You've mentioned your sun lamp before, but i'm striking out finding the posts where you mention it/if you ever say what brand/model it is. What is it, and is it an alright choice for someone new to sun lamps, or is there a better "starter" option that you know of?
I got mine via a personal recommendation so I am always happy to pay it forward :>
I have a Verliux-brand Alba! I think depending on your exact situational details it might not be perfect, but for me it has been absolutely excellent.
It's designed for a flat solid surface, and sits on my desk with 0 stability problems and also doesn't take up too much space. It has simple timer settings on the back (10-minute increments) so I can set that up and then pay absolutely no further attention to monitoring it! Decent length power cord so I just need to be In The Vicinity Of an outlet, although it does unplug at the lamp end so you could potentially swap it out, maybe? (Unsure what plug type, since I don't know beans about plugs.) Also good if you gotta transport it, of course.
It also has some intensity and hue options for the light output but I've never messed with those.
I'm not sure if there's enough complexity to really have beginner vs advanced categorization here, but it's definitely been easy to use and produced no technical problems so far! I got mine a year and change ago, so it finished its first winter tour and has started on its second.
Untill or unless Verilux suddenly shoves their product quality off a cliff, I heartily recommend this one! Or look at Verlux's other options if you need one built to stand on other surfaces or the like, I'm told they're all quite good. :D