I haven’t used one of these in years. The color of the light is awful.
The newer ones have better color.
The new ones are better, there are soft white, daylight, and full spectrum CFL bulb available now, but what I really hate is the "equivalency" ratings... They claim that a certain CFL puts out as much light as say a 60 watt incandescent bulb. I didn't believe it, and I did a completely unscientific study on the matter... I have 2 identical desk lamps where I used the 2 bulbs, and to my eyes, the CFL was noticeably dimmer. It put out substantially less light. Next, I chose a ceiling fixture that has 2 sockets, and used a 60 watt equivalent CFL and a 60 watt soft white bulb. One side of the room is noticeably dimmer than the other. Thinking that the problem might have more to do with the color temperature (warmth) rather than the actual light output, I broke out my ancient Seikonic incident light meter, and it showed a nearly 1 1/2 stop difference, which is pretty substantial.
My general rule of thumb is to use at least the next higher equivalence rating of CFL for any fixture, and sometimes, depending on the application 2 higher. For instance, where I was using a 60 watt incandescent bulb, I now typically use a 75 or 100 watt equivalent CFL (if I use one at all) depending on what I need. So there is some energy savings, just not as much as one might think.
Mark