped multiple times
Amazon has really disappointed with me with how they handled this transaction of mine. On ordering this set of 12 bulbs, I was shipped only 1 bulb. On registering a complaint, I was assured of the correct delivery the second time. However, for the second time too, I was shipped a single bulb! When I again registered my complaint on phone, the customer service rep was extremely rude. I was told that Amazon can not do anything as it is shipper's fault! Well, as far as I can see, this is being sold and shipped by Amazon directly. I could vouch for Amazon's good customer service before this transaction but now I can only warn you to save your time by not ordering this bulb as most likely you will also get a single bulb delivered for 20 odd bucks!